FRUIT HEIGHTS — Many nights a month, Curtis Christiansen and Philip Michelsen sit at a table on the stage of the Fruit Heights Stake Center for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where they have kept score and managed the clock at church basketball games for 20 years.
The two good friends were recently honored for their work by stake leaders.
While Christiansen said he has been the clock manager for 20 years, Michelsen said he has been scorekeeper for 19 years. Though keeping score at basketball games may not seem unusual, it is for these two men.
“It was because of our disabilities that we met in the first place,” said Michelsen, who has a form of Asperger’s syndrome.
Christiansen had encephalitis that caused brain damage and partial paralysis, Mickelsen explained.
“We have been friends for almost 30 years,” since junior high school, Christiansen said.
Both men are developmentally disabled yet have some great talents.
“I’ve always liked basketball,” said Christiansen, a Fruit Heights resident who didn’t like the way some of the church basketball games were run. That’s how he got started in scoring and running the clock
“People would get rowdy as they cheered for their own teams. They were always running around. I thought this has got to change, so I asked them to train me to get me going on it,” Christiansen said.
And their talents have not gone unnoticed. A big banner hangs in the stake center, congratulating Christiansen and Michelsen on their 20 years of service.
“They are awesome scorekeepers,” said Nancy Tippets, region and area director of sports for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The region covers from southern Idaho to Salt Lake City.
“We used to have games at Kaysville Junior High as well as up here; then it changed, and they are all up here,” Christiansen said.
Some nights, the pair works three games.
“Thanks to people like this, church ball has changed. They run it the way it should be run,” Tippets said. “Kaysville and Fruit Heights are an example for the church of the right way to do it.”
Tippets said that years ago church basketball didn’t have such a good reputation.
“It was called ‘a brawl beginning with a prayer,’ ” she said. “To do it the right way, we had to train the officials.”
Jared Taylor, of Kaysville, who used to be an official trainer, has seen Christiansen and Michelsen do their jobs.
“I have never seen scorekeepers who are on every move and who are as good as they are,” Taylor said. “I would put them up against anyone.”
But Michelsen admitted he wasn’t always that good.
“When I started doing it, I made mistakes, but I figured out how to do it,” he said. “I keep track of the scorebook, recording points and fouls.”
While he loves watching games, he learned more about math in college.
“In school I learned about statistical math,” said Mickelsen, who is currently a senior at Weber State University but had to take time off because he ran out of money.
“My disabilities interfere with my progress,” said Mickelsen.
“Curtis has a way of connecting with people,” said Michelsen, who lives in Kaysville.
“He showed me the ropes. Through the years he has helped pull me out of the shell I was in. Church basketball helped as well.”
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