Monson: Lowering of LDS missionary age will benefit athletes and college sports in Utah

By Gordon Monson ("Salt Lake Tribune," October 9, 2012)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/38258/

Over the past 33 years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of LDS athletes about missions and the effects — both positive and negative — missions have had on their athletic careers. News out of LDS General Conference this past weekend that church missionaries can now leave for their full-time service at age 18 for men and 19 for women is a sweet deal, based on what those athletes have said.

Here’s why: The men, at least, now have the option to play their college sports in consecutive years, without delay, without interruption. They can go on their missions earlier and come back earlier and play straight through.

Over the past 33 years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of LDS athletes about missions and the effects — both positive and negative — missions have had on their athletic careers. News out of LDS General Conference this past weekend that church missionaries can now leave for their full-time service at age 18 for men and 19 for women is a sweet deal, based on what those athletes have said.

Here’s why: The men, at least, now have the option to play their college sports in consecutive years, without delay, without interruption. They can go on their missions earlier and come back earlier and play straight through.

Tony Bergstrom, the former Ute offensive lineman now with the Oakland Raiders, who did his mission in Sacramento, Calif., said adjusting to football again was "tough," but that missionary work taught him to embrace the "daily grind."

Austin Collie, the former receiver at BYU and now an Indianapolis Colt, said after returning from his mission in Argentina in 2007 that his experience away was "a great time, I loved it." But he also talked about the frustration of trying to gain back the receiving skills he once took for granted: "It’s been rough, hard to adjust to a different mind-set."

Collie said he was so absorbed into his missionary work that he "never exercised" and "can count on one hand the number of times I ran."

One of the times was when a thief stole his camera and he ran the man down. Another was when a perp stole his watch right off his wrist. When Collie caught the guy and tackled him from behind, the thief pulled a gun on him. The athlete wisely backed off.

A lot of missionaries are sent to remote areas where the comforts of normal American living are nowhere to be found. They live in jungle huts and are exposed to local diets that not only cause them to lose muscle mass, they pass along exotic bugs and worms that create health issues. One former returned-missionary quarterback once showed me blue-green spots on his leg, a leftover from his mission to Panama, during which he ingested and housed in his body nourishment-sucking parasites that caused him stomach and joint pain.

Aside from any of these issues, just being away from a sport, from the repetition of daily skill building and conditioning and fueling the mental toughness necessary to compete at a high level is a lot to overcome, especially when missionary-athletes for two years are neck-deep in charity, out preaching love and kindness and Christian principles to anyone who will listen.

Coming home to get nasty with and bite the heads off opponents takes a little time.

Now, athletes who choose to go on LDS Church missions can do it right out of high school and return to concentrate, if they still are driven to do so, on their sport for four or five straight seasons and offseasons. College coaches who have worked with athletes after they’ve returned from missions say that setup is far more advantageous for most athletes, and preferred by coaches.

Some athletes will still choose to play for a year before going, but the guess here is that course, over time, will become less traveled.

Now, athletes who choose to go on LDS Church missions can do it right out of high school and return to concentrate, if they still are driven to do so, on their sport for four or five straight seasons and offseasons. College coaches who have worked with athletes after they’ve returned from missions say that setup is far more advantageous for most athletes, and preferred by coaches.

Some athletes will still choose to play for a year before going, but the guess here is that course, over time, will become less traveled.

There could be one side-advantage for BYU in this development. Athletes who go on missions sometimes rearrange their priorities and want a different college environment after the mission experience than they would have craved before it. While the Cougars claim they do not recruit missionaries, there might be cases where they don’t have to, athletes will want to come on their own. A few, on the other hand, might want to leave BYU for other places.

Either way, LDS Church leaders lowering the mission age is a bit of inspiration Mormon athletes who want to serve can celebrate, regardless of where they play their sport. It gives them individual flexibility — and athletic momentum — they didn’t have before.