Episodes

Dr Lisa Petronis

She is a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist who has seemingly done it all, sports-wise.  She currently participates in boxing, having played sports her entire life, including basketball, softball, running, and bodybuilding. Her athletic background also includes collegiate basketball, Division I offers, options to play internationally, and playing with a WNBA farm team. She has coached youth basketball as well as a senior women’s Olympic basketball team and has a sports ministry currently that provides sports-oriented training and integrates faith, with an emphasis on cultivating virtues.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’m a cradle Catholic and my family has always practiced the faith.”

“The boxing gym really brought people from all different backgrounds together and gave them an option at not just fighting in the ring and competing and becoming champions but really becoming champions in life.”

“For my young life we were at St. Adalbert’s, which was a beautiful church, a basilica of grand stature, is where I met God, was in that place and through the nuns.”

“We were able to attend Mass every day.  I think that’s where I was really formed in the faith and was able to appreciate the beauty of the sacraments, the silence of God and the way He reaches down from the heavens to communicate with us.”

“I played everything and, in those days, the Catholic schools, they had a rich connection with sports, and so there was, sports and the Catholic faith, there was a time where they went hand-in-hand.”

“So, it would be a little bit later that I just had to dive in deep on my own and just make a commitment to really grow in the faith and that’s definitely what I did.”

“I was inclined toward a more contemplative spirituality to begin with and that must’ve been what God knew was best for me.”

“Sport prepares me every day for the battle that I have to face against the Evil One to do the work of God.”

“I love our faith and I’m very happy when I can help others to integrate our faith into their healing journeys.”

Related links:

Lisa’s official website
California Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls Foundation
Fundraiser Lisa talks about in this interview

(This episode contains a prayer by Gregg Easterbrook from the NFL.com and ESPN.com column “Monday Morning Quarterback,” as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Tom Darabaris

He is the Director of Development for Catholic Sports (not affiliated with this podcast), a national young adult sports ministry that is building community for young Catholics, while growing the Church through marriage and conversions.  A cradle Catholic, he was the final cut from his high school basketball team, and fell into a party lifestyle.  After falling away from the faith in college, he experienced a powerful conversion his junior year.  The community of faith he encountered through Catholic Sports in Denver played a pivotal role in his spiritual journey. Today from the national office in Colorado he is helping oversee five sports being played in each of four different states, helping unite and provide fellowship for young adults ages 18-39.

Notable guest quotes:

“My experience in the faith kind of started around a difficult time.  My parents got divorced when I was seven years old, and I did basically Sunday school at two different parishes.  Thankfully they kept practicing the faith and everything… Basically started learning the faith more later in life.”

“I ran track, I played football for one year, lacrosse, basketball, baseball – my dad was my coach.”

“I absolutely understood that in order to really care about somebody you really need to challenge them and push them.  I certainly see parallels with that in the faith.”

“One of the big lessons that I learned… was that it’s not as much about sports and more about recognizing just the person and the dignity of that person and helping them grow.”

“I remember just staring at (the Bible) and had all the thoughts going through my head and just felt God was reaching out in that moment.”

“Thankfully my dad had encouraged me that, I read Psalms and Proverbs and I remember getting to the gospels and specifically getting to the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s gospel talking about anxiety… So, I’m really thankful to have encountered God there.”

“Even though… my parents weren’t together, they continued practicing the faith and their perseverance at least made me feel like I could go back home.”

“What I really needed to make an actual full conversion is just encountering real Catholic community.”

“I saw the joy that you see in people that are really living the faith and I saw just really good examples.  You need to encounter that.  And so much evangelization starts with something really simple.”

“We see the leagues as a way to really just build an authentic community for Catholics that’s just really changing people’s lives.”

