Episodes

Jaime Barta

A junior at Syracuse University where she plays on the softball team after having played at a different school each of the previous two years.  In high school she had been a four-time all-state selection and set six school records.  Her faith walk includes work that she did for a refugee family, which she mentions in this interview.  Her father is a longtime baseball coach and her mother played college softball.

Notable guest quotes:

“Growing up we didn’t have a ton of friends from a young age, so, we grew close as a family and bonded over a lot of things like sports and obviously our faith.”

“(her dad) has had a huge impact on me.  He was a devout Catholic and shared that with us and really led our family in that spiritual aspect of how important your faith is in your life.  And it was non-negotiable.  We were going to Mass every Sunday wherever we were.  Whether we were at a tournament or we were scouting with him, we always found a church to go to Mass.”

“In seventh grade when I started Confirmation prep, something just changed, something clicked, just spiritually my faith became my own.  It wasn’t my parents taking me to Mass, it was me feeling that presence.”

“Faith isn’t about feelings, but, when you have that and you’re on fire for it, it’s a big time in your life.”

“Throughout my life I just really felt a connection to (Joan of Arc) and she’s just been really important in my faith life for me.”

“The Catholic high school was pretty expensive in town and I begged my parents to go, and, knowing it would be a financial burden, but I just really wanted that opportunity to grow in my faith every day at a school like that.  So, they made the sacrifices to send me there and I’m so thankful still.”

“In my freshman year on a retreat… I kind of discovered Adoration and just fell in love with it and then throughout my four years of high school I would go to Adoration daily during lunch, in our chapel… And it was just really transformative for my faith.”

“When I first got to college that was the first real test of my faith and my conviction… (but) …we had a really strong Neuman Center, which was really helpful for me and I had a teammate who was also Catholic, so that helped immensely just having that, kind of, accountability partner.  We would go to Mass every Sunday.”

“Get to know (teammates) and let them get to know you and… I want them to know, like, I’m not judging them.  I’m just here to love them and be their teammate.  So, just getting to know the person in their heart and showing them the love of Christ through that relationship and just how you treat them every day.”

Related link:

Jaime’s bio on Syracuse University website

(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)

Doug Lipinski

The Deputy Athletic Director for External Relations at Grand Valley State University in Michigan where he and his staff have been honored with 70 national awards.  As a student athlete at the school he was a four-year member of the varsity baseball team, followed by four years as an assistant coach.  While growing up he had played five different sports.

Notable guest quotes:

“We belonged to St. Ephrem’s parish there in Sterling Heights and went to catechism and Religious Ed throughout our childhood.”

“I played baseball, golf, football, basketball – even when I was younger for a few years was on a bowling team.  So, ya’ know, did it all and enjoyed the physical activity.”

“Like many young adults, (age) 18-22, 23, you’re not as close to the church as I am now and as I was as a child.  So, you kind of go through a period of finding yourself.”

“My wife has a steadfast belief and grew up in the Catholic church… Her commitment and her personality and who she is as a person really makes me a better person.”

“For me, it’s the gathering, the comfort, and the peace that it brings me when you go to church.”

“For me, in a pretty stressful position that I’m in at work, it gives me not only family time, but it gives me time to be with the Lord.”

“As we decide to go on vacations it’s part of, ‘Where are we going to go to church on Sunday,’ so it’s kind of a fun family deal.”

“That happened Monday morning, and Tuesday afternoon-ish, around lunchtime, I just had to get out of (work), went down to St. Luke’s University parish… and I really just wanted to sit in an empty church.”

“My mentality is a continuous improvement philosophy, trying to get better every day.  And so, taking a humble approach, an attitude of gratitude.”

“How my faith… helps, the values that I have as a Catholic, I can bring to (coaching staffs) knowing that there’s much more than what they’re dealing with right now… Giving them the 30 thousand foot view of ‘things will be okay, we’ll get through this, and how can I help.’  And I think it just goes back to the values of being a Catholic.”

