Episodes

Lenny Wilkens

He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach as well as for being an assistant coach with the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team.” He played in the NBA for four teams over 15 years and was a nine-time All-Star and would later be named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. Before ending his playing career, he took on the role of player-coach with two different teams. As a full-time coach, he guided the Seattle Supersonics — winning a championship in 1978-79 — and then the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks, the Toronto Raptors, and the New York Knicks. In the midst of all that, he also coached the U.S. men’s basketball team to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He also served for nine years as vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, served as president of the NBA Coaches Association, held a number of jobs in the Supersonics’ front office, and served as a game analyst on basketball television broadcasts. He also wrote an autobiography called, “Unguarded: My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA.”

Notable guest quotes:

“Back then the Mass was in Latin, and we were always challenged to learn Latin… But I learned it and it was fun being an altar boy.  I used to serve all the different Masses from time to time.”

“Growing up we were a very Catholic family, and so we never missed going to church.  You had to be dying not to be able to go, ‘cause my mother wasn’t having it.  But ya’ know, it was a way of life for us.”

“The elementary school I went to was called Holy Rosary and it was taught by Sisters of Mercy… they were great teachers.”

“I had role models who would encourage me that, it’s up to you to become as good as you can be in whatever it was.  And one of those was a guy named Jackie Robinson, who lived in our neighborhood.”

“It kind of peaked my interest in basketball and I started to play more and more.  I played CYO.  I played in the PAL – the Police Athletic League – and… I started to get better and better and better.”

“We had very few lay teachers.  We had a lot of Dominican fathers teaching at Providence (College)… and I became with friendly with a lot of them.”

“My dad died when I was five years old.  And I remember at the funeral this nun was holding me and she says, ‘Well, you’re the man of the family now’.”

“A lot of the Dominican fathers who taught (at Providence College) became friends.  I stayed friendly with a lot of them even when I graduated and went on to play pro ball.”

“There were a couple of guys on the team who were Catholic.  We went to church together.  I didn’t hide it at all.  It’s who I am!”

“One of my first role models other than my mother was the priest in my parish.”

Related links:

Lenny Wilkens Foundation website

Lenny’s book on Amazon

(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.)

Gene Zannetti

He was a nationally ranked All-Ivy League wrestler at the University of Pennsylvania AND he was an assistant wrestling coach at Springfield College. He is a certified School Psychologist, Personal Trainer and Nutritionist, and, along with his brother he now runs Wrestling Mindset, to help wrestlers reach their full potential in wrestling, school and life. He has two master’s degrees, including one in Sports Psychology, and his master’s degree thesis has been published in the International Journal of Wrestling Sciences. On the faith side, he is the founder of Spiritual Strength, whose aim is “building the total athlete for Christ.” And his book, “Spiritual Strength: Building the Total Athlete for Christ,” was reviewed and endorsed by Cardinal Burke.

Notable guest quotes:

“I had an interest in the faith from a young age.  Both my brothers and I, we were all altar boys growing up.”

“If anyone were to ask me at any period of time in my life, how important is God and my Catholic faith to me on a scale of one to ten, I would always have said a ten.”

“I had a priest when I was an altar boy in fourth grade, he told me, ‘Every day you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is you bless yourself, you say thank you Lord for this new day.  Help me to do everything for you.’  I did that almost every day.”

“I knew faith was important and it definitely gave my brothers and I, we had that rooting, we had a grounding, so we knew that wrestling wasn’t, we weren’t identified by wrestling.”

“When you look back, you realize there’s no coincidences, only God-incidences, right?  I could see how the Lord was calling me into a deeper relationship with Him.  I could kind of piece it back, looking back in hindsight.”

“The main spark was, really, in 2015, when my brother Greg started discerning priesthood.”

“My brother discerning priesthood brought my whole family way closer to the Lord.”

“I knew that there was Padre Pio.  I knew about Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe.  So I was hanging on by the mystics.”

“The Lord was working on both my heart and my head at the same time.”

“I could give them great sports psychology information, but I really can’t take them all the way without knowledge of Christ and His church.”

“We have to pray the rosary every day.  We have to consecrate ourselves to Mary.  The scapular – wearing the brown scapular.   Offering up our sufferings.  And Saturdays, the first Saturday devotion.  Those are the five things Our Lady wants all Catholics to do.”

“Prayer is kind of like an analogy for stretching because when we stretch, when we pray, God stretches our muscles further than we can stretch on our own.”

Related link:

Gene’s book on Amazon

(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)

Erin Broestl

She is a skier, participating in downhill, cross-country, and waterski as well as snowboarding.  At the University of Michigan, she had competed in giant slalom, which followed her junior high and high school years when she ran the mile in track, half mile, and the 2-mile, for a combined total of six years in track, including lettering in track and field.  Plus, she even did three years on the swim team in junior high. She is a mom of a large Catholic family yet still ice skates, swims, and hikes.  She is also a blogger and the author of a book called, “God Made the Moonlight.”

Notable guest quotes:

“I sort of feel like that was my very first experience of God’s miraculousness in my life.”

