Episodes

Chris Massaro

He has competed in a wide array of sports over the years. In high school he played football, basketball, track, and tennis. He tried to walk on to the college football team as a freshman and ended up playing club rugby and volleyball in college, when he also played pickup basketball. He also participated in a number of intramural sports in college. In 2015 he entered the seminary, where he competed in basketball and soccer tournaments. He had biked sections of the coast of California in 2013 visiting the Franciscan Missions. He has competed in six triathlons and in 2023 he biked from Albany, New York, to Arlington, Virginia, with Biking for Babies, which he serves as president of and unites cycling with the formation of young adults into missionary disciples of Jesus Christ.

Notable guest quotes:

“I went to Sunday school, or what it was called at the time, CCD I think is the acronym for it back then… I went to Sunday school until I was confirmed in sixth grade and then kind of had a little gap before I joined a youth group actually when I was in high school and that’s where things started to kind of move in a more faithful direction for me.”

“I joined the Newman Center at Westchester University, a beautiful Catholic community there and started to get myself involved with the people that were there, with different prayer experiences, I would go there for Mass every Sunday and over the years in college I started to get a little bit more and more involved while I was there. And then when I was a senior in college I kind of had some shuffling of the friend group that I was in that kind of prompted me actually to spend more time around the Newman Center and make more friends of the people at the Newman Center and I really grew to love it and started to … be there regularly during the week.”

“I graduated college, started to go to grad school at Vanderbilt University, and … when I had gotten down there one of the first things that I did when I moved there was go find the Catholic community for Vanderbilt University, which is called University Catholic and just plugged myself in. I just had a beautiful experience of prayer while I was down there and a deepened conversion from that and it really has shaped my life since then.”

“I was actually in the middle of praying a 54-day Rosary novena that my girlfriend at the time asked me to pray with her and I, prior to that, … did not have a ton of experience with the Rosary or that kind of consistent prayer over a period of time like that. So that was new for me and it really, I think God just used it in a beautiful way to start working on my heart and on my soul through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, praying through the mysteries of Christ’s life and meditating on them.”

“I was in the Cathedral, I was at Mass, and I had this profound, really, I would call it an encounter with the living God, who really showed Himself to me to be real and in a real relationship with me and desiring a real relationship from me and it hit me in such a way that I remember almost falling back into my seat. I was standing at Mass (and) I actually had to grab the pew to kind of steady myself.”

“I believe that God’s grace in a profound way invaded my soul, not in a sacramental way because obviously that’s what the sacraments are for, but just in a in a deep way in that moment and I really look at that moment as a defining point in my life; something that changed the way that I viewed God, the way that I viewed others, the way that I viewed how I would live my faith.”

“One of the fruits of that invasion of grace was thinking that maybe the Lord was leading me to the priesthood. And so, I listened, thanks be to God, to the wisdom of many people who told me to just give it some time… and ultimately it just seemed like that was where God was leading… and (I) entered the seminary for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia… seminary… called St. Charles Borromeo.”

“It is very easy to leave and to feel like … I’m letting people down, 100 percent. I felt that a ton when I left the seminary.”

“We do use some biking, that’s why it has the name Biking for Babies, and it’s an adventurous mission at the same time. So, it really combines a deep spiritual component with having an impact in the society around us and also a fun adventurous spirit to it on bicycles across the country.”

“It’s like an event, like a pilgrimage and a mission trip and a retreat kind of on wheels all at the same time.”

“Redemptive suffering is a real spiritual component within the mission of Biking for Babies. We want to offer our sacrifices to the cross for the renewal of the culture of life and in a specific way for the mothers and the families, the fathers, that are served by pregnancy centers.”

