Episodes

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

Fr John Perdue – The Flying Fathers

The Flying Fathers were a hockey team of Catholic priests originally started back in the early 1960s. There is optimism of-late for the team’s resurrection, according to Father John Perdue, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Peterborough in Ontario, Canada.  He not only is playing for the team but leading their return.  He talks about it during this conversation that was recorded while he was in Rome for the canonization of the five newest saints.

Notable guest quotes:

“So he sits down and explains with him that he’s been sensing this call and that he’s gonna go and become a priest.”

“Part of why I’ve been willing to invest time and energy in being a part of (bringing back the Flying Fathers) because I see the great value it has to sort of humanize the priest.”

“If young men can see guys like priests kind of having fun, engaging in sport, it makes them kind of think, ‘Hey, I could see myself doing that.  I see a similarity between them and myself.’  And certainly will open hearts and minds to vocations, I think.”

“For those of us who live in the faith… we have the most fun, when you’re living in the fullness of the joy of the gospel.”

“I see the need for generous young men to lay down their lives in service of the gospel and if sport can be a bridge to have young men see priests as humans who do good for society through these games and laugh and are normal guys, by all means the vocational aspect is sort of a third, ya’ know there’s the charity, there’s the joy, and there’s the vocational aspect.”

“So, spiritually speaking, I’m offering Mass with the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, I’m making Christ present on the altar alongside Peter.  It was very moving to do that, just to stop and just think about what I’ve just done, where I am.  And it’s kind of a little overwhelming.”

“The Flying Fathers were granted an audience with (Pope) Paul VI.  They had risen to enough acclaim and had done, I guess, enough for charity that they met Paul VI.”

“The only directive that our Lord ever gave about vocations, was, ‘Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that He might send laborers into His harvest’.”

Related link:

Video about the Flying Fathers

Bear Woznick

He is a champion of numerous surfing events.  He is also a licensed scuba diver and licensed private pilot.  Plus, he is a skydiver and has rappelled off mountains.  He has even been a mentor on the adventure reality show “Clean Break” on the FOX network, as well as been a guest star and stuntman on “Hawaii 5-0.”  He also has been seen on EWTN television and heard on EWTN Radio and has led pilgrimages to places such as Greece and Israel.  Plus, he wrote two books, including one called, Deep Adventure: The Way of Heroic Virtue.  He also is a Benedictine Oblate to the Mary Spouse of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Hawaii.  He is also an inductee in the Sports Faith Hall of Fame.

Notable guest quotes:

“Every Catholic is an evangelist.  We’re all called to be evangelists.”

“You cannot be a wimp and love Jesus.  Every single disciple – all but one of them – were martyred.  So, through history there’s nothing more heroic than being a Christian.”

“The most radical thing you can do in life is abandon yourself to the wild adventure of God’s Will.”

“There’s nothing more exciting or thrilling or wild than listening in the morning, tuning into the Lord maybe through the Liturgy of the Hours or the Mass, praying the rosary, and then seeing God open doors and close doors and seeing walls fall down as you pursue His Will.”

“In college, I began to really hunger for God.  It was like, ‘God, if you’re there, you’re kind of like a real remote father who maybe sends child support checks, but I would like to know you and be in a personal relationship with you’.”

“This is a total abandonment to God’s Will.  It’s not just a little optional extra you add on to the rest of your life.”

“The Lord miraculously healed my back and now I’m a world champion tandem surfer.”

“I’m so grateful, not just for the depth of teaching, but for the sacraments.”

“I love the Benedictine life, and I love the Liturgy of the Hours, living the Liturgy of the Hours through the day, and understanding detachment and not focusing on the things of this world but just desiring God.”

“That’s my great weapon when I pray, intercessory prayer.”

Related link:

Bear’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)

Luke Vercollone

He played 15 years of pro soccer, having retired last year from the United Soccer League after having initially been drafted into Major League Soccer.  He had played the sport collegiately at Seton Hall University (a Roman Catholic university).  Although he founded a program that teaches basic soccer skills to kids, he is now working for a pro-life organization.  He is also in the Knights of Columbus and has started a men’s ministry.  He also has a faith-based line of apparel.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was so blessed to be raised in the faith, growing up, but, it was often more of my parents’ faith and that comfortable environment where I was surrounded by it than it was my own personal faith.”

“He lived it.  He lived the faith fully and he had peace and he had something that I wanted… He was… a likeable, relatable person who practiced the faith… and I told him what I wanted and he said it can be done… in giving God all of my life and not just trying to hold onto parts of it.  It really transformed my life.”

“But the balance is always tough.  I mean, where do you get your identity?  And for me, sometimes I would get it in soccer and find fulfillment in succeeding in soccer, but I knew that it had to come from God and from God alone.”

“What helped a lot me was that relationship through prayer.  And just by prayer, on campus I would pray for 15 minutes a day, my senior year… in front of the tabernacle.  In the sacraments – prayer and the sacraments are just so powerful with that personal relationship with God.”

“That identity and that discernment in prayer, in sacraments, and understanding that to do God’s Will doesn’t mean that I can’t do the desires of my heart.  So, that prayer really helped a lot.”

“As I was discerning retirement with pro soccer, I felt a strong calling to ministry and towards evangelization.”

“So many great saints in our tradition that we get to learn from, be inspired by, and have them intercede for us, so, we are grateful that they’re praying for us daily.”

Related links:

Save The Storks
Mighty Kicks
Luke’s apparel line

Tanner Kalina

In college he played Division I baseball and was being scouted by the New York Mets, going on to play at another college before eventually made his way out of the sport.  He remains an avid surfer and has also found success in comedy and films, including a movie released earlier this year that he says is, “Littered with Catholicism.”  He and a friend are also going around college campuses giving talks, which was spawned from his having participated in FOCUS.

Notable guest quotes:

“Sister Ruth was kind of training me in what being a Catholic looks like.”

“In middle school I’d walk myself to Mass and make sure I was in the pew every Sunday.”

“I have peace about it, and I’ve forgiven them, but, one of them came up to me after my time at HBU and said that they tried to break me.”

“It kind of presented a bit of a spiritual crisis too because I saw everything I had worked for so hard and diligently my whole life, everything I wanted, and everything I felt God wanted me to do just kind of falling through the cracks of my clutch and it made me just see that kind of my whole identity was wrapped up in being a shortstop, being a professional ballplayer, and so I was kind of forced to confront that, lean into God.”

“When I went to UT, the first stop I made was at the university Catholic center.  And, the first person I ran into was a FOCUS missionary and she immediately got me involved with a Bible study there.  Which, that Bible study became my community and still some of my best friends.”

“Authentic walks are possible.  Authentic relationships with God are totally real.”

“I feel my vocation is to bridge the sacred and secular.”

“Your plans are not your plans, and your plans aren’t gonna work out.  But just kind of have fun in the freefall that is the walk with God.”

Related link:

Tanner’s IMDB page

(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)