Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of August 21, 2009!
Congratulations to Gail O'Connor!

Gail O'Connor will receive a copy of Coach Them Well Fostering Faith and Developing Character in Athletes, a $14.95 value.


Coach Them Well Fostering Faith and Developing Character in Athletes,
by Dale Brown, David Cutcliffe, Kelly Herrmann, Tim Welsh

In Coach Them Well, four college coaches' share reflections on the ministry of coaching and the importance of mentoring. Each reflection contains the faith story of each coach as well as the insight gained through more than one hundred years of combined coaching experience. Each coach also shares compelling stories about the students they have coached. The four coaches represent the diversity of coaching itself. Included are the reflections of an NCAA Division I football coach alongside the thoughts of a Catholic university women's basketball coach, an NCAA Final Four basketball coach and the Notre Dame University men's swimming coach.

No matter the age, ability, or competition level of your athletes, this book is a wonderful reminder of the trust that youth, parents, schools, and communities place in coaches to truly "coach them well."

Electronic Sampler: Look Inside: You can view an online sampler of the Coach Them Well on the SMP Web catalog. Search for "Coach Them Well," or use this to go to the product description,. http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=1344.

Coach Them Well
ISBN: 978-0-88489-933-4, paper, 64 pages, $14.95 http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=1344

Mary and non-Catholics
by Javier Bravo

August 15 is the day the church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Teaching about Mary in Catholic school always brings with it the challenge of presenting these teachings in a way that non-Catholics can benefit from them. One way to speak of Mary in such a manner is to speak of what I have come to know as the "School of Mary." There are varying manners to present what has come to be known as the "School of Mary." One way you can do this with your students is to use the worksheet "The School of Mary." It contains readings where the Blessed Virgin Mary exemplifies discipleship. It also has reflective questions for students to answer. These can then be used for a class discussion on how the church's teachings about Mary contain something of benefit for all Christians.

"The School of Mary"(.PDF)

Campus Ministry and Athletics Tag team
by Javier Bravo

Athletics are an important part of any school's program. They are great at helping students build character and sportsmanship. Athletic programs in a Catholic school have the added task of being a vehicle to promote the mission and identity of the Catholic school they are a part of. An important challenge faced by Catholic high school administrators is to ensure that all extracurricular programs are in line with the mission and identity of the school. Here is where the Campus Ministry program can help. A true blessing is a coach who has the mission and identity of the school in mind. That is not always possible. When this is the case, Campus Ministry needs to be available to provide guidance to coaches who are open to keeping the mission and identity of the school prevalent in their athletic program but may not know how to do so. It may be necessary for the campus minister at your school to meet with all coaches in order to assess which ones may need help and how that could be made available. Sometimes a great opening to a discussion between coaches and a campus minister can be making them aware of athletes who have strived to persevere in their faith life while involved in athletics. A great resource is the organization "Catholic Athletes for Christ" (www.catholicathletesforchrist.com). This organization features former and current athletes and coaches who live out their Catholic faith. A great relationship between Campus Ministry and school athletics can be beneficial in keeping extracurricular activities on the same page as the administration and faculty with regards to the mission and identity of your school.