Related link:

Biking for Babies website

Jon Aliaga

He created Bengals Soccer Camp — for boys — nine years ago, after having been hired at Bloomfield High School in New Jersey as head soccer coach for their girls program one year earlier. Three years ago, he created his own organization called Soccer Friends, which is a soccer team that focuses on quality development but also focuses on creating and maintaining good friendships. Back in his days as a student-athlete he had played soccer first at St. Benedict’s Prep and then at the Division 3 level for Drew University, later returning to serve as an assistant coach.

Notable guest quotes:

“One of the most important things my family really focused on with our faith – as busy as we were with soccer and baseball and martial arts and other things that we did – we always found time to go to Mass. There was 7am Mass on Sunday morning or the local parish at 6 p.m. on a Saturday. We went to our neighboring town that had a Polish Mass on Saturday afternoon to just make sure that we were attending Mass and fulfilling our duty. My parents always focused on our church and our faith and attending CCD and making sure we were receiving formation.”

“St. Benedict’s Prep … when I was there it was an all-boys school actually run by Benedictine monks in the late 1800s … but it was an amazing place. I loved it and it just drove home those Catholic virtues that we were taught as a young kid.”

“I dabbled with baseball; I played Little League. I did martial arts … I was, like, 14. I had a black belt in soo bahk do, which was a Korean defensive style. But my main focus was soccer. I think once I got to high school and I saw that I loved it and – it was passed down to me by my father who played professionally – I kind of focused on that in high school and … then I played in college as well.”

“It’s most famous phrase – one of its most famous phrases – ‘whatever hurts my brother hurts me.’ And to this day I, a lot of my best friends that I have, best men at my wedding, I made those friendships at St. Benedict’s Prep.”

“My Catholic roots, my parents instilled those roots so well that it really kept me focused and responsible in playing college soccer but also maintaining good grades.”

“It’s always good to reflect back on our lives, always room to see how God has been so right in our lives, how He’s really written out everything.  He’s the author of life.”

“We realized that soccer and any sport is such a tool and it’s such an instrument to help boys and girls really develop, build character, learn through adversity.”

“Last year when we went to one of the tournaments, we went to Mass with one of the other families.  So, we’re trying to figure out a way how we can integrate the faith into that.”

“We were blessed with being involved with a missionary group called Lazos de Amor Mariano out of Colombia in South America.  It’s also known as Bonds of Marian Love because it also is in English as well. But this movement has been very transformative for our lives.”

“God’s love is, there’s no words for it. His mercy, it’s just, I’m speechless on what I’ve seen so far.”

Related link:

Bengals Soccer Camp (w/Soccer Friends) on Instagram

Rex Kesselring

He just won a national championship last month as a member of the University of Tampa men’s lacrosse team, leading the team in the overtime win against Adelphi with four goals, plus adding one assist. He appeared in all 23 of his team’s games in 2026, finishing second on the team with 59 points, with his 40 goals being tied for the second most on the Spartans. This season he earned USILA All-American Honorable Mention and USILA All-South Region Honorable Mention honors in addition to being named to the Sunshine State Conference All-Championships Team and 2026 Second Team All-SSC. He has one more year left at UTampa and played lacrosse in high school as well.

Notable guest quotes:

“It’s always been a prevalent aspect in our lives, you know, born into a Catholic family… we all attended Catholic school from preschool until fifth grade.”

“My dad is one of five brothers; he’s from Syracuse New York and he coached and played all throughout his career up to the collegiate level. He won two national championships – one as a coach, one as a player – and so I think a stick was one of the first things to touch my hand after being born.”

“I always grew up playing CYO for the church league basketball and once I got to high school I decided to pick it up and play my senior year because I always loved doing it and I would always play with all my buddies who were … on the team and … only makes me a better athlete. So, I suited up and I got to win a sectional championship.”

“Got injured a little bit in a preseason game … and … just sent me down a spiral of not being able to have the confidence in myself and … I kind of veered away from lacrosse. I told my dad I hated it … I just became very distant with the sport … and just wanted nothing to do with it.”

“I always had the faith, but it was a matter of am I just speaking it or am I actually believing it?”

