Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion plays well in Rome | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion plays well in Rome Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion plays well in Rome Published: May 22, 2015 Author: Michael O. Garvey Clark Power Two faculty members from the University of Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion Today program have returned from a conference in Vatican City where they were delighted to learn that Pope Francis likes what they’re doing. Clark Power, professor of psychology and education and founder of the program, and its director, Kristin Sheehan, were among the 80 invited participants in an international conference sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity. The mid-May conference, “Coaches: Educating People,” brought together educators, sports scientists, theologians and coaches to discuss the professional, personal and spiritual formation of sports teachers and their responsibilities as role models for the next generation. Power and Sheehan were there to describe the Play Like a Champion model and its emphasis on coaching as a youth ministry, and they were particularly pleased by a message Pope Francis addressed to the conference. “Pope Francis clearly recognizes the critical role that coaches play in lives of young people,” Power said. “He is calling upon sports organizations to take responsibility for their coaches by providing them with coach education that goes beyond the X’s and the O’s. The Pope is endorsing the character education that Play Like a Champion strives to provide in student-athletics at all levels.” Kristin Sheehan In his message, Pope Francis said that sports coaches and teachers needed a “human and spiritual balance” in order “to persevere in the genuine values of sport and its fundamental nature as both game and socializing activity, impeding its perversion under the pressure of so many interests, especially economic, today increasingly invasive.” A coach, he said, “can be a good educator of young people, along with parents, teachers, priests and catechists. But every good educator must receive a solid education. Educators must be educated.” “I am thrilled that the Pope is willing to put sports at the center of youth ministry. This seminar gives me hope for our future,” said Power. Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion program, a component of the University’s Institute for Educational Initiatives, assists coaches, parents and administrators nationwide to develop ethically responsible sports leaders and to promote character development through sports. It offers on-site clinics and workshops, online courses and an annual Summer Leadership Conference at Notre Dame. Contact: Clark Power, 574-631-7343, power.1@nd.edu Posted In: International Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 30, 2022 Nanovic Institute to welcome former President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović September 29, 2022 Notre Dame, Ukrainian Catholic University launch three new research grants September 27, 2022 Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin engineers join to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture September 12, 2022 Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street … in different countries? For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn