In October 1941, Joe DiMaggio pronounced “I’d like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee.” Fast forward a few years and the immortal Yankees moniker would be adopted by another team in a different sport on the other side of the world. Like the Yankee Clipper, the members of this team, the Mormon Yankees — a basketball team in Australia comprised completely of Mormon missionaries — would go on to thank Heavenly Father for blessing them with the opportunity to become Yankees.

SPIRIT OF THE GAME, a new feature film opening in theaters throughout Utah on Friday, October 7, tells the amazing true story of Elder DeLyle Condie, the Mormon Yankees and the incredible impact they had on the LDS Church in Australia and a passion for basketball they inspired.

Missionary basketball in Australia

Truth be told, missionaries had been playing organized basketball for years in Australia prior to the Mormon Yankees. Fred Woods, author of the book Mormon Yankees: Giants on and off the Court, documented that missionaries had been playing organized basketball in Australia since 1937. But it wasn’t until 1954, and the formation of an elite team — the Mormon Yankees — that the missionary-driven basketball effort really took off.

The Mormon Yankees’ timing was just right. The Harlem Globetrotters had just toured Australia and spurred interest in basketball — an interest noticed by Mission President Charles V. Liljenquist. Elder Loren C. Dunn, former captain of the Mormon Yankees team in 1954, recalled, “After the Globetrotters visited Adelaide, President Liljenquist held a press conference and told the reporters, ‘We’ve got somebody coming who’s better than the Globetrotters’.” President Liljenquist was referring to Elder Dunn and assigned him to organize a competitive team of missionaries.

The Mormon Yankees quickly gained notice from local media thanks to their prowess. Adelaide Advertiser reporter Gunars Esins Berzzarins (known as GEB) wrote numerous positive articles about the Yankees. He noted that the Mormon Yankees team “was the greatest thing that could happen to Australian basketball, particularly Adelaide, of course, by extension to Australian basketball as well.” More important, the Mormon Yankees’ South Australian District led the Australian Mission in the number of baptisms.

"We'll see that the basketball players come"

But the Mormon Yankees’ run appeared to be short-lived. In 1955, the Australian mission was reorganized and threatened to end the team. However, soon after, President David O. McKay toured Australia and after arriving in Adelaide held a press conference. One reporter, completely unsolicited, praised the team and asked him what he thought of the Mormon Yankees. Not surprisingly, President McKay knew very little about the team. After the press conference, President Liljenquist explained to President McKay how great the team had been for missionary work, but regretted that it would soon end. President McKay inquired as to why and Lilenquist responded, “We don’t get enough missionaries who can play basketball.” President McKay replied with a smile, “You keep the program going. We’ll see that the basketball players come.” For years after, some of the most talented basketball playing missionaries were called to Australia.

Not long after, DeLyle Condie, a former University of Utah player, was called to the Australia mission. The film SPIRIT OF THE GAME tells Condie’s inspirational story as a missionary and player-coach of the Mormon Yankees. In 1956, Elder Condie’s Mormon Yankees made history by helping prepare the Australian Olympic team for the Olympic Games in Melbourne. In doing so, Condie and the Mormon Yankees created a legacy that lives on to this day, and now this timeless, electrifying story of sport, spirit, trials and faith comes to the big screen in SPIRIT OF THE GAME, opening in theaters only on Friday, October 7.

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