Episodes

Jake Perez

He has been coaching at a tennis academy and after school program in southern California for over five years.  He has had tennis coaching related jobs over the years and had been a successful high school tennis player. His college degree is in psychology, and he has combined that with his passion for sports in launching a website where he publishes weekly posts about sport psychology, for athletic success and mental health. He is also getting ready to launch a website called The Catholic Path, where he intends to publish weekly book reviews and blog posts.

Notable guest quotes:

“They… got us baptized and confirmed, so, I’m very thankful for that.  And, my grandparents, on both sides, they’re actually very, very devout Catholics, so that helped a lot.”

“What comforted me during that time was, my grandma, who… was a devout Catholic, she was leading us in the rosary… That was a very powerful moment.”

“I decided there was more to life than just my career goals and I wanted to put my faith first.”

“That definitely inspired me to start praying the rosary.  From that moment I completely decided to take my faith more seriously… and I’m sure God changed my life at that moment right there.”

“She encouraged me to go to confession and to start reading Catholic books… She helped me fall in love with God and the Catholic church and my faith.”

“Another great thing about working with him is that he’s Catholic and that’s another reason why we bonded.”

“I’ll go around and take pictures of Catholic churches and my wife and I will post them on our Instagram with captions of prayers… just to help people, just to share our faith.”

Related link:

Jake’s Sport Psych Tips website
His book reviews and blog posts site

(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.)

Scott Greve

The Director of Athletics AND the Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, where he has led those two teams to a combined seven conference championships and been named the Coach of the Year five times since taking over as head coach for the 2016-17 season.  He had previously worked at a Catholic high school and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Theology.

Notable guest quotes:

“I went to St. Mary’s Catholic School, which is a Catholic grade school… Then went on to the University of Dayton, (a) Catholic school, (a) Catholic college… I ended up minoring in religious studies.”

“Faith-wise, because I was minoring in religious studies, I took a lot of religious studies classes.  And so, I had priests and others who I felt must know their faith.”

“I call it my great salvation through my time in college was that my wife and I started dating during that time and although she was not Catholic, she was a devout Protestant and just really loved Jesus and from that experience in my life I started to see that and knew that that was something that I wanted in my life.”

“We were really intentional in our prayer life, that we were praying for friends and the first thing that happened to us was we met some old friends of ours that were family friends that invited us to come to Franciscan University for the Defending the Faith conference.  And that was a life-changing experience for both of us.”

“I always tell people, if you ever want to hear the Lord speak to you, take 3am in the morning as your Adoration hour.  It’s just a powerful experience.”

“I ended up, in 2004, really hearing God’s call in my life that He wanted me to go back to school and work on a Master’s in Theology.”

“It’s just a great story of how God’s divine providence, when we listen to it, even when those things seem insurmountable and unattainable, that He can make those things happen.”

“I tell the athletes that our goal, our mission every year is to help each other grow closer to Jesus.  If we succeed in doing that, then we have done what God has called us to do.”

“I encourage it for everybody.  If you haven’t made a consecration to the Blessed Mother, do so.  It’ll really change your life.”

Related link:

Scott’s bio on Franciscan University 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.)

Molly Bent

She played college basketball under the famous coach Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut after a high school career as a student-athlete that saw her set records in basketball, plus she competed in soccer as well. Presently she is a missionary at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as part of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and a part of Varsity Catholic.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was extremely blessed to grow up in a wonderful Catholic family with a dad who really just is the face of God the Father for me and then a mom who is one of the greatest examples of, like, sacrificial love and servant love.”

“Even when I was younger, I was never a kid who kind of put up a fight going to Mass.  I always kind of enjoyed it.  Mostly, just, I loved listening to the gospels and to the priests’ homilies.”

“My dad… actually started going to daily Mass after my little sister was born.  She was born with Down Syndrome and it kind of reignited this flame for his faith and the trust in the Lord that His plan is better than anything we could imagine and what a gift it is to have my little sister as like a constant presence of that.”

“I’ve had a lot of time to pray about it and reflect on my path that the Lord has had me on and it’s so clear that His hand was in everything.”

