Tim Neary
Episode 126
28 JUNE 2021
The author of Crossing Parish Boundaries: Race, Sports, and Catholic Youth in Chicago, 1914-1954, a book which reveals the history of CYO. He is a professor of history at Salve Regina University, a private, Catholic, coed school founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1934 in Newport, Rhode Island, where he teaches a course on U.S. sports history. As a student-athlete himself he had played baseball, basketball, football, and tennis, including club basketball in college in Ireland.
Notable guest quotes:
“I went to CCD at St. Margaret Mary’s, my parish where I had all my sacraments and was involved in CYO… and have great memories of meeting friends, having coaches that taught us how to play the game but really taught us about life and about our faith.”
“I think about values of teamwork and cooperation and I remember, for example, on the basketball court, right before we were to play we would all put our hands together and say, ‘Lady of Victory, pray for us’.”
“The Jesuits talk about faith and reason going together… so, (at his college prep high school) I was able to feel like I had role models of how to live out my faith.”
“It’s great to have degrees and learn and go to college, but what are you gonna do with it? Are you gonna go out into the world and try to make the world a better place, try to connect with people, try to live out the gospel?”
“I think the life lessons (sports) teaches are pretty profound.”
“I think sports is one of those places where even if neighborhoods and parishes are strictly segregated by race, sports is a place where people come together.”
“I think Jesus in the gospels wasn’t about excluding, he was about inviting people in.”
Related link:
Tim’s book “Crossing Parish Boundaries: Race, Sports, and Catholic Youth in Chicago, 1914-1954”
