PONTIAC, Michigan – Notre Dame Preparatory School and its Fighting Irish athletic department will partner with SportsLeader, Inc., over the next four years to implement their Catholic virtue-based formation program for coaches.
“In offering athletics programs at NDP we seek to use sport as a context for physical, intellectual and spiritual growth,” said Notre Dame athletic director Betty Wroubel. “Our partnership with SportsLeader represents a continuation of that great Irish tradition in a very intentional way.”
SportsLeader, based in Louisville, Ky., will work with Wroubel and the NDP coaching staff to incorporate the methods and curriculum based on the four pillars of the program: virtue, mentoring, ceremony and Catholic identity.
“Through virtue-based formation of our coaches and student-athletes, we will create opportunities for mentorship and ceremony while embracing our Catholic identity in an inclusive manner,” Wroubel added. “Our goal is that the student-athlete experience will be a significant part of the high-school careers of our young women and men who ultimately will change the world for the sake of peace and goodwill.”
Fr. Ron Nikodem will coordinate the efforts with the NDP coaches as the initial director of sports ministry for the program.
“The more we can help our young people grow closer to Christ through the platform of sports, the more we are accomplishing our mission within Catholic school athletics,” said Lou Judd, who is the director of SportsLeader.
SportsLeader has worked with public and private universities and colleges across the country, including The Ohio State University and Michigan State University. It also has partnered with high schools nationwide and in Canada. Notre Dame Prep is the first Michigan high school school to incorporate the program.
The program will be introduced to the student-athletes via the coaching staffs of all sports programs during the 2017-18 season and to the parents at the respective parent meetings.
Judd will be the keynote speaker at the initial NDP coaches meeting in August and the school will introduce several SportsLeader traditions, activities and events throughout the year.
SportsLeader was founded in 2004 and is endorsed by the Vatican Office of Church and Sport. They are a charitable nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
The Notre Dame Prep program is sponsored by the school’s campus ministry and athletic departments.
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