For Sarah Weber, a soccer player for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League, faith comes before sport.
Weber, a native of Gretna, Nebraska, began playing soccer at the age of five, she said in a recent phone interview.
Her mom was her first coach, she said. But her mom didn’t just teach her soccer; she taught her the faith, too. Weber and her three brothers were homeschooled during their elementary school years by their mother, she said.
Her parents taught her the importance of Sunday Mass, she said. “We would never miss, even when we were traveling for sports.”
She carried the practice of attending the Sunday liturgy with her as she transitioned into life at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she was recruited to play soccer at the collegiate level.
At college, she found Catholic teammates who encouraged her in her faith and FOCUS missionaries who supported her in her journey. “One of the biggest graces was finding good, Catholic friends,” she said.
“That was the flip from high school, early college to now: Jesus is no longer an afterthought. He’s my first thought, which is the way it should be. He’ll always come before soccer and before sport.”
— Sarah Weber
Then, at the end of her college career, she signed with Racing Louisville and moved to Kentucky, where she quickly found an active Catholic young adult community.
“I’ve never had so many, like, young adults come up to me after Mass and introduce themselves,” she said, recollecting her first months in Louisville.
As Weber has progressed in her athletic career, her relationship with the sport has changed, she said.
“For the longest time, I put so much of my identity into soccer — the way I performed, how many goals,” she said. As she’s grown deeper in her faith, she’s come to understand that her identity rests in her “relationship with ‘him,’ ” which has allowed her to “play so much more freely,” she added.
She’s also learned to make Jesus her “first thought,” she said.
“That was the flip from high school, early college to now: Jesus is no longer an afterthought. He’s my first thought, which is the way it should be. He’ll always come before soccer and before sport.”
She hopes to be a Christian witness to her teammates by living “the same version” of herself on and off the field, she said.
“I want them to see me as someone who lives their life for Christ in a joyful way” and to “wonder where that (joy) comes from,” she said.
To young Catholic athletes, Weber offered some advice.
“Live boldly” and “don’t be ashamed” of the faith, she said. “Make the sign of the cross before you eat a meal. Don’t be ashamed of saying you’re gonna go to Mass.”
Those simple actions have led to opportunities for her to share her Catholic faith through invitations to Mass after practice or conversations about faith on the travel bus, she said.
“Be consistent in your prayer life” and Mass attendance, she also suggested. The Mass Times app can be a helpful resource for those who travel for sports, she added.