“We’re trying to… creating a community where they can encounter the relationship in their life that is going to fulfill them the most, which is the relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Related link:

Website for Catholic Sports leagues/events

Jeremy Otto

He serves as the radio voice of Michigan State softball and #2 for volleyball, plus fill-in for the University of Toledo, as well as various championships for the Michigan High School Athletic Association.  His past roles have included being the lead voice of the United Shore Professional Baseball League, DePaul University softball, and various other free-lance opportunities.  During college he interned in the radio booth with Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers, after which he landed the job as the TV broadcaster for Detroit Mercy.  He is also entering his tenth year as the voice for Salem Media Group Detroit’s Catholic Football League on their news talk station, the Patriot.  He had even been “recruited” and given an athletic scholarship to start a broadcasting program at Marygrove College.

Notable guest quotes:

“My Catholic schooling definitely was at the heart of my faith formation.  I started at St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores from kindergarten all the way to eighth grade, moved on to U of D Jesuit High School in Detroit… and then I started at Marygrove College… and then I transferred midway to Madonna University.”

“My grandma had a very key place… I thank her to this day for allowing me to be in a position to go to Catholic school.”

“Everything happens for a reason, right?  God kind of places you in the right situation, ya’ know, has those heavenly and maybe on earth guardian angels to help you through.”

“Every Sunday (Detroit Tigers) home game… they would have a little Catholic Mass just in the… interview room… Sometimes there would be athletes in there, there was members of the GM’s staff as well, and the front office had the chance to go down and receive the Eucharist and kind of celebrate Mass in an unfamiliar setting.”

“There’s definitely a faith life around campus as well, which is kind of cool to see, and, ya’ know, hear players tie into it as well.”

“Just like a lot of minor league baseball teams, they would have a specific night… And one of their promotions each year that I was there was Catholic Night… But that was kind of neat to integrate that into broadcasts.”

“They had a priest, I believe each time, say a prayer and then they would have a representative, I believe from the Archdiocese of Detroit, who threw out a first pitch, so that was kind of cool.”

“I do a lot of travel in the Big Ten here lately as well so we’re staying in cities that usually have walkable churches, so that’s nice and going to some of the bigger cities and seeing the cathedrals.”

Chris Ice

He holds the NAIA baseball career batting average record with a .480 career average while in college.  He had played basketball and baseball for four years in high school before going on to play baseball at both Creighton University and St. Mary of the Plains College. After graduation, he was a graduate assistant at Ft. Hays State University and then a head assistant baseball coach at St. Mary of the Plains College.  In addition to playing and coaching collegiate baseball he officiated high school football, basketball, and baseball, AND college (JUCO & NAIA) baseball and basketball.  He also served on the executive committee for his local youth baseball league for ten years and started a non-profit organization to support the travel high school basketball team.  His faith initiatives are just as extensive, if not more so, than all he has done with sports, including having been president of Ave Maria University, plus having a new book out that draws heavily from incorporating his Catholic faith into the business world and having gone through a major life tragedy.

Notable guest quotes:

“My parents made sure we got to church every Sunday and it didn’t matter if we were on a baseball travel trip or whatever, we always found a way to find a Mass.”

“When I was age seven, my grandmother used to stop by and pick me up every day to take me to Mass to go serve.”

“I went to Catholic schools all the way through – take out two years, of seventh and eighth grade – Catholic school formation all the way to the point of (when) I got my MBA.”

“I was forced a little bit to talk about my faith all the time because in the high school years I was in the high school seminary…  with those formative years it was a conversation of – with all my friends and peers, especially when I played summer baseball – of, ‘Are you going to be a priest’?”

“When I saw people excel, I got even more enjoyment out of that.  And then, of course, sharing my faith along with all of that (coaching) just really kind of felt natural.”

“There’s temptations that get thrown at athletes, especially these top tier athletes, and so (I’m) speaking to them about drawing on your Catholic faith and the grace that comes from the sacraments and making those good choices, maybe it’s making a sacrifice by praying the rosary in your room or go visiting the adoration chapel, just the blessed sacrament in the Catholic church, trying to get up early and go to daily Mass if you have that opportunity.  All those things can help you focus on what’s extremely important and keep you out of those other temptations.”