“I wasn’t really asking God for much that I remember throughout my high school (basketball) career other than kind of like a superstitious almost prayer before games and practices, like, ‘Lord, help me play well and help me to stay safe’.”

“I read recently in a book about Mary Magdalene that a good friend gave me that when we seek love outside of the ultimate love and the infinite love we’re just left with kind of like this deep lack of fulfillment.”

“I’m a very joyful person.  I like to say I’m a BIG joy person.  I love radiating and allowing the Lord to radiate joy through us.”

“So that kind of led me into this kind of more awareness of Jesus Christ the person and of God who has a hand in everything.”

“I just was falling in love with getting to know Jesus.  And, in my mind it was a very similar feeling to when I received an offer from UConn where it was just like, ‘Yeah, of course.  Like, there’s nothing else that my heart was made for other than this at this moment’.”

[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]

Beth Torina

She has been the head coach of the women’s softball team at LSU for ten years, following a stint leading a National Pro Fastpitch team, having previously been in the same position at Florida International University. Prior to that she had been the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Houston.  She had started into coaching as an assistant coach at Stetson University in 2000.  As a student-athlete she had been a pitcher at the University of Florida.  In her current role she has established an active community service function within the softball program as the LSU players regularly visit hospitals and schools in the Baton Rouge area.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’ve been raised Catholic my whole life… definitely was at church every Sunday with my family and my parents, and my dad has been a big pillar of my faith and my religious upbringing.”

“I spent a lot of time at the church on Wednesday nights and Sunday nights and some of the youth groups had a big part of who I am.  We did some cool stuff.  We went to World Youth Day and got to see the Pope.”

“I was really lucky to get involved with the campus ministry… there was a family that would have a Bible study on Sunday nights and then the Catholic, on-campus church at the University of Florida was just awesome.  I developed a really good relationship with Fr. Tim, who was the priest there at the time.”

“One thing I think is really cool here at LSU is… when we go on the road, we make sure on Sunday mornings… we always try to find a church in the city that we’re in.”

“I have spent a lot of time in my life telling God the things that I want, and He just can kind of laugh and make a much better plan than I ever could have imagined.”

“We’ve worked really hard, especially here at LSU, to have some program standards that we live by.  We call it TIGERS for Life and it’s Trust, Integrity, Grit, Energy, Relentless, and Selfless.  All of our players could tell you this… and I think I just try to live my life the same way I ask them to live it.”

“You have so many special women that, ya’ know, we’re supposed to be growing them, and in return they end up growing us all the time.  And I think a big key to that is just letting your heart be open to it.”

“We are raising three little girls and I would say, when I talk about God’s plan, this is the one where He really had a different look than I did.”

Related link:

Beth’s full bio on LSU 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.)

Tyler Rosser

For more than four years now he has been the head women’s soccer coach at Ave Maria University, where last November he was named the Sun Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the team to the best season in the history of the program. He also last year became the winningest coach in conference play in program history. Before taking the job at Ave Maria he was the head coach of the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School girls’ team for three years. He is licensed by the United States Soccer Federation and is an alumnus of his current employer.

Notable guest quotes:

“Growing up I did love God, I loved Jesus, but in terms of the Catholic faith I struggled to know why we do a lot of things as Catholics.”

“Growing up it was always my mom’s influence that helped me stay in the Catholic faith.  And so when I got to college I sort of had a choice to make — do I want to continue with this or do I not want to continue with this, so to speak.”

“That was really the first time in my life — although I probably heard it, but this was maybe the first time that I was actually listening — where I heard that I could have a friendship with Jesus.”

“We don’t initiate the relationship with Jesus.  He is always seeking us.  He’s coming after us gently and peacefully and patiently and kindly.”

“I think that the Lord has really brought me through as an athlete, and He has always put a desire on my heart to coach or be involved in sports some way.”

“I just fell in love at the conference with Jesus in the Eucharist because not only do I have a friendship with Jesus but now I can encounter Him literally on a daily basis whether it be in Adoration or at Mass.”

