Linda Randazzo
Episode 145
8 NOV 2021
The Assistant Track & Field Coach and Recruitment Coordinator at Belmont Abbey College, also studying (through Divine Mercy University) to become a licensed sports psychologist. Previously she was on staff with the track coaches at Immaculata-La Salle High School in Miami. As a student-athlete she competed in the 200m and javelin at Belmont Abbey College, having also competed in track and field in high school. There was also some very notable sports involvement in her family, which she talks about in this episode.
Notable guest quotes:
“There was kind of no question for my parents that… my brother and I were going to be put in the best schools that we possibly could be put in, and these, of course, were all Catholic.”
“Every time there was a tryout at St. Theresa, I tried out for the team and by the grace of God I made the team.”
“For a lot of Italian-Americans heritage and faith go hand-in-hand. So, that greater glory to God and I think just being around all of these men and women who emphasized the importance of sport and virtue in conjunction with one another, as a little girl that kind of gave me the guts just to go out there and play with the guys.”
“They served as professional mentors, of course, teaching me all about the practicalities of being a coach. But also, they served as spiritual directors as well for me.”
“Coaching and athletics, the physical element of everything has its limits… But when you’re working with these student-athletes… there is a point where it does always turn to spiritual direction because we are a body and spirit all in one all the time.”
“I think at every point in some Catholic’s life you’re going to be challenged. Your faith is going to be challenged. And I think that’s unfortunately a byproduct of our fallen nature.”
“I remember thinking, ‘My gosh, this is so much more than just rosaries on the mantle or pictures on the wall. This is truth. This is something that is actually something that people would, without hesitation, give their life for rather than renounce Christ and His truth and the beauty that is Catholicism’.”
“We have to cooperate with grace and go where God and the Holy Spirit beckons us.”
“There’s no such thing as coincidences, only Divine Providence.”
“I have never been let down in my prayerful petitions to the Blessed Mother’s intercession.”
“Christ felt every human emotion… Nothing we struggle with is unfamiliar to Christ in such an intimate way.”
