Catholic Sports Radio
312 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 23 ratingsHelping listeners find the right balance and priority when it comes to their faith life versus their sports life, interviews are done with guests who are Catholics in sports - current or former athletes, coaches, officials, clergy, administrators, and more, from the pro, amateur, and scholastic ranks. Whether you're an athlete or a fan, youth or adult, Catholic or not, this show will deliver content that speaks to you and provides opportunities for ongoing reflection for your daily life.
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Episodes
CSR 85 Tomas Cerdeiras
September 14, 2020 07:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBAn assistant coach for Belmont Abbey College's men's track and field. As a student-athlete there he became the school's record-holder in the decathlon and earned All Region honors. He has also coached an NCAA DII All-American in heptathlon as well as a male and female freshman athlete of the year for their respective conferences. Growing up he had competed in football, baseball, and basketball.
CSR 84 Sean Mock
September 07, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBThe Director of Player Development and Recruiting Coordinator for the Tulane University men's basketball team, a position that he took approximately a year-and-a-half ago after having been special assistant to the head coach at Georgia State. Before that he served as an assistant coach at Henderson State, which came after a two-year stint at Northwood University where he finished up as associate head coach. He has also been Director of Basketball Operations at Miami University in Ohio, where...
CSR 83 Patrick Novecosky
August 31, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBHe played baseball in elementary school, soccer in high school, and now in his adult life is an avid marathoner, including having participated in events from southern California to New York City to Naples, Florida, and even Rome, Italy. Meanwhile, he wrote a book called, "100 Ways John Paul II Changed the World" and has won more than two dozen awards from the Catholic Press Association. He met Pope St. John Paul II five times! He also talks here about having gone five times to the shrine of ...
CSR 82 Bas Rutten
August 24, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBA UFC Heavyweight Champion and three-time King of Pancrase world champion, he finished his career on a 22-fight unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). He has been inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame and has appeared in movies and on TV shows. He is a retired mixed martial artist, karate and taekwondo black belt, and Muay Thai kickboxer.
CSR 81 Toby Cook
August 17, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBHe is in his 14th full season with Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals, serving as the team's Vice President of Publicity after having previously been their Vice President of Community Affairs & Publicity. It is baseball that he credits with leading him to the Catholic church, which he officially became a part of twelve years ago. He shares that story - and more - during this conversation.
CSR 80 Fr Michael Lightner
August 10, 2020 07:00 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MBHe is an administrator of three churches in northeast Wisconsin. In his college days he was an offensive lineman, playing football at the University of Eastern Michigan, where he had earned a scholarship after having played football in high school. He was invited to try out with the NFL's Cleveland Browns and later would be inducted into the Sports Faith International Hall of Fame.
CSR 79 John Jakubik
August 03, 2020 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBA strength and conditioning specialist who played four years of college football at Michigan State after having played football and baseball at Kalamazoo College. After Michigan State he went on to be a graduate assistant/wide receivers coach at Missouri Western State University and later was an Ohio State University Strength and Conditioning intern. In his teen years he attended Detroit Catholic Central High School, where he played football, baseball, and basketball. Currently he also hosts...
CSR 78 Bill Bommarito
July 27, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBA longtime coach, having done so in football, baseball, soccer, and softball. He is the founder of Coaching Coaches and has had over 70 thousand volunteer coaches and parents participate in his coaching programs and parent programs. He currently has programs with several Archdioceses and several secular athletic programs. He is also the play-by-play announcer for women's volleyball at two universities in the St. Louis area.
CSR 77 Frank Allocco
July 20, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBThe Executive Sr. Associate Athletics Director for External Relations at the University of San Francisco (a Catholic school). He won 17 league championships and two Division I state championships in 18 years at De La Salle High School in Concord, California, and has coached and/or been a speaker at basketball camps from China to Belgium to Canada. As a college athlete he played football and basketball at Notre Dame. He is also an inductee to the Sports Faith International Hall of Fame.
