By BETH PRATT
A-J Religion Editor
Living a Christian life is much easier than living in the world, Danny Soliz tells the young people he coaches in Bible study and in basketball.
He knows because he tried the other life before he became a Christian, he tells them.
''I was a regular member of bars,'' he said. ''I've been there. I've done those things.''
Living a worldly life is harder ''because you're trying to keep up with everybody. With Christ, you only are concerned with what he thinks is important,'' Soliz said.
Working with children is at the top of what is important, he said, noting that Jesus invited the children to come to him when the disciples would have pushed them away.
Soliz is a deacon at Sunset Church of Christ, joining the church when he and his wife, Charlotte, moved here in 1976. He was in marketing with Texas Instruments, and opted for early retirement rather than move to Dallas. He works for Grinnell.
''Danny is very patient and understanding,'' said Alton Thomasson, also a member of Sunset Church of Christ. He assists Soliz with the Bible Bowl. Thomasson had taught fourth, fifth and sixth graders in Bible school for 31 years before volunteering for the Bible Bowl program.
Both men began volunteering when their daughters were involved in the Bible Bowl. They also coached in the Lubbock Girls Basketball League's high school division.
''We were coaching against each other back then,'' Thomasson said.
After their daughters, now in their late 20s and early 30s, got out of school, the men started coaching basketball together.
Thomasson and Soliz have worked about 20 years together now on the Bible Bowl and 12 or 13 years as basketball coaches. They coach the No Limits Team. Their team won the city tournament championship in 1998 and 1999. That was accomplished with only two girls returning from the 1998 team, Soliz noted.
''His philosophy is the same as mine Ð we love kids,'' Thomasson said. ''That's why we're still coaching.''
In the Bible Bowl, they work with youngsters in sixth grade and younger.
''If we feel like we can touch one kid in 20 years, it's been worthwhile,'' Thomasson said.
In both the Bible Bowl program and in basketball, their focus is on building self-image and responsibility.
They like to win the game as much as anyone, but when one of the girls has a scheduling conflict with school work, Soliz stresses that the most important thing is school; ''this is recreational.''
The leagues provide an opportunity for girls and boys who may not make it on the school team, and it gives them a constructive activity for after school. Sometimes it is a way to undo damage that has been done in school programs.
''I have seen coaches scream and holler at kids, and I hate to see that,'' Soliz said. ''There's no need for that Ð they are not professional or college players. They are out there trying to enjoy it.''
He understands that high school coaches have a problem because if they are not winning, they do not have a job for long.
One of the girls on his team had her confidence taken away by high school coaches, he said, but ''we picked her up again and she regained her confidence.''
Coaching in the city league is ''not about winning or losing Ð that's why its not just basketball.''
Soliz once counseled a too-critical father who was his assisting with the coaching to treat his daughter like the other team members.
''When he slacked off on the criticism, she started playing up to her potential,'' Soliz said.
Until 1995, when he embarked on an 18-month project for TIthat required his presence in Dallas during the week, Soliz played in the Lubbock Christian Athletic Association men's division basketball league.
Soliz got an early start in doing volunteer work with children and youth.
He was a freshman in college when he started coaching his two youngest sisters' fourth and fifth-grade softball team in Garland, where he grew up.
When his sisters entered junior high, he coached them in basketball.
A few years later as the father of two daughters, it was a natural transition for him to begin coaching them in sports and in Bible study. His 7-year-old granddaughter, Hilary Moneymaker, will be eligible for a basketball league next year, but so far she is not showing much interest, he said.
''If she decides to play, I'll start all over again (with the younger girls), Soliz said. If not, he will continue to coach the high school girls.
Mrs. Soliz said she is surprised that he has continued to work with both time-consuming programs. ''He keeps saying one more year,'' she said.
In his spare time, Soliz enjoys golfing. ''I can always make time for golf, but ''I don't play on Sundays unless its a tourna-ment and I can't get out of it. But I don't miss worship to play,'' he said.
Beth Pratt can be contacted at 766-8724 or bpratt@lubbockonline.com