“Everyone’s faith journey is different.  I think that the diversity of everybody’s journey is what is special about the faith.”

“I don’t win or lose any games.  I’m part of a team.  And so, I’m here to give our student-athletes the best experience possible.”

“Fellowship goes a long ways.  And, it’s an opportunity for prayer.  It’s also an opportunity to bring people together.”

Related link:

Doug’s GVSU bio page

Andrew Whitaker

The Vice President of Operations as well as a founding board member of the National Catholic Coaches Association.  He was a student manager for Michigan State’s football team, coached football for two seasons at Alfred State College and one season at the University of St. Thomas.  Plus, he coached two seasons of varsity tennis at Lumen Christi, a private Roman Catholic high school in Jackson, Michigan, where he had played five sports when he was a student-athlete. He also volunteered as a soccer coach and English teacher for refugee children in Africa.

Notable guest quotes:

“Both of my parents were Catholic.  I am one of four children… We were definitely raised in a household that prayed before every meal, attended church every Sunday… My parents were always very open about their faith.”

“My junior and senior year I had the opportunity to go (to Jamaica) and do some ministry down there and it was a wonderful experience…  It’s something that to this day… I still draw from experiences that I had there.”

“That’s just an opportunity to travel and see a little bit more of the world, see a little bit more of God’s creation, but also at the same time give back while doing that, not just selfishly take from those experiences but to actually give something out of those experiences.  And often times you get more than you even give when you’re doing something like that.”

“I almost feel like it was one of those innate, blessed, God-given abilities.  And so I think when you have something like that, and I think everybody does, sometimes you have to search for it, you don’t know exactly what your special talent may be, but when you figure that out I think it’s very important that you share that with the world because God didn’t just give that to you for no reason.  He didn’t just make you who you are and say, ‘Okay, don’t utilize any of the special qualities or the talents that I gave you’.”

“I also think it’s important to give back.  So, I had thought a lot about joining the Peace Corps.  I thought that might be a good opportunity to travel and to give back to the world a little bit.”

“I will say that there are some times when you do have those struggles or when things really are stressing you out – maybe you’re in the middle of work for the season, you have got practices that you’re going to, you’ve got exams that are coming up – it’s a real time where you’re like, ‘Boy, man am I glad that I have faith, that I am a Catholic and that I can just go for an hour to church and reset and talk to God, refocus on what’s important here.”

“For me it was always just a blessing to have the opportunity to get to do something that I love.”

“I love coaching and if an opportunity – and the correct opportunity – presents itself and I think it’s really what God’s calling me to do, I’ll definitely jump at the chance.”

Related link:

National Catholic Coaches Association

Nikki Breske

She just graduated from Florida State University where she was a pole vaulter, ranking among the Seminoles Top Ten all-time both outdoors and indoors. Born and raised Catholic, in high school she competed for Winter Park High in central Florida and was undefeated during her senior season there. She is committed to and outspoken about abstinence and chastity. Listen for the phone call she received her first week away at college and how she responded.

Notable guest quotes:

“But with all of this (pandemic) going on I’ve definitely gone into overdrive in praying and just asking God to lead me wherever He wants me to go next and worry less, stress about it less, and just allow Him to guide my life where He wants me to be.”

“I was (a) cradle Catholic, so, born and raised.  I went to St. Margaret Mary Catholic School, K through eighth grade.  And then, we always went to Mass as a family every Sunday.”

“I didn’t want to leave the church ’cause that was where I felt at home even though I hadn’t been to that church before.  It was just the presence of God and knowing that each Catholic Mass was the same in terms of reading and whatnot.”

“I’ve seen people come out of college or go through college and I’ve seen the heartbreak of all of the sins, just, like, the drinking and the partying, and, just, I knew that wasn’t something that I wanted to do and I knew that ultimately wouldn’t help me in track.”

“I think it just helped me realize that God created us for so much more.  So it gave me pretty clear eyes to see that even though I was in an environment in which sin was dwelling, that that wasn’t the only option that I had.”