CSR 76 Anne Stricherz
July 13, 2020 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBThe varsity girls golf coach at St. Francis High School in the San Jose, California, area, where she is also the Assistant Athletic Director for Mission and Engagement. She previously was the junior varsity girls golf coach at St. Ignatius Prep in San Francisco. In her college days she attended the University of Notre Dame, where she competed in rowing for four years. She is also the author of a book called, "Pray and Practice with Purpose: A Playbook for the Spiritual Development of Athlete...
CSR 75 Kevin OBrien
July 06, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBHe played professional football in the mid-1990s, including the NFL (Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots), the CFL, and the World League (which became NFL Europe). He had played college football at Bowling Green State University. He is the Co-Founder of Virtue Baseball and the Co-Founder of the Catholic Men's Leadership Alliance.
CSR 74 Ryan Vermillion
June 29, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBThe Head Athletic Trainer for the NFL's Washington Redskins, having started in that role in January. He had spent the previous 18 seasons as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Carolina Panthers. Before that he had been the Redskins' Director of Rehabilitation for one year after having started his NFL career with the Miami Dolphins for nine seasons.
CSR 73 Phil Cuzzi
June 22, 2020 07:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBHe has been a Major League Baseball umpire for more than 20 years, including having worked a World Series and multiple National League Championship Series, plus even two All-Star Games. Off the field he is very active in his community and with charitable efforts. Have one or more tissues close by as this lifelong Catholic shares some emotional witness!
CSR 72 Kramer Soderberg
June 15, 2020 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBAn assistant coach for the men's basketball team at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Previously he had been in the same role at NCAA Division II Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. He played basketball collegiately at both the University of Miami-Ohio and at Lindenwood and at the latter he has been inducted into their Athletics Hall of Fame. Two months ago his book came out, titled, "Fill Your Cup for Christ: A Spiritual Journey Sown & Grown Through Sports."
CSR 71 Don Dziagwa
June 08, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBThe Athletic Director and basketball coach at Tampa Catholic High School, where he has been for over 30 years and was a 2015 inductee to their Hall of Fame. Back in HIS high school days he played four years of basketball and baseball, plus one year of football. A lifelong Catholic, he also had coaching stops in West Virginia as well as five years at another high school in the Tampa Bay area. He's also a member of the Knights of Columbus.
CSR 70 Kate Ziegler
June 01, 2020 07:30 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBA two-time Olympian (London 2012 & Beijing 2008), four-time World Champion and a world record setter. In total she won 15 medals in international competition. She retired from swimming in 2016 and has since earned her MBA and helped launch two companies. She is a holistic high-performance coach and a national speaker. As youngster she had also played softball and basketball.
CSR 69 Jaime Barta
May 25, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBA junior at Syracuse University where she plays on the softball team after having played at a different school each of the previous two years. In high school she had been a four-time all-state selection and set six school records. Her faith walk includes work that she did for a refugee family, which she mentions in this interview. Her father is a longtime baseball coach and her mother played college softball.
CSR 68 Doug Lipinski
May 18, 2020 07:00 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBThe Deputy Athletic Director for External Relations at Grand Valley State University in Michigan where he and his staff have been honored with 70 national awards. As a student athlete at the school he was a four-year member of the varsity baseball team, followed by four years as an assistant coach. While growing up he had played five different sports.
CSR 67 Andrew Whitaker
May 11, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBThe Vice President of Operations as well as a founding board member of the National Catholic Coaches Association. He was a student manager for Michigan State's football team, coached football for two seasons at Alfred State College and one season at the University of St. Thomas. Plus, he coached two seasons of varsity tennis at Lumen Christi, a private Roman Catholic high school in Jackson, Michigan, where he had played five sports when he was a student-athlete. He also volunteered as a socc...
CSR 66 Nikki Breske
May 04, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 23.8 MBShe just graduated from Florida State University where she was a pole vaulter, ranking among the Seminoles Top Ten all-time both outdoors and indoors. Born and raised Catholic, in high school she competed for Winter Park High in central Florida and was undefeated during her senior season there. She is committed to and outspoken about abstinence and chastity. Listen for the phone call she received her first week away at college and how she responded.
