Episodes

Bennett Lee

A catcher who this past June was chosen by the Detroit Tigers in the sixth round of the 2023 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft after having played collegiately, first at Tulane University and then at Wake Forest. Prior to that, he was a four-year letterwinner on the baseball team at Jesuit High School in Tampa, having been part of the team that ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2020, at 9-0, and that won the state championship in 2019, posting a 27-5 won-lost record.  Away from sports, he is a convert to the Catholic faith, as heard in this discussion.

Notable guest quotes:

“My family’s Christian, and I went to St. Mary’s Episcopal Dayschool, so I was kind of raised in an Episcopal household and I learned a lot at St. Mary’s, and it was awesome, but my faith never really exploded the way it has until I got to Jesuit (High School) and was introduced to Catholicism.”

“Going into Jesuit (High School) as a non-Catholic I was not well read and well learned of the Catholic faith, and I had an incredible religion teacher my freshman year in Intro to Catholicism class.”

“Two really good friends of mine went through RCIA and converted to Catholicism… Seeing those two guys go through the process and ultimately get confirmed really sparked an interest in my heart to do it.”

“I’m very close with Father Hermes, who is the president of Jesuit (High School), and he has had a great impact on me as well.”

“Going into the season I was the third string catcher and then a couple weeks in I earned the starting role and kind of just went from there.  It was really a blessing.”

“God has opened up a lot of doors and a lot of help from a lot of people that… it’s very significant and I’m very grateful.”

“Looking back on that time, it was all just God reeling me back in, just saying, ‘Hey come back to me.  We know baseball isn’t all that important.  I’m more important.  Eternity’s more important.’  And all that kind of helped me, kind of grounded me and helped me to realize all that.”

“The Wake Forest (University) Catholic community was big for me in helping me stay in line with the faith through the whole season, through the whole year, and even today.”

“The Catholic faith wasn’t given to me from birth.  I kind of discovered it – well, through the gift of God, but – on my own and I take ownership of it and that’s why I really appreciate all the things that Catholics have access to, all the sacraments and everything.”

“Now I feel very compelled to just walk one step at a time with God and allow wherever that takes me to take me.”

Related link:

Bennett’s page on MLB.com

(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)

Dr. Dobie Moser

A special episode, of sorts, he returns after having previously been on this show way back on Episode 120, more than two-and-a-half years ago.  He is the Senior Director of Mission Integration, CYO, and Social Action for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Cleveland.  Earlier this year he was awarded St. Ambrose parish’s Servant Leader Award.  Over two years ago he had started a parish-based mental health ministry at St. Ambrose, and, as we hear about during this conversation, back in January of THIS year CYO began training their athletic directors regarding the mental health crises of children and teens.

Notable guest quotes:

“My parish… we were seeing and hearing of some pretty significant mental health issues in families with young people.”

“I went to the pastor… and said, ‘I think we need to do a mental health ministry here in the parish.’  And talk about great pastoral leadership, his response was, ‘I love it.  You have my support.  What do you need’?”

“That led us to say, ‘We need to start training our (athletic directors), who are wonderful folks, and they really care about kids, but this is a different landscape than the one many of us have in our background’.”

“Catholic Charities has an ongoing support network of services, counselors, support groups, et cetera, for anybody of any age.  Well, that led us to say, well what does that look like with the young people entrusted to our care in athletics?  And the front-line people in that are coaches.”

“It is really problematic when individuals with good intention spiritualize mental illness in a negative light, i.e., ‘If you only had more faith.’  i.e., ‘If you prayed more.’  And I would just use the analogy to say, what parent who had a child with a broken arm would say that that is because of lack of faith?”

“Can coaches see themselves – ‘Yes, I coach basketball.  I coach flag football, track and field,’ whatever the sport.  Yes, we value that for the gift that it is.  It is the tool and the needs, but the heart of the matter – are you as a coach willing to be a loving, caring, and trustworthy adult for kids?”

