SportsLeader conference on faith and athletics set

Athletes, from left, Aaron Flanagan, Noah Hoffman, Ryan Anderson, Taylor Stemmle and Patrick Ritter knelt in prayer at St. Patrick Church July 31, 2015. More than 500 athletes and coaches from Catholic high schools gathered at St. Patrick in Eastwood to pray the rosary in preparation for the fall sports season. The Rosary Rally, sponsored by SportsLeader, drew male athletes from Bethlehem, DeSales, Holy Cross, Trinity and St. Xavier high schools in the Archdiocese of Louisville and Our Lady of Providence Junior-Senior High School in Clarksville, Ind. (Photo Special to The Record by Father Patrick Delahanty — Athletes, from left, Aaron Flanagan, Noah Hoffman, Ryan Anderson, Taylor Stemmle and Patrick Ritter knelt in prayer at St. Patrick Church July 31, 2015. More than 500 athletes and coaches from Catholic high schools gathered at St. Patrick in Eastwood to pray the rosary in preparation for the fall sports season. The Rosary Rally, sponsored by SportsLeader, drew male athletes from Bethlehem, DeSales, Holy Cross, Trinity and St. Xavier high schools in the Archdiocese of Louisville and Our Lady of Providence Junior-Senior High School in Clarksville, Ind.
(Photo Special to The Record by Father Patrick Delahanty

SportsLeader, a Louisville-based organization that connects the Catholic faith and athletics, is planning a Director of Sports Ministry Conference March 30 to April 1 at The Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati.

At the conference, organizers will consider “a more strategic, systematic approach to help better form our coaches, athletes, and parents,” an announcement from SportsLeader said.

“How can it be done?” the release asked. “We believe the most effective path to strengthen our Catholic sports programs is through the creation of a new position: The Director of Sports Ministry.”

Among the speakers will be Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz and Dr. Santiago Perez de Camino, head of the Vatican’s Office of Church and Sport, part of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

The conference registration fee is $150. The conference is free for clergy and religious.

Registration includes three meals and a social gathering.

For more information or to register, visit www.sportsleader.org or call 451-7792, ext. 201.