CSR 65 Fr Stephen Gadberry
April 27, 2020 07:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBThe pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Batesville, Arkansas, AND St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Newport, Arkansas. He was on Season 10 of "American Ninja Warrior" on NBC in 2018 and also enjoys archery and is an avid hunter, plus he coaches CrossFit. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Texas, Germany, and central Iraq.
CSR 64 Porter Moser
April 20, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBThe head men's basketball coach at Loyola University Chicago since 2011, has been an NCAA Division I men's basketball coach for 30 years. His 2018 team went to the Final Four. As a player he competed on the Creighton University Bluejays and in 2017 was named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a player. He has also been inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. Plus he is the author of a new book called, "All In: Driven by Passion, ...
CSR 63 Sherri Retif
April 13, 2020 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBShe has been the head coach of the varsity girls basketball team at Germantown Academy for more than 20 years. Her teams have captured the Inter-Academic Athletic League Championship 19 times, including a streak of 14 consecutive titles and 109 straight Inter-Ac victories. She had previously coached in New Orleans, where her teams captured back-to-back City Championships. She played basketball for the Tulane Green Wave and was inducted into the Tulane University Hall of Fame. In later years ...
CSR 62 Chris Godfrey
April 06, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBHe played guard in the NFL for the New York Jets, New York Giants, and Seattle Seahawks, including winning a world championship with the Giants in Super Bowl XXI. He also played on three University of Michigan Rose Bowl teams. He is the President and Founder of Life Athletes and nowadays is an attorney in Indiana. He even talks here about a conversion experience as well as having met (Saint) Mother Teresa!
CSR 61 Rich Garcia
March 30, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBA former Major League Baseball umpire, having worked in the American League for 25 years and been involved in four World Series. He went on to be a MLB Supervisor for eight years. He was raised Catholic and is also a veteran, having spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. In high school he played baseball and did some boxing, getting two baseball scholarship offers for college. He also coached high school baseball. Wait for his big revelation near the end of the interview!
CSR 60 Zach Eckert
March 23, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBA former lacrosse player who is an avid surfer and serves as the Director of Campus & Sports Ministry at JSerra Catholic High School in Orange County, California. He is also a 3rd degree Knight. He attended Creighton University (a private, Jesuit university) and Franciscan University of Steubenville where he majored in Theology. Be sure to stick around for his emotional story about the "Jersey Ceremony" as well as why May 18th is so significant.
CSR 59 Kelly Larson
March 16, 2020 07:00 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MBAn Assistant Girls Track Coach at City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, where the team has won four state championships in her 18 years there. She competed in track & field as well as in basketball at Loras College, a Catholic institution in Dubuque, Iowa. She is also the vice president and a board member of the National Catholic Coaches Association. And she is a religious education teacher.
CSR 58 Elliot Panicco
March 09, 2020 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBA goalkeeper for NashvilleSC of Major League Soccer, having been selected in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft in January. He had attended UNC Charlotte, where he earned All-Southeast Region honors three times, including his senior year when he was also Conference USA Goalkeeper of the Year, Golden Glove Award winner, and first team all-conference.
CSR 57 Steven Didik
March 02, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBA triathlete who also had a successful college soccer career. He is a Zone 3 ambassador, which is the world's highest rated triathlon brand. He also has many triathlons lined up to qualify for a national championship spot. He also mentors local youth athletes who are trying to go to the NCAA to play college sports. He also talks about being involved with both a non-profit called Faces of Courage AND multiple efforts to raise money to combat cancer, due to a personal attachment.
CSR 56 Bill Thierfelder
February 24, 2020 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBCurrently in his 16th year as president of Belmont Abbey College, which is a Catholic, Benedictine liberal arts college, he has been involved in sports in a variety of roles. He was the president of the York Barbell Company, was principal and co-founder of the Joyner Sports Medicine Institute, has served as Executive Director of the Player Management Group - which was a sports representation company providing services to professional athletes - plus he is a former member of the U.S. Olympic ...