“That’s really what sparked my faith into it throughout the whole year. The decisions were external, but I’m praying every day just simple prayers and just … guidance and clarity and if it’s meant to be, let it be, Lord.”

“Something that really was prevalent since the day I stepped foot on campus was the FCA group and … they took my faith to the next level.”

“The prayer circle after a game it’s not something you see every team do, but they made it feel so normal.”

“It’s one thing to go out there on the field and play together but when you’re bonded by the Lord it’s just so much greater and you really do feel the difference.”

“Just from the faith aspect is just constantly praying; wake up, pray. If I ever found myself starting to overthink or get anxiety, just pray, just find comfort in His plan and find comfort in whatever is meant to be will be.”

“I genuinely prayed it every single day and just prayed to God for the opportunity to glorify His name on the biggest possible stage that I can using the sport of lacrosse.”

Related link:

Rex’s bio on UTampa website

(This episode contains a prayer adapted from one by an unknown Confederate Soldier, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Wes Walz

He enjoyed a long playing career in the National Hockey League after being chosen by Boston in the third round, 57th overall, of the entry draft.  In addition to the Bruins, he played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, and the Minnesota Wild, being the latter’s team captain and, at the time of his retirement, that franchise’s leader in games played. Along the way he also played four seasons in Switzerland. Shortly after his retirement he became an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He would go on to serve as head coach for three years at the high school that both a son and daughter of his played for. Present day he is a game analyst on Fan Duel Sports Network for Minnesota Wild games.

Notable guest quotes:

“Where we learned mostly about our Catholic faith was just from going to Mass every Sunday… we never missed a Mass on Sunday with my mother and father. That was something that was non-negotiable.”

“We went to Saint Mark’s parish… we learned about our faith. In school we went through all the sacraments as well too through Saint Mark’s in Calgary.”

“My favorite sport growing up was probably baseball and I played till I was probably about 16 years old… my first love was really baseball. I was probably a better baseball player than hockey player till I got to be about 15, 16 years old.”

“The fact that I was able to score my first ever NHL goal in my hometown in front of family and friends was something that I’ll never forget. And actually, ironically, 17 years later after my career was over, the last goal that I ever scored in the NHL was actually in Calgary as well at the other end of the rink. So, I scored my first goal in one end of the rink at the Calgary Saddledome and I scored my last goal 17 years later in the Calgary Saddledome.”

“I gotta be honest; I was 19 years old at the time, and I was 19 going on, like, 17 years old or 16 years old. I was so immature.”

“I was really a solid NHL player the last … seven/eight years of my career just simply because I was more mature and I was much wiser and I prayed a lot harder and my faith became a lot stronger too and I had the Holy Spirit behind me too, which played a big role as well.”

“I was asked when we got back into the twin cities to speak at the St. Paul Cathedral after I retired … for 15, 20 minutes to about 1,500 men… and I felt that it was something that I needed to do. I knew I needed to grow more in my faith.”

“There was more to my life, there was more to my wife’s life, than just hockey and things. I just, I needed more.”

“I needed to spend more time in Confession. I needed to spend more time at daily Mass. And receiving the Eucharist is something that I really believe has really helped me become stronger in my faith.”

“I have fallen in love with Adoration. I have an hour-long perpetual Adoration at St. Ambrose in Woodbury where at 12:30 on Monday I go in there and I sit with the Lord in Adoration and it’s just a quiet time.”

“My faith means more to me now and my family’s faith means more to me now than talking about hockey.”

“It warms my heart that people probably recognize me more now as maybe a man of faith than they did when I played.”

“Quietly, before the light comes on – and I did this as a player too – before the light comes on and we’re going on live television I quietly say a Hail Mary all the time.”