“I would say I have a definite passion especially for abstinence and promoting chastity among all young single people.”

“God has created each and every one of us for our mission for His plan.”

“Nobody’s happy with the ‘hookup culture.’  Nobody’s happy being hungover the next day.  Nobody’s satisfied but nobody talks about it.  Everybody talks about the fun that they had, but when you get alone in a room are you happy with yourself?  And I’ve seen more often than not that people aren’t and that they’re searching for more.  And though it seems in a twisted way, I think all of this is us searching for God.  Whatever we are diving into or indulging, it’s really a search for happiness and a search for Jesus.”

“Sports are great, but at the end of the day there is an end to everything.  There’s a season for everything.  And prioritizing school, especially, I think is something so important.  Education and learning are SO important, especially going into the real world.  And you never have a plan of when your season is going to an end or an injury occurs.”

“I have… found that when I start my day at 7am in that Mass and receiving Jesus in Communion, that my day is significantly better.  I start my day with so much more peace and just a happiness.  I think I radiate something so much more than myself when I start my day off in daily Mass and ask God to be with me and to allow Him to work through me and just be a friend to everybody just like Jesus was.”

“There were a couple meets that we all, regardless of the team, we all circled up, and we prayed, and I think those were some of the best meets with the best people to compete against.”

Related link:

Nikki Breske on Instagram

(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)

Fr Stephen Gadberry

The pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Batesville, Arkansas, AND St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Newport, Arkansas.  He was on Season 10 of “American Ninja Warrior” on NBC in 2018 and also enjoys archery and is an avid hunter, plus he coaches CrossFit.  He served in the U.S. Air Force in Texas, Germany, and central Iraq.

Notable guest quotes:

“Whenever I’m working and I’m being productive, for me that’s a very sacred moment.”

“I remember starting tee ball when I was probably five years old?  And pretty much every year since then I’ve done some sort of sport.”

“Throughout my life, just, I’ve always trusted the people who were over me: my parents growing up, my superiors in the military, my formators in the seminary, and now, of course, the bishop and the dean – the priest in charge of that area that I’m in – I trust that Christ will speak to me and I can hear His voice.  One of the ways I can hear it most clearly is through them.”

“(the bishop) was also concerned about my soul.  He said, ‘I want you to do (American Ninja Warrior) as long as it doesn’t affect you negatively spiritually’.”

“Spring of 2018 I get the call from (American Ninja Warrior).  They say, ‘Come, we’ll do the filming.’  I did that in Dallas, of all times, it was Palm Sunday night.”

“One of the best ways to preach the gospel is, just be joyful.”

“Through American Ninja Warrior I was… hoping to share this human aspect of this priest, because we’re called to live out the incarnation of Christ.  We’re called to share His grace, to manifest His divinity in the world through ministry, but we’re also called to embrace our own unique identity with our strengths and weaknesses that we have.  And so, He’s given me that particular skill set of… physical exertion, you could say.  So I just embraced it and trusted that if the Lord gave it to me and I use it well, that He’ll do what He needs to do.”

“(Saint) Augustine and Joseph Ratzinger, two of the greatest minds and greatest hearts in the history of the church.”

“I’ve been able to meet countless you could call them ‘famous’ people.  But at the end of the day, they do one thing and they do it well.  Everything else?  They’re just like you and me.  Which does not discourage me, but actually it encourages me to do, that one gift that God has given me, it encourages me to do it well.”

“It’s in the basics, the still, silent moments of the basic times of life that you can most perfectly hear the voice of the Lord.”

Porter Moser

The head men’s basketball coach at Loyola University Chicago since 2011, has been an NCAA Division I men’s basketball coach for 30 years. His 2018 team went to the Final Four.  As a player he competed on the Creighton University Bluejays and in 2017 was named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a player.  He has also been inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.  Plus he is the author of a new book called, “All In: Driven by Passion, Energy, and Purpose.”