CSR 55 Tim Triplett
February 17, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBThe co-founder and president of the National Catholic Coaches Association, he has 14 years of coaching experience at the collegiate and high school levels. He is currently the head football coach and assistant activities director at Holy Family Catholic in Victoria, Minnesota, and played college football. He also has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for eleven years
CSR 54 David Belisle
February 10, 2020 08:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBA lifelong coach, he was an assistant coach for high school hockey for 39 years and also gained national attention as the manager of the Cumberland Americans Little League team, including being seen on ESPN in a post-game, on-field speech - a video that went viral to the tune of more than a quarter million views. He was nominated by Sports Illustrated for the 2014 Sportsman of the Year and has also been honored with the Musial Award and the Hope Award. He also talks here about having played ...
CSR 53 Matt Yoches
February 03, 2020 08:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBThe Director of Football Operations at Miami University in Ohio, where he is also the team chaplain. Among the many tasks he handles is being the liaison for NFL scouts. He had played football collegiately (winning two national championships) and went on to serve on the coaching staff of his alma mater (Grand Valley State). He was born and raised Catholic and is married and the father of two. LISTEN FOR HIS BIG REVEAL AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW!
CSR 52 Dr Kelly Morrow
January 27, 2020 08:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBIn the lead-up to Super Bowl Sunday, we talk about domestic violence. Plus, in the wake of cheating being a hot topic in MLB news lately, we cover that as well. In addition, there's a discussion on "participation trophies" and playing time. Plus, there's practical advice for listeners to take away. All this and more from a professional and spiritual perspective via the Clinical Psychologist at Saint Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Nebraska, where part of her work includes meeting with priests, r...
CSR 51 John Keating
January 20, 2020 08:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBThe head coach of the men's soccer team at Belmont Abbey, a Catholic college in North Carolina. He played pro soccer in South Africa and captained West Virginia University men's soccer. He is going into his tenth year at Belmont Abbey and had successful coaching stops at a couple other schools along the way. He is a Benedictine oblate and at one point he even headed up the Catholic Defense League of Nebraska.
CSR 50 Rachael Popcak
January 13, 2020 08:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBA competitive figure skater from the time she was eight years old through college. She is the founder/director of the Saint Sebastian Center for Performance Excellence. She is a licensed therapist with advanced training in Sports and Performance Psychology and has developed programming for the likes of Robert Morris University Basketball, the Pens Elite Hockey Team, and Franciscan University Athletics, among others. Through Trinity Sports Medicine she is also the referral source for athletes...
CSR 49 Erika Maurer
January 06, 2020 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBA cradle Catholic, she played soccer all throughout high school and college, attending Catholic schools and even getting her degree in Theology. She is the creator of the Sportsmanship and Spirit Ministry for Seton High School, an all-girls, Catholic, college-preparatory school in Cincinnati, Ohio. She also talks during this interview about a group she is active with in her parish and also gives news about her family.
CSR 48 Louise Dussault
December 30, 2019 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBThe Director of Catholic Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Providence, up in Rhode Island. She played softball, volleyball, and basketball, and in her current role is hands-on with the Catholic Athletic League, including the creation of Cooperative Parish Teams. She is a strong supporter of the intersection of faith and sports, as heard during this interview.
CSR 47 Bob Bauman
December 23, 2019 08:00 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBThe head coach of the boys’ varsity soccer team at Cristo Rey, a Catholic high school in Tampa. Last year the Tampa Bay Times ranked him 20th on a list of the top 50 coaches in Tampa Bay sports history. In 26 seasons at Jesuit High School, his teams had won 24 district titles, reached 15 final fours and won five state championships. His last title team also finished first in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. All told, he posted a 571-124-69 record at Jesuit — a stagger...
CSR 46 Peter Mulry
December 16, 2019 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBOne of the winningest coaches in high school baseball, having coached for ten years at Tampa Catholic High School where he posted an amazing won-lost record of 329-39. His teams won four state championships and a national championship. He went on to coach at the University of Tampa and also scouted for Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals. Last year he was No. 26 on a list of the top 50 coaches in Tampa Bay sports history and he has been inducted into four Halls of Fame. He has his own...