“People kept asking me, ‘Chris, how did you do it?  What led you through or able to do all that in that cloud of darkness?’ … I saw where God’s guiding hand throughout the whole thing… and it was pure grace and God’s gift back to me to endure was my faith.”

“I looked back and I go, ‘How did I do that?’  And it was purely the Holy Spirit and God’s grace.”

“My faith has been integral in everything I’ve done my whole life.  I never set it aside.  I’ve never missed Sunday Mass.  When I’m on the road I go.”

“I would host trips of parents to Austria, and we would visit in the different… holy sites in Austria.”

“Integrating your Catholic faith, it doesn’t have to sit on a shelf when you walk into your office of your business.  It doesn’t have to sit on a shelf when you go out and you’re having a nice dinner with friends.  It should be an integral part of your life every day.”

Related link:

Chris’s book, “Walking the Leadership Tightrope: How to Balance Career and Family Through the Chaos of Crisis”

(This episode contains a prayer originally excerpted and adapted from Day By Day: The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students by Thomas McNally, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Joe Mach

He is the Assistant Head Coach of the football team at Detroit Catholic Central High School, where he has been on the staff since 2008.  Along the way he coached in two State Championship games and, prior to his promotion this year to his current role, had been promoted to Defensive Coordinator in 2018. He was an Undergraduate Assistant Coach at The University of Michigan from 2003-2005, and as a student-athlete playing for Detroit Catholic Central, he was a member of back-to-back state championship teams. He holds a B.S. in Physical Education from The University of Michigan and his father is in multiple Halls of Fame as a football coach.

Notable guest quotes:

“It’s a part of my background that has truly shaped my faith.  I’m very realistic with the fact that I could be anywhere right now.  I believe God put me there for a reason with them, to have a very strong faith influence and a faith base… I believe this was all part of His plan.”

“My goal is to regularly ask, am I carrying out the mission that You have for me and to pay back that debt of gratitude that I carry with me.”

“I’m… a cradle Catholic.  I was raised with the Catholic faith… My father was… in the seminary… so he almost became a priest.”

“As a father now and as a teacher at the school and as a coach, I have a much greater appreciation for the Catholic identity that goes along with the institution that I work at.  It makes for a great environment for any young man to be in and I benefited from that when I was younger.  There is no question.”

“God gives us many gifts.  He doesn’t give us all of ‘em.”

“For somebody like me who was trying to live out his faith on a college campus… I had a great mentor right there… Being in that environment was integral to my development as a Catholic, even though most people view it only as a football experience.”

“I had an opportunity to teach Catechism to middle school age students during my time at University of Michigan.”

“I give all the credit in the world to the Holy Spirit and just kind of had a moment one evening, about the beginning of my sophomore year, kind of like, something’s gotta change.”

“I’ve always believed that football is a great game but only when it teaches great lessons.”

“I believe (football) is the best game out there to teach young men the qualities that they need to go out and really do God’s work… These are the guys who are gonna go out and be warriors for Christ.”

“We’re Catholic educators, we’re coaches, but really, first and foremost, we’re here to spread the kingdom of God.”

Related link:

Joe’s bio on DCC website

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Jared Zimmerer

He has trained in bodybuilding, Brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, Jeet Kune Do, powerlifting, the Scottish Highland Games, and is currently going for hybrid athlete. He is the author of a book called, “Ten Commandments of Lifting Weights.” On the faith side, he has a Master’s in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary, and earlier this year was named the Director of Extension Strategy at Benedictine College, which has been named one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide. Previously he had served as the Director of the Word on Fire Institute.

Notable guest quotes:

“It was a normal thing for us to pray a rosary at least almost every night… Usually once a month we’d go to confession as a family.”

“My parents actually owned and operated a Catholic bookstore for about 16 years, that, I worked there for about ten years and had a lot of experiences with people that wouldn’t necessarily come to a church but would certainly come to a bookstore to debate the faith, so, at 16 I was getting the hard knocks of learning how to defend the faith.”

