Zach Blaszak
Episode 178
27 JUNE 2022
He is the Director of Athletics and Activities at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He has been supporting student-athletes as a member of the CCHS staff for ten years, and one year ago was promoted to his current role after having been Assistant Athletic Director and Athletic Trainer. In total he has had an 18-year career in secondary school athletics, working with hundreds of coaches and thousands of athletes. He did his undergrad in Athletic Training at Merrimack College and earned his Master’s in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation — with a concentration in Athletic Training and Athletic Administration — from Western Michigan University. As a student-athlete himself, he had played football in high school.
Notable guest quotes:
“I come from a family of strong Catholic faith… Some of my fondest and most memorable events in my life have been always surrounded by the church and by my family’s faith.”
“I’m a product of Catholic education. My parents made extreme sacrifices for my siblings and I to go to Catholic schools from… kindergarten through college.”
“My dad was an usher at Mass. My mom was a Eucharistic Minister. My brother and I were altar servers and I’m pretty sure I could still say that I’m the reigning Altar Server of the Year at St. Bede Parish from 1996.”
“Service has always been a part of my life, whether it’s a mission trip or a service trip that I’ve gone on or just being a servant leader and doing those behind-the-scenes things for our athletic program, that’s always been an important part of who I am.”
“Like I said, I’m a product of Catholic education all the way through college. That’s always been a strong part of my life and I always made time for that… Making sure that my faith life didn’t suffer for my studies or for my job.”
“I realized what was missing at my previous school (job) and it was a faith-based education and a Catholic school environment, whether it be the pre- or post-game prayer, or the athletes doing service together, or having a pre-game Mass, that’s what was missing for me in those two years.”
“…to start a family, we came out here (to Massachusetts) and by the grace of God there were two jobs open at Central Catholic, one for a Campus Minister, which (my wife) was able to get and then for the Athletic Training position within the athletic department.”
“I’m able to take part in the athletic piece and attend some retreats or be an active participant in our school liturgies and prayer services and our service program.”
“Our school mission… is to make Jesus known and loved and whether that’s in the classroom or through our faith life or through athletics, we could easily accomplish that.”
“There’s a spiritual aspect about athletics that I always love… make Jesus known and loved, care for the least favored and those in need, while succeeding on the field or the court or playing surface. We’re not just here to win games. We’re here to build successful and intelligent young men and women.”