“I went to India… there was a five-week mission trip… it was working with Mother Teresa’s order of the Missionaries of Charity.”

“I went up to the chapel and Eucharistic Adoration was there and I just got down on my knees and I said, ‘Jesus, like, my whole life I’ve been trying to do things on my own and I don’t want to do that anymore and I just really desire at this moment to surrender my entire life to you completely’.”

“I really learned about the integration of the faith into a (soccer) program and how one can do that effectively.  The Lord, I think, had a plan in those years of preparing me for my role now.”

“The reason I coach is so much greater than wins and losses.  It’s really to help these women get to heaven and ultimately for them to help me get to heaven too.”

Related link:

Tyler’s full bio on Ave Maria 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.)

Leo Lopoz

The Vice President for Athletics at De La Salle High School, a private Catholic school for boys in California. He started there as Assistant Athletic Director in 1999 before taking over in 2006 as Athletic Director. He is an alumnus of the school and has also coached boys golf as well as basketball there. He is also both the founder of the Catholic National Athletic Association AND the commissioner of the East Bay Athletic League.

Notable guest quotes:

“It’s definitely within the La Salle mission to educate the mind, body, and soul, and not everyone’s going to be a football player, not everyone’s going to be a tennis player, not everyone’s going to be a golfer.  So, it’s important to understand and respect each individual student-athlete’s journey.”

“Ultimately when the day is done, we want… every coach to think that their time was served to help make the kids graduate as a man of faith, a man of scholarship, and a man of integrity.”

“Catholic grammar school, truthfully, … going to Mass, being a part of Catholic service, all that stuff that one would presume some of the characteristics of what one would kind of perceive as the traditional Catholic family was where we were kind of going.”

“Everything from Confirmation, I can remember the altar server days, all that stuff that I think made me who I am today.”

“All the stuff that I believe the Catholic Church stands by and is great has been part of my life… and I do believe it’s a guiding light on how I’ve made decisions and where I’ve gotten to where I am today.”

“There’s always a way in the Catholic Church to do something better on a daily basis for others.”

“I think compassion, forgiveness, a lot of pillars of the Catholic faith come into play… from the heart.”

“I think God has put me here to help others.”

Related link:

Catholic National Athletic Association

John Smith

His name is synonymous with wrestling success.  He won six consecutive world championships as a competitor from 1987-92, including gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Additionally, he owns five national championships as head coach of Oklahoma State’s men’s wrestling program, a role that he has held for 30 years. During that time, he has coached 33 NCAA individual champions and five Olympians. He was recognized as the National Wrestling Coaches Association coach of the year in 1994 and 2003 and is a 15-time selection as his conference’s coach of the year. Most recently, he led his squad to its ninth consecutive Big 12 tournament title, with three of his student-athletes claiming individual Big 12 Conference titles in 2021. He has an .863 winning percentage for his career dual match record as a head coach.

Notable guest quotes:

“We were very strong in our faith, not just on Sundays but several days a week we’d say the rosary as a family.”

“For me (his oldest brother) was always really a great role model, not just athletically but spiritually as well.  Just led by his faith.”

“It’s amazing that all ten of us really have still a strong Catholic presence in our life.  And that just tells you about how parents are.  That they’re really the leader of the family.”

“I kept my priorities straight.  I loved wrestling.  I loved trying to be the best wrestler in the world pound for pound.  I loved chasing world championships.  I loved preparing for Olympic gold medals.  But I also always recognized that there’s another purpose that’s much bigger than this and that’s my faith and the salvation.”

“We’re really on fire for Jesus in Stillwater Oklahoma.”

“The one thing I’ve learned about coaching in NCAA is, be prepared for changes… And what doesn’t change is your faith and your values.”

“Building your character, building your faith, seems a lot more important today than it did in the past.”

“You don’t want to see your student-athletes negotiate with their faith.”

“We did get a chance a couple years ago.  We took our team to Italy… We got to spend two full days at the Vatican, which, I’d been to the Vatican several times.”

Related link:

John’s bio on OSU 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.)