“The See, Judge, Act piece comes from our Catholic social teaching… We should look at any challenges in our world through that framework and connect it to our Catholic faith.”

“I actually think part of being a Christian is we do not look at human suffering and look away.  We actually look toward it and say, ‘What is God calling me to do as a response’?”

“I like the line from St. Don Bosco.  It’s, ‘Because you are young is reason enough to love you.’  Not because you score baskets or because you’re a good or bad athlete.”

“How can we give that pain and loss to God so it’s transformed into something that gives life and hope to the world?”

Related link:

How to Start a Parish Mental Health Ministry (webinar by Dr. Dobie Moser)

David Belfield

He is the head men’s basketball coach at Belmont Abbey College — a Catholic institution. Previously he had been an assistant coach at the United States Military Academy (Army West Point). As a student-athlete he had played collegiately for two seasons at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, before moving into a student-assistant coaching role. He had earned his first coaching position in 2018 at UNC-Charlotte and is a graduate of Charlotte Catholic High School.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was baptized (Catholic) at a young age… as I transitioned my junior year of high school to Charlotte Catholic, that’s when it kind of picked back up for me and I was a member of RCIA.”

“As a junior in high school I was actually in the class with some of the younger children and that’s when I did my first confession, first communion, confirmation, and all that as a high school student.”

“Maybe I was worshipping the game of basketball.  I don’t think it was until I got into the coaching side that I put a lot more thought into using basketball as a vehicle.”

“(My dad) saw basketball as a way to help those kids make better decisions, to take them off the street and kind of give them something to strive for.  So that was probably one of the big pieces for me early on, seeing that you can use the game to really help people.”

“Thankfully, the two coaches that I worked for first, their faith was really important to them… (they) constantly were connecting faith and basketball, and who they were as a coach kind of was a direct correlation of their faith.”

“I played for two coaches in college who were both Christians.”

“This is a Catholic college.  When I interviewed for the job, they didn’t ask me any questions about Xs and Os, what we’re going to do, how I was going to run practice, style of play.  It was all about, ‘How are you going to help develop these young men in body, mind, and spirit.’  That’s all they cared about.”

“For us, personally, as a team, obviously we pray before and after a contest.  The biggest thing for us, though, with myself and our staff is we just try to pour into our young men on a daily basis and we try to know who they are as people so that we can help them grow in all areas of their life.”

“What I like to tell guys, ‘If you’re faith is important to you, regardless of if you’re Catholic, Muslim, Baptist, whatever it is, this is a place where you can grow’.”

“I feel like I’ve grown the most in my faith when I’m around people who also prioritize their faith.”

“Be thankful for the hard times.  It’s easy to be thankful when things are going well.”

Related link:

David’s bio on Belmont Abbey 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.)

Rick Eckstein

He has been working in baseball for parts of four decades now, including having been the hitting coach for the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as the player information coach for the Los Angeles Angels AND the minor league hitting coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. He was also on the coaching staff of the 2008 Team USA Olympic baseball team, plus he coached at the collegiate level, including the University of Kentucky, as well as the University of Florida, having played for the Gators during his years as a student-athlete.

Notable guest quotes:

“We were a very strong Catholic family… I was born and raised with a very strong faith and at the very young age of around seven I started doing the altar boy (duties).”

“Everything about our faith, ya’ know, praying and relying on the Lord and everything, was very strong in our household.”

“I started playing baseball.  I was, at the time, six (years old).  So, I did the Little League Baseball thing.  I was an avid surfer… And then I did gymnastics.  I did the rings in gymnastics… And I also did basketball.”

“Definitely my faith was a big component in that because when you’re sitting in the silence of your own head, thinking about what your future looks like, what just happened, I just said, ‘Ya’ know, Lord, everything always happens for a reason, and it’s always turned out for the best’.”