“It was further proof for (my parents) and new proof for me… that yes, the Lord is watching, the Father in heaven sent my own father back to get me because that was pretty important right then.”

“I was talking to God and walking around campus, going, ‘Okay, Lord, where do you want me to go’… and I, finally in my travels, my steps took me to the Newman Center right off campus, and I went to Mass there, and it was this indescribable feeling of being home.”

“I’m Irish-Catholic, I should continue the tradition, the heritage, the family, my one grandmother was Irish-Catholic.”

“We just loved naming our kids and having them is such a blessing.  I can’t say enough how letting God plan your family is hard, yes, but it’s worth it.”

“I had a friend in high school… she and her older sister and both her parents… I appreciated their sacrifice and their service to other skiers, and I love this sport so much that I want people to be comfortable on the slopes, but I also want to be able to help them.”

“It occurred to me that God is really calling me to this because when you’re surrounded by accidents or if you’re an EMT or a paramedic or whatever, there’s always somebody in the background hopefully who’s praying for you in an accident even if you don’t know it and we’re all connected as human beings and while I’m down there bandaging somebody up in the snow on my knees as a ski patroller, I can also pray for them and they don’t even have to know about it, but it’s between me and God, and God and them.”

“I’ve always been kind of that prayer warrior type.  I have a longstanding prayer conversation with God.”

“‘Be still and know that I am God,’ that is the quote that keeps coming back to me.”

“You don’t want to get to heaven and stand in front of Jesus and have Him say, ‘I wanted to give you these gifts of children and you said No’.”

“God will give you the gift of understanding when you need it.”

“We pray with (the saints) to Jesus for His intercession because we can’t do anything without Him.”

Related link:

Erin’s website

(This episode contains a prayer by Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Bill Hanzlik

He was an NBA first round draft pick, being chosen 20th overall by the Seattle Supersonics, playing two seasons with them and then eight with the Denver Nuggets. During that time, he earned an NBA All-Defensive Second Team honor and would go on to serve as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks before becoming the head coach of the Denver Nuggets.  He had played his college basketball at Notre Dame, helping lead the Fighting Irish to the Final Four, and was selected for the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic Team, although they did not compete due to the Americans’ boycott of the Moscow Games. Many years later he received a Congressional Medal of Honor created especially for those athletes. Present day he does pre- and post-game TV for the Denver Nuggets game broadcasts, and he is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Gold Crown Foundation, a non-profit whose tagline is, “Preparing kids for the game of life.”

Notable guest quotes:

“I grew up in the Catholic faith… my mom would cart us off on Sunday to go to church.  The Catholic faith, she said, that’s what we were gonna do and that’s what we did.”

“I ended up going to a Catholic school called St. Ignatius… so that was part of building my faith.”

“I started my freshman year and part of my sophomore year still in Mobile (Alabama), went to McGill–Toolen Catholic High School there, before moving out west.  So, all those were instrumental in my Catholic faith and how it just evolved.”

“The great thing about basketball, if you didn’t know anybody, you had a ball you went to a park or a gym you could play by yourself, you could play with one other person, two others, it was sort of the common ground that created a language that you talked with others with and made friends.”

“Everybody’s life sort of has this story to tell and somehow when you look back you go, ‘Oh, God had a plan in this!  Okay, now I got what He was trying to tell me’.”

“My faith grew there.  It’s great, every dorm had a chapel and Mass, and you became friends with, there was usually a priest assigned to each dorm, and you became friends with those.  And then the basketball, before every game we had probably a 20-, 25-minute Mass.”

“It evolved.  Like everything else in life, the struggles and the different things that go on, I think my prayer life grew and I realized what really is important in life.  Yeah, it’s great playing in the NBA and all that going on, but that’s not what life’s about.”

“As we’d go to major cities around the country and play games, play other teams, especially on Sunday, I would try to go to the cathedrals and, I don’t know how many, there are thirty teams in the league, I probably hit 25 cathedrals in different cities and it’s just so interesting the different ones, and I would just do it on my own.”

“We serve about 18 thousand kids in sports and enrichment programs… We try to fill voids.  And our mission statement is educating youth through sports and enrichment… We’re very big about life skills.”

Related link:

Gold Crown Foundation

[This episode contains a prayer (poem) by Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, PA) Principal Ed Bernot, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport]

Dr Kevin Cummings

Back in his days as a student-athlete, after having played for the well-known Rockhurst High School, he attended Missouri Western State University on a four-year football scholarship and would go on to be inducted into their Hall of Fame.  He was also selected as the Missouri Western 25th Anniversary Scholar-Athlete Award by the university in 2001.  Later in life he would serve as the Kansas City Chiefs Team Dentist for 23 years. Meanwhile, he was ordained as a Deacon in the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, but is currently assigned to the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. Concentrating much of his efforts in the Ministry of Respect Life issues, alongside two other non-profits that he is a part of, he has co-founded a 501(c)3 called Deacons of Hope, aimed at organizing the Ministries of Deacons into a community of Deacons who emphasize pro-life initiatives. It has even gotten the seal of approval from the Vatican and Deacons of Hope aims to reach Deacons and parishes around the U.S., if not internationally too.