Related link:

Wes Walz on NHL.com

(This episode contains a prayer originally from catholic.org, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Steven Santini

A defenseman who played in twelve games for the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning this season, picking up one assist and finishing with +1 plus/minus rating. He also played in 33 games with and was captain of the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, recording six assists and finishing as a +10 with them. He had been a second round draft choice, 42nd overall, of the New Jersey Devils back in the 2013 NHL Draft. In total he has played 136 regular season games in the NHL, having also seen action with the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and New Jersey. He helped the United States win a silver medal at the 2012 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge and was named the best defenseman at the 2013 Under-18 World Championship, when the U.S. won silver. He played his college hockey at Boston College.

Notable guest quotes:

“My dad was your traditional Italian Catholic family from the Bronx. He went to Catholic school all the way through high school, everything. So, he was an important part of instilling the Catholic lifestyle into all of us and me and my sisters all went to Catholic high school.”

“I played baseball up until pretty much halfway through high school. I kind of had to devote my time to hockey, but I really liked baseball. I played it competitively. It was a sport I still like and then I probably stopped football around a little earlier, around middle school, just to focus on the falls and mainly be hockey.”

“As a preteen, I developed a strong level of faith whether it was going to church or daily prayer, do Bible readings, whatever it was. I was kind of into it and ironically when I moved out in my junior high school to play with the U.S. Development Team in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I actually didn’t have a car, but by the chance of God, I was actually walking distance from a Catholic church. I was able to go to church most weekends and I always thought that was just a cool thing that God’s always got you in mind.”

“I would say that particular injury at that particular part of my life, I wouldn’t say it challenged my faith, but it was definitely the first adversity.”

“You have all those people you rely on and obviously at (Boston College), we had a team priest, Father Tony Penna, who worked with the hockey team for several years and… We would meet every week during that time, and I don’t really feel like my faith was tested because I’ve never questioned my faith.”

“Father T, we used to call him, he was great. He would pretty much travel with us on the road. We would do Sunday Masses. If we played Sundays at 3, we would do a Mass right at 8 a.m. before 9 o’clock breakfast and guys would come into his office and meet with him or have lunch with him once a week. And I was really religious, but some of my teammates who maybe weren’t, he would just kind of talk about life and kind of he was a big part of helping one of my good teammates get confirmed.”

“I always just find for me, I can name a ton of cities we’ve been in, whether it’s Syracuse, Tampa, Milwaukee, I can go on and on. There’s always a Catholic church somewhere nearby. And even on the road in today’s world of Google Maps and Uber, you can find a Catholic church on the road.”

“You can keep up with it as much as you want. If you want to go to church, you’re going to find a church to go to.”

“I usually say a prayer at the house or the hotel before I leave and then I usually say one right before I start getting my gear on.”

“From my experiences in the locker rooms I’ve been in most guys are pretty open about their religion. I think a lot of guys wear the cross chains; a lot of guys have tattoos of crosses or Bible verses.”

“When you’re younger, you’re so focused on yourself and hockey, and then being married and having two children you learn that life is not about you and your hockey career. I still take what I do really seriously, I work hard, I compete hard, I do the best I can, I want to do the best by myself and my teammates. But at the end of the day, my kids, they don’t care if I win or lose. My wife, it’s not fair to her if I come home in a bad mood after a bad game.”

Related link:

Steven on NHL.com

(This episode contains a prayer by Fort Worth Christian Football League parent Linda Fleshman, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Gabe James

(Caution: sad testimony shared by this guest) He is a goalie for the Lake Michigan College Red Hawks, having also played club soccer for the (Premier 1) Force Shockwave. In high school he not only was a two-year varsity starter but two-time team captain, two-time Team MVP, two-time 1st Team All-Conference, and also earned 1st Team All-County and 1st Team All-Region honors. Along the way he set the school record for most saves in a game and most saves in a career. He was also a part of the football and basketball teams in high school.

Notable guest quotes:

“I went to my Catholic school, Saint Margaret’s, from preschool all the way through eighth grade to when I graduated. It was very prominent. My mom was very big on us being Catholic. As soon as I could I started altar serving.”

