Taylor Kemp
Episode 279
3 JUNE 2024
He is a former Major League Soccer player with over 100 MLS appearances throughout a six-year career that took him to four continents and more than ten countries. He spent ten years in locker rooms of the highest level, from the University of Maryland, to D.C. United, to the U.S. Men’s National team. On the faith side, after living a life apart from God for many years, he experienced the unique challenges of converting from within a professional locker room. Nowadays he is the Vice President of Content at the Augustine Institute and is co-host of the catechetical series “Symbolon,” which has a new version launching on the Formed app on July 17th.
Notable guest quotes:
“I played lots of sports growing up, like many, so, played baseball for a little bit, tried basketball, which didn’t work, because I’m not that tall, played soccer, obviously. I loved golf. I loved tennis. My oldest sister played D1 soccer at Wake Forest. My middle sister swam and did volleyball. So, we had a super active family. We love sports. So, I played lots of sports growing up.”
“Maryland was a wonderful college. They have a great soccer program. I went there in 2009. And in 2008, they had won the national championship. I was the number two ranked recruit nationally. I was an all-American. And I was the number one recruit to come into Maryland. And so, I was coming into the reigning national champions. We were going into that season ranked number two in the country.”
“A huge part of my conversion was discovering that there was a better way of being human and facing the challenges that we all face.”
“One of the fundamental things to being a follower of Christ is humility. It’s the door into the spiritual life, as a lot of the saints say, and the Beatitudes open with ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ which is essentially a call to humility.”
“One of the great challenges that I’ve noticed… is when you’ve attained success at any level, but for this example in sports, you’ve learned to very much rely on yourself a lot of the time. You’ve discovered that you are good at something. You’ve been able to persevere through the pressure. You’ve been able to perform on big stages. And so, you grow very comfortable being self-reliant. And so, then when you come up against Christianity and you’re being told, ‘Everything you have you’ve received. Everything you have is gift… Your true happiness is found in true worship and giving over your life to God,’ it’s very challenging for people.”
“I was doing it all. I was ordering every book that I could. I started a Bible study in my locker room. I was making trips up to the Basilica in DC.”
“In the American Catholic history, there are now a lot of amazing examples of God’s providence, of people finding true, authentic sanctity on American soil. And we decided it’s time to tell that story.”
“We had the great opportunity to go do the full French way of the Camino. I had had three surgeries from soccer. I knew I was retiring. We were going to move back home to Colorado from Washington, D.C. and my wife and I didn’t have kids yet. And we were like, ‘Well, when else are we going to get two months to go hike across Europe?’ So, we did that. It was an amazing experience. I’d recommend to anybody who is thinking of a great pilgrimage to do. It is challenging, of course.”
Related link:
“Symbolon” on the Augustine Institute website
