Episodes

Peter Mulry

One of the winningest coaches in high school baseball, having coached for ten years at Tampa Catholic High School where he posted an amazing won-lost record of 329-39.  His teams won four state championships and a national championship.  He went on to coach at the University of Tampa and also scouted for Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals. Last year he was No. 26 on a list of the top 50 coaches in Tampa Bay sports history and he has been inducted into four Halls of Fame. He has his own foundation, which is dedicated to teaching young children life skills through sports.  And just over a year ago he launched a series of what is now six books to bring life skills to young athletes through a diverse set of characters representing each baseball position on the field.

Notable guest quotes:

“She was the one that told me that, ‘Ya’ know, you really need to be an altar boy and give some of your time and get to Mass early in the morning and start your day off like that’.”

“People believed in us when we were young men and didn’t believe in ourselves and I think that’s kind of the spiritual journey that kept me going.”

“I said, ‘I’ll help the kids if I can help the coaches and the parents really realize what we can do with baseball and use it as a tool to teach life skills through sports’.”

“The whole essence of the program, the Peter J. Mulry program, is what we call the STARS of the Future, because without our youth doing well, we’re in trouble… The whole acronym to STARS is Spirituality, Teamwork, Attitude, Respect, and then being a better Student and learning all we can about being a better person.”

“I’ve always thought the Mass was one of the most beautiful rituals that we have in the world.”

“I tell people, ‘Just go (to Mass) one day and listen to how many times the word ‘mercy’ and ‘peace’ is mentioned, and ‘forgiveness,’ all the positive things that, we take this spiritual walk that we need to have as Catholic men and women.”

(about going to daily Mass) “I tried it without it… and I tried it with it, and it’s so much better with it.”

Related link:

https://peterjmulryfoundation.org/

(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)

Tony Saladino

Every year since 1981 a tournament has taken place to promote high school baseball in Hillsborough County (Tampa, Florida area).  It was first established as a memorial for Tony Saladino, Sr. and has grown from eleven public schools to now a 32-team event, with 38 players that have participated in the tournament having gone on to play in the Major Leagues, 12 of which were first round draft picks.  The guest on this episode of CSR has been at the heart of all of this for all those years and is a lifelong Catholic.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was born Catholic… And we tried to instill all the spiritual stuff to our kids, grandkids, and all the players in high schools in Hillsborough County.”

“I played recreation ball, high school baseball, metro league fast pitch softball, and semi-pro baseball.”

“Regarding our high school tournament, we schedule it no Sunday games, no Sunday practices.  It’s strictly for church.”

“We want to make it a cordial, family style, safe, nostalgic event each year.”

“We used to have a breakfast for all the players before the tournament started, and (the Fellowship of Christian Athletes) would bring in various speakers to give Christian messages.”

“(Fr. Tapp) comes to the tournament opening day, when available, does a blessing to the tournament… and gives a brief message to the kids.  And he’s awesome.  Big part of my life.”

“We’re just trying to take care of these high school kids to become caring and responsible citizens.”

“I start each day by reading a daily devotional… and my personal daily mission is to help others somehow, and attempt to motivate, influence, and inspire youth and adults to progress and improve and succeed in life using faith and family involvement.”

“I admire role models that exhibit and demonstrate family and family in their lives.”

“(I pray) that no one gets hurt, that everyone succeeds in life – not only in baseball but in life – and become caring and responsible citizens.”

Related link:

Saladino Baseball Tournament website

(This episode contains a prayer attributed to legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity Takeaways

To borrow a football term, an audible is called at the last-minute when the scheduled guest doesn’t show up, utilizing this episode instead to share some insights brought back from the 2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity.  The conference took place in late October in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and this installment of CSR cites content from that event that underscore the longstanding relationship between sports and faith.

Notable quotes:

Author Gary Thomas (opening keynote) said that, “We treat our bodies as instruments instead of ornaments.”

Anthony Maranise, a Benedictine Oblate and an educator, author, and chaplain, noted that in the Rule of Saint Benedict there are three references in the prologue to running, references to strength, battle, and grappling – what we might consider wrestling – in chapter one, and, a reference to a summit and climbing in chapter seven.

Maranise cited his somewhat “radical claim of the day,” saying that, “Sportspersons have lifestyles more akin to monastics than any other demographic.”

Maranise also said that, “God’s presence is inseparable from the whole of life, including sports.”

Fr. Frank, a PhD at La Salle University, noted that in 2016 the Vatican sponsored an international conference called, “Sports at the Service of Humanity,” followed by two national gatherings in the United States.

