Seniors scheduled to graduate this spring from Catholic high schools throughout the diocese who are members of Catholic Athletes for Christ (CAC) were challenged by a former professional soccer star turned Catholic priest with the words of Pope St. John Paul II who once said that “sports are the school of moral virtue.”
Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, a Quincy native and now a priest of the Peoria diocese, is a former American professional soccer standout following an illustrious career at Clemson University.
He expanded on the phrase turned by the late pontiff by telling the athletes that, unlike many of their peers at school, they learn how to “sacrifice for others ... to lose with class and to win with humility. You are learning how to live life on a daily basis. As the school of moral virtue, athletics trains us for the season of life.”
Father Hilgenbrinck’s keynote remarks were part of “Senior Springboard,” Bishop Thomas John Paprocki’s yearly event to recognize the hard work by student-athletes and the dedication of their coaches and parents to instill Christian values in their life decisions.
The annual event featured faith witnesses by some of the seniors in attendance:
“I am very lucky to attend Routt. The school has many great qualities but my favorite part is that our students and faculty are able to express our beliefs. We are so lucky to be able to pray openly in our school.
As we have learned through CAC, prayer can and should be implemented in sports as well. Playing sports is a way to put our holiness in action through acts of sportsmanship and simply playing for God.
This year I suffered an ACL injury during the first two minutes of our basketball season. I had to have surgery and I knew that I could not play sports for the rest of my high school career. I tried to remain positive. I kept in mind that everything happens for a reason and God has a specific plan for me. Before my injury, I had always led by example. Being unable to play, I learned how to lead through my words. This taught me an important lesson. In sports, playing is not the only purpose, rather playing for God and expressing sportsmanship. CAC has given each of the members awareness of how to implement God into our life, sports and how to honor him through leadership and sportsmanship.” — Madison Nelson, Routt Catholic High School, Jacksonville
“With every sport at St. Anthony before and after every game the team prays as a whole. … Nine short days ago we were playing in the sectional basketball championship and I got a knee right in my chest and I thought I had lost my wind. … On the bus ride home, the pain kept getting worse and I never could really catch my breath back. So I went to the hospital just to be sure and it turned out that I had double lacerated my kidney on my right side ... and learned that with one more big hit I would have bled out. I was in the hospital for five days … . It was amazing that I was just one bit hit away from catastrophe and I have to give amazing thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mother for that protection … . I learned that I had let sports take priority over my health at that moment. I learned to keep my priorities in check.” — Nick Grunloh, St. Anthony Catholic High School, Effingham