David Belisle
Episode 54
10 FEB 2020
A lifelong coach, he was an assistant coach for high school hockey for 39 years and also gained national attention as the manager of the Cumberland Americans Little League team, including being seen on ESPN in a post-game, on-field speech – a video that went viral to the tune of more than a quarter million views. He was nominated by Sports Illustrated for the 2014 Sportsman of the Year and has also been honored with the Musial Award and the Hope Award. He also talks here about having played college hockey. You’ll want to have a tissue handy for the second half of the interview.
Guest quotes:
“I’ve been blessed with three incredible institutions that’ve fortified me with the strength of Jesus Christ.”
“That’s the Belisle family tree. Our foundation is Jesus Christ.”
“God gave him a second chance and from that day forward his spirituality grew and grew. My mom and my dad from… after he recovered went to church every single day.”
“As co-coach I understood, ‘Wow, this is important. We’re not only teaching kids the game of hockey, but we’re teaching them life lessons’.”
“As you move forward and you coach, it’s such a privilege and we’re honored to coach. If you don’t see it as a privilege, then you’re going to become selfish and you’re going to create your own goals. I never created my own goals. My father never created his own goals. It was always team goals.”
“It was always about my mother, my father, married, marriage was sacred – 65 years they spent together – and four boys that grew up in the Catholic-enriched society.”
“What inevitably is gonna carry you for the rest of your life is family, your friends, working together for a common goal, making sacrifices.”
“That’s why I got the awards that I got, is because of the people who made me who I am and obviously Jesus Christ.”
“God will provide if you believe, but in order to believe you gotta spread His Word and let Him come into your heart.”
Related link:
Mount Saint Charles Academy High School hockey
CSR Listeners Facebook group (for two videos mentioned)