Notable guest quotes:

“I had six brothers, there were seven boys, and we all were two blocks away from our Catholic grade school… we all graduated from there.”

“I had two brothers that went to high school seminary and one of ‘em went to college seminary to be a priest.”

“We had a park at the end of our block that was about 100 yards long and about 50 yards wide… We acted like it was put there by God for us.”

“I went to a high school that was a Jesuit high school, all boys and I learned early on I could do nothing without prayer.”

“I couldn’t begin a game.  I couldn’t miss a weekend Mass on my own or otherwise and it was just because it was part of my life.”

“I felt lucky to have been blessed with any ability.”

“I learned early on, God ought to be appreciated.”

“These (Kansas City Chiefs) players would also be the most outgoing and most sincere and authentic people you’d met in your life.  They held a very strong Christian lifestyle or background with their discipline.  I think they went hand in hand.”

“When I became a deacon, I realized I was supposed to do that.  I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

“(God) made me a healer and because of that I realized He could make me anything.”

“God’s telling me where to go as long as I listen.  And so, I try to listen daily, and I love the church.”

Related link:

Deacons Of Hope website

Samantha LaMar

She was a late bloomer athletically, save for one sport that she competed in during her high school years. In her adult life she discovered bodybuilding and fell in love with the discipline of the sport and continues to this day to train like an athlete. She became a certified Personal Trainer and helps others not be intimidated by the weight room and think of themselves as athletes in training. However, the sport they are training is the race of life itself. The story that she tells at the end of this interview might just be the strongest part of her testimony! (UPDATE: Since this interview was recorded, sadly, Dr. Kevin Vost passed away.  He is mentioned in the second half of this episode in conjunction with an event that was being planned for later this year.)

Notable guest quotes:

“That’s what I love about Christ and how He did go into the places that we would be like, ‘How dare you talk to those people’!”

“Because of that I felt like, ‘Well, I guess I could talk to God.’  So, when I would go to bed at night, I just started having conversations with the Lord.”

“I quit going to the nightclubs.  I had no need for that or any kind of life outside of Christian virtue.”

“I know, without a doubt, each person has a particular calling in their life… It’s so important to be what God has made you to be and to live out that particular purpose.”

“To me, the way that God was preparing me to really live out even more fully what He’s called me to be, physical fitness was a big part of that, like, I had to be physically strong.”

“I’m always obedient to what I feel like God’s calling me to do.”

“Because I was able to tie that in in my spiritual life, it made it easier for me because it was like, I’m offering this up, this is part of Lent.”

“I’ve had over 20 surgeries on my abdomen, so, it just shows you can do anything, like, your body just will heal and it’s a miracle.”

“It’s like the Lord opens up different passages of possibilities and He’s already placed in our hearts what he wants us to do but sometimes we’re so blocked because we don’t think it’s possible.”

“I believe that as people become stronger, physically stronger, then they start to develop a hope that God wants us to have.”

“I felt like I was going to battle with the devil.  And I would praise and worship as I was working out and it would make a huge difference and then I would step off of there and so it became prayer.”

“What the Lord has placed on my heart is to really pull out of other people what He has placed in their hearts.”

Related links:

Samantha on the Roundabout Fitness website
Samantha on the Synergize website

(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)

John Knuth

Providing some emotional testimony in the second half of this episode, he’d won eight consecutive state championships and nine overall as the volleyball coach at Marysville High School in Michigan where he had three consecutive undefeated seasons, registering 192 straight wins. He won 20 consecutive district and regional championships and over ten seasons had an amazing won-lost record of 584-9. In 2015 he was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He coached three sports for 27 consecutive years at Marysville, and all together, he coached football, girls basketball, boys basketball, track & field, and volleyball. He is the author of a book titled, “Coaching 100 Days With Jesus.”

Notable guest quotes:

“We see scripture during Holy Week of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples and He’s modeling behavior and I would say that was my mom.  Sometimes when things weren’t going well with our family or our lives, I would walk by her bedroom and there she would be, on her knees praying the rosary and it just had a big influence.”

“Even through all my sinfulness I went to Mass every Sunday at Central Michigan University.”

“I had the faith, and I kept the faith and God kept loving me through it.”

“That freewill thing kicks in and somehow my freewill told me that I need to stay close to the Lord.”

“Sports had such an influence on me and the coaches that I had in my life, I wanted to give back, I wanted to provide that kind of guidance for young people and teach life lessons.”

“Athletics is such a great avenue to provide that life lesson of the team is more important than yourself.”

“When I heard that, I began praying John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life’.”

“She said, ‘I’m just telling you, I was praying so hard,’ and she said, ‘This verse came to me and it’s Psalm 118:17 – you will not die but live and proclaim what the Lord has done’ and that became the motto for my life.”

“I just made this vow that if I go in to do prison ministry or if I speak or religious education or wherever it happens to be, I always start out with covering and speaking about John 3:16.”

“If you know everything about the Bible, John 3:16 is a good place to go and if you know nothing about it, it’s a good place to go.”

“To be in persistent quest of excellence really means to be in persistent quest for God.”

Related link:

John’s book “Coaching 100 Days With Jesus”

(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.)