Christian Elementary School Sports (CESS) was founded in 1986.
Mission Statement
Christian Elementary School Sports exists to:
- provide well-organized athletic tournaments that emphasize Christian community, cooperation, skill & strategy development, practice, competition, individual & team growth, enjoyment & involvement for all participants, and opportunity to demonstrate & experience Christ’s love.
- provide an opportunity for professional discussion and collegial relations among coaches and athletic coordinators.
- support athletics in Christian schools.
Core Beliefs
Children
We believe that:
- all children have been created in the image of God with different gifts/talents.
- all children deserve quality playing time to demonstrate excellence in athletics.
- children thrive under caring and supportive adult leadership.
Elementary School Athletics
We believe that:
- Jesus Christ is Lord over all, including the human body.
- athletics promote stewardship of the body by promoting active living and healthy lifestyle habits.
- athletics promote skill development which enables individuals to live an active lifestyle beyond childhood.
- participation in fair, positive competition facilitates character growth.
- participation in a school’s athletic program complements a school’s education program.
- athletic directors are responsible to communicate CESS philosophy to coaches.
- when schools have more than one team entered in a tournament they must balance their teams with respect to skill level.
Coaches
We believe that:
- in their role, coaches represent Christ, their schools, and CESS.
- coaches are to encourage the whole development of athletes — physical, social, spiritual, and intellectual.
- coaches are to demonstrate God’s love in how they form teams, run practices, treat opponents & officials, and organize tournaments.
- coaches are to strive for competency in their sport.
- coaches are not to cut players based on skill.