Athletic programs are a form of “youth ministry," probably one of the largest and most pervasive forms of youth ministry that our Church offers.  Coaches and parents should view themselves as youth ministers and representatives of our Church because that is exactly what they are.  Whatever behavior is exhibited in the course of athletic programs (practice and games), it either helps the faith/moral character of our children…or it hurts the faith/moral character.

Coaches and parents bear a particular responsibility for what gets communicated to the boys and girls who are participants (and at times fans themselves) particularly at such young and impressionable ages.  Parents have a right to expect that the coaches for Blessed Sacrament take their faith and religious practices seriously, particularly attending Sunday Mass each week.  Coaches have the right to expect that parents and all Blessed Sacrament fans are doing the same and teaching the same to their children.

The idea is to use athletics to teach children about life: about being gracious in victory and defeat, about learning from mistakes, about picking yourself up and starting over, about how sometimes in life you have to “get back to the fundamentals," and about developing a mental toughness that will serve you in all areas of your life and help you to raise above the smallness in other people…and yourself…in other words, to have a heart like Jesus Christ.