“That’s how my faith got me through the injury, is, I just said, ‘Okay, Lord, maybe I was meant to be a coach, not a player’.”

“I can remember going to Sunday church in Gainesville, Florida, at the University of Florida, and I would pray – I had my own prayer in my head that I said daily – and I started that that year because I didn’t know that what I did was any good at coaching, so I prayed to be a good coach.”

“If I have a plan and I show up ready to execute that plan and I’ve done my homework and put everything out there, then I know the good Lord’s gonna, whatever happens is best for me.”

“In the process with that, when you get to know me, you get a sense of my faith as well.  You get a sense of who I am as a person and what I value and a lot of times the conversations in the (batting) cage do have a faith-based message behind it.”

“We went on a retreat… we hired a bus and… went to Miami to see Pope John Paul (II).  So, we made the trek down to Miami from the Orlando area… When I always, when I see the word ‘holy,’ I think of that day, and I don’t know why.  But when I think of ‘holy’ I always think of seeing the Pope riding through the crowd… It was fascinating; truly, truly moving.”

“We started bringing in one of the local priests to do Catholic Mass inside the locker room so guys wouldn’t have to miss ‘cause Sunday day games are tough to go to Mass.”

“I could tell you the story about being at Dodger Stadium and Vin Scully reading the first reading and second readings to us as a congregation inside Dodger Stadium.  You talk about super special?!”

“I went and saw Pope Benedict.  I took my mom to Rome, Italy … and we did Mass with him and, just phenomenal, fantastic.  One of the best trips I’ve had.”

(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.)

Joe Wieland

He has been playing professional baseball since being selected in the fourth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers.  He is a pitcher who has played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners, plus he has earned numerous honors while pitching at the minor league level, and he even spent a couple seasons pitching in Japan and one other in Korea.  As a student-athlete he had been named State Player of the Year by two newspapers while playing high school baseball.

Notable guest quotes:

“The Catholic faith was a priority with my parents, my grandma and grandpa, Sunday Mass, it was a necessity growing up.  I went to Our Lady of the Snows elementary school and then I went to Bishop Manogue Catholic High School.  While I was at Manogue I went – and actually led – a Quest Retreat … and then… Kairos.”

“Growing up the Catholic faith was – a cradle Catholic – it always part of my life.”

(waiting for the MLB Draft) “There was a lot of praying.  There was a lot of just asking for guidance, and at the end of the day it’s going to work out the way it’s supposed to.  God’s got a plan and we were fortunate enough that Texas came calling in the fourth round.”

“You can’t just be kind of a, say you’re Catholic, go through the motions, go to Mass sometimes; it’s, you gotta be all in.”

“That retreat was really what kinda lit and got my faith journey kinda more back on track and full head of steam.”

“I realized going through that whole rehab process, if I had not relied on my faith… I don’t know where I would’ve ended up.”

“That year I really had to trust what God’s plan was because the writing was on the wall; hey, you’re healthy, and you’re pitching, you’re gonna be in the big leagues… it was tough.”

“It’s God’s plan, it’s not ours.  That’s what you really have to grasp, and you trust that it’s not your plan.  And when you do, when you fully let go, you see all along that things are better when you trust, and you let God handle it.”

“Going through that consecration it brought me so much closer to Jesus and through St. Joseph…  And then I’ve had a devotion to Mary for a while now.  I feel like the rosary is a weapon against Satan that I think every Catholic should be carrying around and praying.”

Related links:

Joe Wieland on MLB.com
Joe Wieland on MiLB.com

(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)

Bear Woznick

He returns after having first been on this show way back in October of 2019 (Episode 38). He is a TV and radio host, author, speaker, and world surfing champion. He operates Deep Adventure Ministries and his new book — his third book — is called, “12 Rules for Manliness: Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”

Notable guest quotes:

“I tell the men, teach confirmation classes, be young adult leaders, and coach… I just think it’s incredibly vital and important work if you just coach.  You don’t even have to tell them about Jesus, they’ll know you’re a Christian because you’re modeling the virtues of fortitude, of justice, of self-mastery, of prudence, of faith, hope, and love.”

