Jesus as a teammate

Richard A. Sokerka

With the Spring sports schedule in full swing, SportsLeader (www.­sportsleader.org), a Catholic sports ministry, has as its goal to equip and inspire every diocese and every school to have a person who will help coaches integrate virtue, mentoring, ceremony and Catholic identity more intentionally into their team. And how can coaches go about that?

SportsLeader’s answer is to coach and play sports by making Our Lord the model for sports participation: “Jesus was selfless, humble, coachable, 100 percent all in, dedicated, willing to sacrifice and take one for the team. On top of all that he could heal the sick and the injured and walk on water. Why wouldn’t you want him on your team? Why wouldn’t you put him in? Just imagine if every single one of the players on your team was as virtuous and hard working as Jesus. That would be a dream team. All effort with no attitude.”

As SportsLeader points out coaches need to talk about Jesus more with their teams. “Let’s point to him as the best example as often as we can. In fact, coaches can help athletes see Jesus as the kind of selfless teammate who gives his all for others all the time, never complaining or holding anything back — the kind of person who inspires us and prompts us to love him. It is physically impossible for someone to give more than Jesus did,” SportsLeader notes.

According to SportsLeader, “Whenever we see a teammate who runs hard, gives 100 percent effort all the time, always has great attitude and never complains, that teammate inspires us. We admire them and we would do anything for them. We love that teammate. And we should. That is one of the beautiful aspects of team. In the same exact way, Jesus was all of that for us. He gave every drop of his blood for us. It is physically impossible for someone to give more than Jesus did.

“If we can help our athletes to see Jesus in that way — as the ideal teammate, as the friend who would do anything for them — there isn’t a more impactful path for them to develop a lifelong relationship with Our Lord and grow to love their Catholic faith and live it because they want to, not because someone is making them do it.”

When you think about SportsLeaders message, there really is no better place to reach out to evangelize our young people than in the environment of their sports team.

With Jesus as their teammate, not a single one of them will ever fail.