“I altar served from right after communion – so, like, second grade – all the way up to my senior year in high school.”

“By the time I hit around seventh, eighth grade, soccer just started to kind of emerge as the one that I was most enjoying. I found the people I liked the most there and… soccer really just moved my love for the sport, and it just made me want to keep playing it.”

“I would say if it’s a pretty like down and back game it’s a little harder to pray but if it’s a slow game, there’s times I’ve caught myself just asking God to help me stay active and present in the moment and that when an opportunity comes for me to do what I have to do that He helps me to make the save that I have to make.”

“Before every single game our captain would huddle us up into a circle and we would say a prayer to the Lord.”

“We would say some prayers in the car, we would say the rosary. We would just find a way to be able to still praise God on His holy day.”

“I had so many people around me that made it so much easier for me and made it just impossible to leave my faith and they helped me to understand that, the trials that you go through, you’ll get broken down but there’s always a way back up and that you’re never gonna be truly alone.”

“You have to be willing to be able to keep your faith strong, keep your life strong, keep believing in God.”

“God isn’t going to let you sit there in sorrow because you’re His son or His daughter and that would pain Him to see that. So, He’s going to help you recover.”

“It’s so nice to see so many young kids be willing to give up a week of their summer and to just go down and give up their time, their efforts, their hard work, and to just give to these other people, knowing that they’re less fortunate than them but that doesn’t make them any less human we are.”

“In the end my faith is what I see is one of the most important things in my life because if I lose my faith I, honestly, I lose who I think I am as a person.”

Related link:

Gabe’s bio on Lake Michigan College Red Hawks website

(This episode contains a prayer originally from prayers-and-poetry.blogspot.com, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Peter Piscitello

He competed in baseball and swimming in high school. To keep active while attending Benedictine College, he started running, which has turned into a lifelong pursuit, gradually moving from 5Ks to half marathons and having now completed five marathons, with his last being the 2025 Chicago Marathon last fall.  Along the way he officiated soccer games for several years.  He has worked in development and business operations in college athletics and has also worked within the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Present day he is the Director of Operations for Play Like A Champion Today.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was born into the faith really, received the sacraments, and growing up, we were kind of, I guess, your regular Sunday Mass goers… was involved in youth group as I became a teenager and all those kind of good things. It was a part of our life.”

“I was involved in every sport I could possibly get my hands on, whether that was the little YMCA basketball league as a six-year-old, probably, and eventually got into school sports. I always loved being involved in something every season.”

“I think it’s so important about things like Catholic education and just really the formation as a child.”

“Unfortunately, the faith just wasn’t the most important thing, it wasn’t my priority. And so that was kind of where I went astray for a period of time.”

“(Benedictine College is) really a phenomenal place that absolutely had a huge impact in my life.”

“It really just helped me to think, see things more clearly, get my priorities in order, and really understand what was important in life and dive into, really in a full way, the fullness of Catholic living.”

“I think this is something that’s important in sort of the Catholic part of my story. I realized that it’s important to take care of and steward the gift God gave you, the body God gave you.”

“I think there are some really strong spiritual elements in running in particular, and in sort of endurance sports that really tie back in nicely to what the faith journey’s all about.”

“It was amazing. And as someone who had never been to Italy, let alone Rome and the Vatican, to get to go and actually participate in a summit, in an event there, was kind of beyond my wildest dreams and … shake hands with Pope Francis and be a part of all that.”

“(It was) just a beautiful, beautiful opportunity to see what people are doing, not just in the church, but around the world, to help provide opportunities to participate in sports and to really spread love and goodwill and the message of the gospel through sport across the world.”

“Just the act of using a gift or a talent God has given us, whether you’re eight or ten or 20 or 60, is an ability to glorify God.”

Related link:

Play Like a Champion Today