“Initially I thought I was actually going to go into coaching but there was a bit of a hiring freeze in Texas when I graduated during that time and so I got into business and eventually found my way into ministry, but I still absolutely love – I still coach my boys’ teams and – I just love being around the athletic arenas.”

“I… grew up in a very devout home, knew all of the prayers, probably could tell you more about the catechism than most of the other kids at the Catholic school, but it really never went from my head to my heart until I had this moment.  I had an opportunity to go to Mexico City with my father on some mission trip stuff.”

“The story of Miguel Pro and then seeing his shrine, that just kind of knocked me over the head of, wow this is what the faith is – it’s something that means so much that a man is willing to stare a firing squad in the face, forgive them, and accept his fate.”

“I started reading… the idea of weightlifting and athletics being a way to glorify God and a way to integrate your physical body into your spiritual life and understand it in that way.”

“If you wanna be a great athlete you have to consider the mind as well.  The smarter you are the better athlete you’re going to be.  The more spiritually strong you are the more courageous you’re going to be in athletics.”

“Yeah, achieve excellence.  You wanna go deadlift 800 pounds?  Awesome!  But make sure your mindset is right when it comes to your mental strength and your spiritual strength as well.”

“Devotion to Mary; even during your time lifting weights, what are some things you can offer up to her.  Say, ‘Hey, this session I’m about to do, whatever suffering I get out of it, I want to give it to you’.”

Related links:

January 2023 press release (Zimmerer Joins Benedictine College)
Book being given away as mentioned on this episode

(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)

Mike Evoy

He was a three-sport athlete in high school before going on to Siena Heights University, where he was on the baseball roster for two years.  He was a CYO Athletic Director and coached basketball at two Catholic schools.  At a different Catholic high school, he was the Athletic Director, before moving on to Associate Director of the Detroit Catholic High School League. He has also served as Chairperson (Lead Driver) of No Sports on Sunday in the Archdiocese of Detroit and is a Certified Play Like a Champion Sports Ministry Coach and Parent presenter.  He’s the Athletics and Student Services Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Detroit in the Department of Catholic Schools.

Notable guest quotes:

“It was a focal point of the house.  We always attended Mass on Sunday… My faith was exceptional, if you would, from the standpoint of all the resources.  I lived across the street from our church, so, there was no reason not to be able just to stop in, say a prayer, go to Mass, see the priests, see the nuns just walking in the neighborhood.  It was a faith-filled environment.”

“It was school, sports, faith, not necessarily in that order, right, but it was those three things that were always there for me.”

“And there again I was fortunate enough to have another caring coach who was a practicing Catholic.  A good example for me as a young Catholic male to see that it was okay to be competitive in athletics but also a person of faith, going to Mass, leading us in prayer.”

“When I went to Mass I would see them in the pews.  I would see them worshiping.  And what a great example, I always feel, for young men to see other men practicing their faith.”

“If God blessed me with children – which He has – but at that time I didn’t know what the plan was, right, I wanted to be able to coach my kids.  I wanted to be able to attend their games.”

“I made a point of talking to the young men about, ‘You gotta not only thank your guardian or your parents… give thanks for what God’s provided you in your life… Think about the sacrifice somebody has made to allow you to come and participate in basketball, to attend this school.”

“Holy Redeemer not only provided me all my sacraments, it led to meeting my wife, and we got married there as well… We were very, very fortunate; we had six priests and a bishop, all presided over our wedding.”

“We demonstrate and practice our faith.  We start every athletic contest – if there’s a microphone available – we start it with prayer.  Every level foreseeable.”

“Archbishop Vigneron called for a Synod… and one of the many fruits that came out of the Synod was No Sports on Sunday and they asked that I would be the Lead Driver of ensuring that this would happen… At no point was there an option of us not doing this.  The Holy Spirit drove this.”

Related link:

Catholic High School League website
Book being given away as mentioned on this episode