Fr. Frank also reported that at the beginning of this year, “Athletica Vaticana” debuted – the Vatican track team, consisting of priests, sisters, pharmacy workers, and members of the Swiss Guard, and an official member of the Italian Track association.

Fr. Frank added that just six years ago, Pope Francis addressed the International Olympic Committee delegates, saying, “Sports promote human and religious values which form the foundation of a just and fraternal society.”

Pope Francis, in an address to mark the 70^th Anniversary of the Italian Sports Center on June 7, 2014, said, “Challenge yourself in the quest for good, in both Church and society, without fear, with courage and enthusiasm. Get involved with others and with God; Don’t settle for a mediocre ‘tie,’ give it your best, spend your life on what really matters and lasts forever.”

Gordon College professor named Valerie Gin detailed a study, and then cited a publication based on a project called ReadySetGo.  In that publication they cite the book of Hebrews, which says, “let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”

The ReadySetGo project’s publication also cites 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 22-26, which might be the most blatant reference to sports in the Bible.  It says, “To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.  I have become all things to all, to save at least some.  All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.  Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize?  Run so as to win.  Every athlete exercises discipline in every way.  They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.  Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.”

Related links:

Vatican’s Sport and Culture page

ReadySetGo project

ReadySetGo (free) downloadable publication

Mark Blaise

Since June 2017 he has been the program’s second head men’s lacrosse coach at Benedictine College, a Catholic institution in Kansas, where he graduated from in 2013.  As an undergrad he was a co-founder of the Men’s Lacrosse Club team there.  He also has been an assistant coach at Rockhurst University AND was the head coach for the boys lacrosse team at St. Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic high school in Overland Park, Kansas.  This past April he was named the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

Notable guest quotes:

“It was definitely a message that my parents really took home and my grandparents really took home that at the end of the day your faith is more about what you’re doing on the inside, and I do think that there’s some problems with that… It used to be that we kind of held that within our own circle but as we’ve all gotten older and grown into our faith, I would definitely say that we’ve tried to bring the faith to more different people.”

“Being that light of the good that the church does into people’s lives, and telling people why you’re happy and why you’re driven and why you’re successful at what you’re trying to do is because of your foundation in Christ, I think, is one of the greatest witnesses that you can give.”

“Typically where I’ve seen the most amount of people fall away from the faith is when they’re transitioning from a relationship with God that’s not very complicated, it’s simple, and then once you become an adult it’s a lot more complicated and if we’re not continuing to invest in our relationship and continuing to try to communicate with God, we’re not going to have that relationship if we don’t put effort and communicate with God.”

“So often I think that people stop going to church and basically fall away from the church and say, ‘Well, I don’t feel God’s presence in my life.’  And typically, it’s because they’re not open to it and they’re not trying to have that communication.  If you stop talking to God and then say, ‘I don’t have a relationship with Him,’ that’s your fault as well.”

“Monks are normal people and they still follow sports and they still have interests outside of just work-pray.”

“One of the things that I always strive for is to be great in everything that you do… just not settling… If you’re settling, you’re never going to get to greatness.”

(on retreats) “If the adults aren’t putting themselves in those vulnerable situations that we’re asking our kids to put themselves into, how can we ask them and how do we understand what they’re getting out of it?”

“A lot of the things that we’re doing, full team, are trying to be inclusive and trying to show people that the Word of God is a way of life and that way of life is far better than any other way of life.”

[This episode contains a prayer by Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception (Oldenburg, IN) Athletic Director Tim Boyle, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport]

Haley Scott DeMaria

In college she was left paralyzed with a broken back after a bus accident involving her swim team from the University of Notre Dame, with two teammates having been killed instantly.  After five back operations and being told she wouldn’t walk, not to mention swim again, miraculously, she returned to competitive swimming for Notre Dame 21 months after the bus accident and her injury.  Her 2008 book, What Though The Odds, details what she went through and her “journey of faith and triumph.”  She later became Assistant Swim Coach at Xavier College Prep, the all-girls Catholic high school in Phoenix that she had attended.  She also talks here about two pilgrimages this and two years ago that she says reignited her faith and commitment to service.

Notable guest quotes:

“I refer to myself as a Christian mutt because I dabbled in a lot of different aspects of the Christian religion.  And I knew that faith was important.  I knew that prayer was important.  But I didn’t necessarily find a spiritual home.”

