While some of the world’s best athletes compete in Tokyo for the
2020 Olympics this month, Catholic young adults in the diocese are finding
their own arena for sports and competition — and a healthy dose of faith and
fellowship.
Catholic Sports, a Denver-based ministry founded in 2010, fosters
community for young adults through recreation and faith-based activities. This
year, the organization partnered with the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria to
launch its first East Coast location with missionary Helena Briggs at the helm.
“We are trailblazing this new location,” said Briggs, a Front
Royal native who joined Catholic Sports last year.
The ministry runs through “missionaries” who organize and promote
the leagues in different cities, run the sporting events, host Bible studies
and social activities, and support the young adult ministries of partnering
parishes.
Missionary work is something Briggs has felt called to for some
time.
During her senior year at Christendom College in Front Royal,
where she was a varsity basketball and volleyball player, Briggs attended a
couple of mission trips, including one to Honduras, which she described as a
“life-changing experience.”
“I just really encountered God’s love in a way I never had
before,” she said. “It was really there that I felt God tugging on my heart to
be open to dedicating my life to mission work.”
After earning a degree in philosophy, she worked in a variety of
jobs, including as an administrative assistant for a real estate agency, and
nannying. Meanwhile, she continued to discern what God might be calling her to
do. “I wanted to do some sort of mission work, but I didn’t know exactly what,”
she said. “I think God really just kind of opened the doors to Catholic
Sports.”
The first inkling came when a friend who had become a Catholic
Sports missionary in Denver reached out to her about getting involved in the
organization. But she felt daunted by the requirement to fundraise her entire
income.
Later, “I had this moment of exasperation in front of the Blessed
Sacrament,” Briggs said, where she surrendered everything to God. About 30
minutes later, her friend, who hadn’t reached out in months, texted her again
about Catholic Sports.
“I just knew,” Briggs said. “This is where God wants me to be.”
Last August, Briggs traveled to Denver and attended a retreat
with the other missionaries. Her application to Catholic Sports was accepted,
and that’s when she was approached about working at the new Northern Virginia
location.
After partnering with the basilica, Briggs moved from her
hometown in Front Royal to Alexandria and began in earnest to spread word of
the new league through networking, newsletters, and researching and attending
in-person events. That’s how Peter Samson learned about Catholic Sports.
Last spring, Samson, 28, a parishioner at the basilica along with
his wife, Rachel, attended a young adult brunch after Mass, where he met Briggs
and learned about the new Catholic Sports league. It came at the perfect time.
Earlier that week, Samson, who had recently moved to Alexandria from New York,
saw people playing sports in a rec league and wondered aloud to Rachel how to
find these leagues.
He signed up for volleyball in the casual division, which runs
for eight weeks, and was placed on the free agent team. “The first game we all
looked terrible,” he said, but the group of strangers hung out after the game
and grew friendlier. They began to build chemistry on the court, too, going on
to win third place. The entire team returned for the second round of
volleyball, which runs through Aug. 29, and this time Rachel signed up too.
The people are “definitely why I returned the second time,” Samson
said, “and plan to as long as I’m in the age bracket,” which is 18-39.
The league continues to grow. The first round had 93 people in 12
teams, including an entire team of non-Catholics who learned about the games
through Facebook. Fewer than 40 percent of participants were parishioners of
the basilica.
The second round of volleyball has 13 teams including two
non-Catholic teams.
“The need that Catholic Sports tries to address is the growing
amount of loneliness in our society these days among young adults,” said
Briggs. “A lot of our ministry is about meeting people where they’re at.”
Every Sunday afternoon, Briggs arrives early to Founders Park in
Alexandria to set up the three nets. As the players trickle in, she welcomes
them, greeting people by name and meeting those she doesn’t know. After every
game, the group heads to nearby Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub for more fellowship.
But before every game, Briggs invites all to join in prayer, asking a volunteer
to lead.
“(Prayer) sets a great tone to start it off as a reminder why
we’re there,” said Samson. “That is something that really sets it apart for me
from the other (leagues).”
Bartlett can be reached at [email protected].
Find out more
For more on the league, go to catholicsports.net.
For more on becoming a missionary, go to
catholicsports.net/careers.