Guest quotes:

“I was born and raised Catholic.  Both my parents were Catholic.  And it was very traditional Catholic upbringing and I was able to go to Saints Peter & Paul Catholic grade school all the way through.  Then I went to Bennett Academy Catholic High School.”

“I remember finding the sanctuary of St. John’s Church right there on the campus of Creighton (University).  It was just, like, 50 yards outside the door of my dorm room… and I’d walk over there and be by myself, and just think and pray and just get my thoughts together and just ask for strength.  And I just remember having that private silent sanctuary to go to at St. John’s Church… And it was a defining moment in my life.”

“What I’ve learned in 30 years of Division I coaching… when I was a young coach I was so much about — and a lot of people are whether they’re in coaching or in business — you’re so much about the trajectory.  You’re, ‘What’s my next step,’ … and you’re so much about the trajectory instead of the journey and the relationships, whether it’s relationships with friends, family, spouse, kids, your relationship with God.”

“I just kept on praying for strength and I remember I just kept on saying over and over and over, ‘God has a plan’.”

“My faith grew and grew and grew and I was strengthened.  And, the adversity, I felt God’s power, I felt it more that God had a plan.”

“You achieve what you emphasize.  If you emphasize that relationship, that that’s a priority, same thing with your faith, you achieve what you emphasize.  If you’re not going to emphasize it, it’s going to keep going down in the pecking order.”

“God’s a lantern inside you.  And, are you going to let His lantern shine through you and have other people see His brightness through you, or are you putting a shade over that lantern to where He’s not reflecting through you? … I want my players to see that light.  I want the opportunities that are given me that come my way, I want it to reflect Jesus.  I want it to reflect my faith.”

“I also love what the Jesuits’ mantra is – men and women for others… I’ve just seen it in place when you put others first on how God finds it to come back to you.”

Related link:

Porter’s book, All In: Driven by Passion, Energy, and Purpose

(This episode contains a prayer from the South Bend Indiana Inner-City Catholic League, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Sherri Retif

She has been the head coach of the varsity girls basketball team at Germantown Academy for more than 20 years.  Her teams have captured the Inter-Academic Athletic League Championship 19 times, including a streak of 14 consecutive titles and 109 straight Inter-Ac victories. She had previously coached in New Orleans, where her teams captured back-to-back City Championships. She played basketball for the Tulane Green Wave and was inducted into the Tulane University Hall of Fame. In later years she was inducted into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame. In “Perspective on Youth Sport and Spirituality,” published by Notre Dame Press in 2015, she contributed a chapter on best practices. And, she co-authored a handbook called, “More Than a Game, Stories, Prayers and Reflections for the Student Athlete.”

Guest quotes:

“I grew up as a Catholic.  I went to Catholic schools all the way through twelfth grade and then I coached in a Catholic school for eight years… in New Orleans.  My husband took a job and we moved to Philadelphia and I just kind of thought I was done coaching and lo and behold Christ had another path for me and I was back coaching by the Fall.”

“I walked away from the game not thinking that was my calling.  I thought my calling was being a mom and a parent.”

“I realized my Christian values that I grew up with of honesty and accountability and community, and they just merged with the same values that I brought to the (basketball) court.”

“I learned that God was with us in adversity and God was with us in joy and bliss.”

“Being on a team is an opportunity for our students to have a small faith community, to have a safe place to grow and develop and make mistakes and learn.”

“If you’re focused on only winning or achieving a scholarship or outcome, you’re missing the journey, you’re missing the process.  And I think the invitation is to be aware of… is the experience moving them closer to God or is it moving them away from God?  Is my conversation with my athlete helping them grow closer to God or further away?”

“I think that’s where we all need to be as coaches – meeting our students where their needs are in our athletes.”

“The more we see Christ in others, Christ will grow in ourselves.”

“It doesn’t have to be all about winning on the scoreboard, it’s about winning in life.”

Related links:

Books mentioned:

Youth Sport and Spirituality: Catholic Perspectives

More Than a Game: Stories, Prayers, and Reflections for the Student Athlete