Secular activists reportedly have prompted an Indiana elementary school coach to stop participating in a prayer circle with his girls' basketball team.
ABC News reports the
American Humanist Association – which advocates being "good without a god" – sent emails to two elementary schools condemning the tradition after coach Scott Spahr was photographed Dec. 1 standing at center court holding hands and bowing his head in prayer with his team and players from Waldron Elementary.
The AHA said Spahr's presence was "a constitutional violation."
According to ABC News, the group's legal director, David Niose, wrote the schools that "staff participation in prayers with students at school events is impermissible as it conveys an endorsement of religion and creates a coercive atmosphere where children may feel pressured to participate in religious activity."
Spahr told ABC News he was "dumbfounded."
"That's always been a player-led prayer circle," Spahr said. "We're talking about 10 and 11 year-old-kids and they're confused about the whole issue."
And he vowed the practice will continue without him.
"That circle time is for each of those players to reflect," he said. "It's not about one person or one religion. It's about the players themselves."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.