“(My wife and I) are going to get on our boat and we’re going to sail away, but we do know that God is up to something.  But our first step is just to take a deep breath, and say, ‘Okay, Lord, we’re listening.’  There’s a scripture verse that says ‘those (that) are led by the Spirit are like the wind’.”

“I love the catechism.  I think everyone should read for a few minutes every day and make their way through that catechism – let the catechism read you.”

“My dad was actually a deacon there in Lahaina at the Maria Lanakila Catholic Church.  And with all that tragedy, what’s interesting is that everything burnt to the ground, except that Catholic church… We had Mass there three days after the (wildfires).”

“In Hawaii when there’s someone who passes away, we’ll have a paddle out, and it happened two weeks later… we had about a thousand people paddle out on our surfboards, paddle out about a half a mile, and then we all get in a big circle and then we splash the water up in the air and we just pray.”

“I love that scripture verse in 1 Corinthians 13, ‘Be on the alert, make a stand, act like men, and do it all in love’.”

“We believe in fitness to witness.  If you’re not physically fit, you’re not going to fulfill your mission.”

“John Paul II, he says, ‘Love is self-donation’.”

“My personal creed is that the most radical quest a man can pursue is to abandon himself to the wild and adventure of God’s Will.”

Related links:

School of Manliness website
Bear’s new book

Dr Brian Duncan

He owns and coaches at a mixed martial arts gym and runs an acupuncture sports medicine clinic.  He has been training in martial arts for 30 years, having started in karate and gotten his black belt in Koei Kan Karate at just 14 years old. He eventually trained in Wing Chun and practiced and taught it for ten years and got a black belt in it as well.  Along the way he dabbled in different martial arts like Kendo, freestyle wrestling, Judo, and others, eventually finding his way into the world of MMA. He is now a fifth-degree black belt in SGC Karate and Kickboxing and a blue belt in BJJ. He is a convert to the faith and recently started a line of Catholic themed athletic clothing called Catholic Fightwear.

Notable guest quotes:

“I started playing sports, well, specifically doing martial arts, when I was about four (years old)… There was a guy at our church that ran a karate school, so they got me into that, and I’ve done that ever since.  I also played some baseball as a kid and soccer.  I actually did soccer all the way through high school and was on the varsity team as a goalie.”

“I always had a dream since I was about ten years old that I wanted to run a Dojo, but in between there I actually had set out to be a pastor.”

“I started a gym, and it has been going pretty well and I’ve seen God’s providence where I had a friend of mine come in who wanted to invest in it and kind of become a co-owner and so we’re actually building up the MMA gym… God just keeps providing.”

“My whole conversion was probably a good decade-long journey.”

“I went to a Bible school briefly, which is kind of like a seminary.  They’ll call ‘em Bible Institutes… and I began to study Biblical languages.”

“I got myself a Catholic Catechism because I wanted to know exactly what the church taught and not just give my version of it or what I’d heard from other people.”

“I found that I couldn’t really deny Catholic teaching anymore and I couldn’t argue against it because I was agreeing with it.”

“I’d been reading some theology from, like, Thomas Aquinas.  St. Francis de Sales was huge in my conversion.”

“Even to this day, people ask (my wife), ‘Why did you convert?’  And she’ll just say things like, ‘Because I trust my husband.  God put him there and I’ve trusted him so far and I just know he won’t mislead me’.”

“I found that through coaching I can help other people build their confidence.  I can help other people just affect their lives in positive ways.  And that to me has been far more powerful to me as a person than being a champion myself.”

“Coaching is so much more enriching to me than being a competitor because when I’m a competitor I lift myself up, but when I’m a coach I get to lift up an innumerable amount of people.”

Related link:

Catholic Fightwear 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)