Faith and sports can both be powerful factors in the life of a teenager; faith provides a sense of purpose and peace in God, and sports teach valuable life lessons such as getting along with others and working hard to achieve goals. These influences are especially important for Saint Viator athletes, as they are held to high standards to exhibit Christian values when taking part in sports.

“What’s the goal of sports?” said Saint Viator’s president, Fr. Corey Brost “Is it to win? Or is it to develop yourself to be the competitive athlete that God needs you to be?”

For many athletes, the goal of playing sports is to win. For faithful athletes, sports contain more meaning than simply winning; rather, they play to bring glory to God, not themselves.

“I think you have a different mindset when you’re playing with faith in mind,” said Ellie Meyer, senior captain of the varsity volleyball team, “because you’re going to be more conscious of your actions in how you go about the game.”
Mr. Bill Sanford, the head of the viator lacrosse program, also has similar views about how faith changes the perspective of an athlete.

“I think a person who is filled with faith is going to keep a better perspective when they are participating in a sport… People filled with faith really enjoy the sport rather than worrying about an outcome” said Mr. Stanford.
“All the moments where a sport presents adversity, joys, sorrows- I think if you have God in your heart, then you can look at all of those things with deeper meaning.”

Faithful athletes strive to compete against their opponents in a respectful and fair way, not look down on them because they are on the opposite team.

“If you compete and you look at your opponents as having basic human dignity, that they are created and loved by God, that’s going to change the way you compete against them.” said Fr. Brost.

“It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to try to do your best, but it certainly means that you’re going to respect them in the process.”

Faithful athletes do not exhibit their values while they are playing but also after the game by the way they handle a win or loss.

“If you define your self-worth by whether or not you won, then, when you lose, what do you have left to feel good about?” said Fr. Brost.

“But if you define yourself by whether or not you were a person of faith and integrity, whether you gave all the glory to God by the way you competed, then if you lose: Ok, you lost. But you still have a lot to be proud of.”

A faithful athlete is a powerful presence in sports, but a faithful team is even more of a stand out. A team that lives out their faith together grows closer as a team, and that can lead to more successful results when playing their sport.
“I think the more our teams do service together, the more our teams go to mass together, the more they are going to build team camaraderie and have success.” said Fr. Brost. Mr. Sanford sheds light on developing team faith through service, explaining how the lacrosse team has adopted Dylan, a child with brain cancer, as a member of their team through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

“To see this foundation, through sport, go and impact the lives of thousands and thousands of elementary school age kids, who are fighting a disease that they don’t even understand, is really powerful.” said Mr. Sanford. “I think that’s very much in line with the mission of the church-to spread good news, to bring light to darkness.”

“We pray before all of our games, and that sets the tone for how the match is going to be,” said Meyer. “Everyone is more mindful and respectful of the other team. We also go to mass every Friday as a program. That’s really emphasized to bring us together in a spiritual sense.”

Faith is an aspect of sports that can greatly enhance a player’s perspective, work ethic and respect. As a player exhibits their faith into their sports, they showcase themselves as a person of strength and integrity who competes in sports for the right reason: the glory of God.