Our last two Meridian Sports articles
appeared in 2005 and they explored
the question: As LDS, why do we care so much about LDS athletes
and how they are doing in their chosen sport? The responses that
came in relation to those articles didn’t provide a clear-cut
answer to the “why” aspect, but they did show that there is a
huge interest in the LDS community
(and like-minded individuals) about who LDS athletes and coaches
are and how they are performing on the fields of competition.
Our intent at Meridian Sports is to provide information about
how LDS in the sporting world are making an impact.
Meridian Sports, after a considerable
layover, is back on the runway and, hopefully, headed to new heights.
In order to achieve liftoff, however, we are going to need a little
help from our readers in two key areas.
Area I: The List
In 2003, Meridian Sports compiled
a list of LDS athletes and coaches. To be blunt, that list is
now very much outdated. We need your help in rebuilding and updating
“The List.” Please send us an e-mail (click on the “What do you
think” link to the right of this article) with any verifiably
LDS athletes or coaches that you’re aware of at the amateur (Olympic
or World caliber), collegiate or professional levels. If you’re
not sure if someone is LDS or not, please indicate that and we’ll
do what we can to find out. If a person cannot be definitely
identified as LDS, they will not be included on the list. We
ran into problems the
last time around with a couple of professional golfers
who were not LDS but were identified as such on our list.
Area II: The Staff
Don’t know of any LDS athletes or
coaches? We can still use your help. We are looking for a few
talented, eager and capable sports writers to help us achieve
liftoff and to be a part of our sports staff.
If you are willing to volunteer your
time and efforts to researching, interviewing, and writing sports-related
articles about LDS athletes and coaches, we would love to hear
from you. What we’re looking for are contributors who share a
love of sports and the gospel, and are able to commit to a regular
contribution schedule. We will be producing articles to keep
our international audience informed about the LDS sporting world
and the influence LDS athletes and coaches are having on their
respective sports.
If you think you can help out as
a Meridian Sports contributor, send us an e-mail with a brief
paragraph about yourself and your writing experience along with
a writing sample. We will be in touch soon as we are eager to
get Meridian Sports up and running again. Until then, feel free
to browse through our archives to see the types of stories we’ve
done and, as always, feel free to offer your thoughts about
or suggestions for Meridian Sports.
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