CSR 45 Tony Saladino
December 09, 2019 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBEvery year since 1981 a tournament has taken place to promote high school baseball in Hillsborough County (Tampa, Florida area). It was first established as a memorial for Tony Saladino, Sr. and has grown from eleven public schools to now a 32-team event, with 38 players that have participated in the tournament having gone on to play in the Major Leagues, 12 of which were first round draft picks. The guest on this episode of CSR has been at the heart of all of this for all those years and is...
CSR 44 Takeaways from 2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity
December 02, 2019 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBTo borrow a football term, an audible is called at the last-minute when the scheduled guest doesn't show up, utilizing this episode instead to share some insights brought back from the 2nd Global Congress on Sport and Christianity. The conference took place in late October in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and this installment of CSR cites content from that event that underscore the longstanding relationship between sports and faith.
CSR 43 Mark Blaise
November 25, 2019 08:00 - 28 minutes - 25.6 MBSince June 2017 he has been the program's second head men's lacrosse coach at Benedictine College, a Catholic institution in Kansas, where he graduated from in 2013. As an undergrad he was a co-founder of the Men's Lacrosse Club team there. He also has been an assistant coach at Rockhurst University AND was the head coach for the boys lacrosse team at St. Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic high school in Overland Park, Kansas. This past April he was named the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Co...
CSR 42 Haley Scott DeMaria
November 18, 2019 08:00 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBIn college she was left paralyzed with a broken back after a bus accident involving her swim team from the University of Notre Dame, with two teammates having been killed instantly. After five back operations and being told she wouldn't walk, not to mention swim again, miraculously, she returned to competitive swimming for Notre Dame 21 months after the bus accident and her injury. Her 2008 book, What Though The Odds, details what she went through and her "journey of faith and triumph." She ...
CSR 41 Jacob Flores
November 11, 2019 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBHe was with the NFL's Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills and, more recently, the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football. He had played college football at Dartmouth, and has now transitioned into the corporate world and life off the playing field. He also talks about what he's doing at his parish as well as in the community.
CSR 40 Clay Dimick
November 04, 2019 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBA current member of the Charlotte Independence, which plays in the USL Championship, the largest pro soccer league in North America. He had played collegiately at Belmont Abbey, a Catholic school in North Carolina. He loves the game of soccer, but he is on fire for his faith, having become Catholic approximately 15 months ago.
CSR 39 Fr John Perdue - The Flying Fathers
October 28, 2019 07:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBThe Flying Fathers were a hockey team of Catholic priests originally started back in the early 1960s. There is optimism of-late for the team's resurrection, according to Father John Perdue, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Peterborough in Ontario, Canada. He not only is playing for the team but leading their return. He talks about it during this conversation that was recorded while he was in Rome for the canonization of the five newest saints.
CSR 38 Bear Woznick
October 21, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBHe is a champion of numerous surfing events. He is also a licensed scuba diver and licensed private pilot. Plus, he is a skydiver and has rappelled off mountains. He has even been a mentor on the adventure reality show "Clean Break" on the FOX network, as well as been a guest star and stuntman on "Hawaii 5-0." He also has been seen on EWTN television and heard on EWTN Radio and has led pilgrimages to places such as Greece and Israel. Plus, he wrote two books, including one called, "Deep Adve...
CSR 37 Luke Vercollone
October 14, 2019 07:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBHe played 15 years of pro soccer, having retired last year from the United Soccer League after having initially been drafted into Major League Soccer. He had played the sport collegiately at Seton Hall University (a Roman Catholic university). Although he founded a program that teaches basic soccer skills to kids, he is now working for a pro-life organization. He is also in the Knights of Columbus and has started a men's ministry. He also has a faith-based line of apparel.
CSR 36 Tanner Kalina
October 07, 2019 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBIn college he played Division I baseball and was being scouted by the New York Mets, going on to play at another college before eventually made his way out of the sport. He remains an avid surfer and has also found success in comedy and films, including a movie released earlier this year that he says is, "Littered with Catholicism." He and a friend are also going around college campuses giving talks, which was spawned from his having participated in FOCUS.