“I had my athletic life and then, of course, I had this spiritual life that were very separate as a child and, it’s really just when they come together eventually through life that we reach our full potential.”

“I went to an all-girls Catholic high school because they had the best swim team in the state of Arizona at the time.  And I went to the University of Notre Dame because I really wanted to swim for the coach at the time… So it had very little to do with the fact that they were both Catholic schools, but in hindsight those were two phenomenal institutions that gave me so much more than just an academic education.”

“…the tone that we’re all called to do as Christians, which is to ‘love one another as I have loved you’.”

“Our bus flipped off the side of the road.  It literally did a flip turn, in swimming terms, we flipped upside down and ended up facing the opposite direction…  And I landed on the top of my spine and shattered three vertebrae.”

“I have always believed truly and know – because I felt it – that it was not my faith that got me through this, but it was the faith of everyone around me.”

“It really is a testament to the faith environment where we were.”

“The beauty of my story is that it was awful and life is still beautiful.”

“I think when we can pray together, and we can share our journey and our hardships, it makes us all feel just a little less alone.”

Related link:

Haley’s book website

Jacob Flores

He was with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills and, more recently, the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football.  He had played college football at Dartmouth, and has now transitioned into the corporate world and life off the playing field.  He also talks about what he’s doing at his parish as well as in the community.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’ve got three little brothers… and… I’ve got an older sister, so, we’ve got a big athletic family, big Catholic family.”

“I chose religion (as a college major) because it was super important to me and I thought it would kind of teach me to defend my faith a little bit, so, it was one of the best decisions I made.”

“I think a lot of times you can use those four years (of college) to develop some other great friends who are close to Christ.”

“Anyone that went to church who believed in some of the core tenets of Christ in the Bible, that’s kind of what we focused the Bible study around.”

“In college when you’re away from your parents and your high school friends you have to find that group of people who are going to strengthen you and challenge you when you need to be challenged.”

“I think it’s really hard to live a life as a follower of Christ without other people.  I don’t think you’re meant to do it alone… Even Jesus had twelve disciples because He saw what that strength in numbers does.”

“At the end of the day… wins and losses are great and all that, but… when we’re talking about eternity I think that’s a little more important than did we win the game on Friday night.”

“I think we’re all given talents from God and I think for whatever reason mine was snapping a football and just being big and moving people and that’s what He gave me so I put in the hard work and developed it to the furthest that I could.”

“I remember when I got the call from the (Green Bay) Packers I had just gotten out of Mass, actually, which was pretty cool and I knew, like, okay, this is what I need to be doing.  This is where I need to be.”

“Football is kind of on the periphery and your core is your faith and your beliefs.”

Clay Dimick

A current member of the Charlotte Independence, which plays in the USL Championship, the largest pro soccer league in North America. He had played collegiately at Belmont Abbey, a Catholic school in North Carolina.  He loves the game of soccer, but he is on fire for his faith, having become Catholic approximately 15 months ago.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was born in Texas to two birth parents who were too young at the time, but, praise God they made the right decision and gave me up to adoption to wonderful parents.”

“Throughout the recruiting process I could tell how honest of a coach Coach Keating was compared to other coaches nowadays, they really only care about winning and how you perform, but I could tell there was more to him and more to the program… I felt like I could grow as a person and as a player.”

“As I became a junior and senior in college I had begun to hang out with Coach Keating and his family a bit more, and him and I developed a good relationship and I spent more time with his family going to Mass with them and just seeing how awesome the Catholic faith could be.”

“The one thing that kept intriguing me is how reverent and how quiet and how peaceful it was during Mass.  I had no idea what was going on.  I had no idea why everyone was kneeling.  But I did know that there was peace in there.”

“When he began using Biblical references and scripture to prove that Jesus is truly in the Eucharist, Jesus is truly at Mass.  When you go to Adoration Jesus is there – body, blood, soul, and divinity, He’s there in the Eucharist.”

“I’ve had some pro-life talks with some of the guys and it helps me grow in that sense as well, to be bold with my faith and to stand up for what I know is true and what I know is right.”

“Especially in the career that I’m in sometimes things don’t go your way and even in life things don’t go your way but we serve a God who is good all the time and His plans always are good for us.”

“One of the little things that I try to do is, when I sign an autograph, just draw a little cross, a little crucifix, and see if somebody notices one day.”

“When we started dating, I did tell her that the most important thing to me is the Catholic faith and my relationship with the Lord.”

(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)

Related link:

Clay’s Charlotte Independence bio page