During Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, we celebrate what makes our Catholic schools special places of learning, faith formation and growth. Each day, we recognize a different member of the Catholic schools "family."
Today, we honor our coaches. Here's a brief testimonial from Mike Carrier, freshman football coach at Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi.
Coaching ninth grade, it is so much more than the Xs and Os of football. It is about acclimating to football what Catholic Central is all about. It’s a four-year experience of faith and brotherhood, and a rigorous academic program. It’s about taking that with you into life, the goodness, discipline and knowledge we have in our motto.
Sports are a tremendous environment to grow. You learn how to take direction — not easy for young people to do. Being a coach at a Catholic school affords us the opportunity to bring faith into it. At Catholic Central, we’re able to talk about faith, to pray as a team, realizing the blessings we have in our lives. We pray for safety and for well-being; we don’t pray for success, but we pray to play to the best of our ability. Most people measure (sports) success on your record and the championships you win. Don’t get me wrong — we certainly like to win, but that is not our goal. Our goal is to build faithful men and faithful women.
Playing in the Catholic League allows us to have more respect for one another. Even though we compete against each other, at the end of the day, there is respect. It's why teams pray together. It’s a Catholic community, the greater archdiocese, and it allows us to have a tighter bond. Everyone understands the goals, the greater purpose. Yes, we want to win, but at the end of the day, we understand what it’s all about.
—Mike Carrier, freshman football coach, Novi Detroit Catholic Central High School
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