Sacred Heart CYO Athletics

Tony Abela
tabela@sbcglobal.net

"Sports are not merely the exercise of muscles, but the school of moral values and of training in courage, in perseverance, and in overcoming laziness and carelessness. There is no doubt that these values are of greatest interest for the formation of a personality which considers sports not an end in itself but as a means to total and harmonious physical, moral and social development"  -  Pope John Paul II

The Sacred Heart Parish CYO Athletic Program enriches the lives of our children by providing athletic development and competition in a safe, sportsmanlike, Christian environment. We seek to enhance the self-confidence, self-discipline, and perseverance of our children, while developing their athletic skills and spiritual growth.

Our approach to athletic competition is based on the philosophy that we should make the best use of our God given talents while maintaining the highest levels of sportsmanship. As a result, our coaches will attempt to best use the talents of their team to win, while not compromising our beliefs in sportsmanship and that all athletes should have the opportunity to participate.

The Sacred Heart CYO athletic program shall be governed by certain principles, which are defined here and may be modified from time to time by approval of a majority of the CYO Board of Governors.

1. Athletics at the Junior Varsity level (grades 5 and 6) shall be governed by an instructive and participation philosophy in which each player shall have the opportunity to play in the games. Playing time and player substitution decisions will be made by the coaches based on the skills of the players, game conditions, player conduct, attitude, and attendance at practice. However, each player in good standing shall start at least one (I) game during the season, and shall play in each game.
2. Athletics at the Varsity level shall be governed by a competitive and instructive philosophy, in which the team objectives shall be considered over specific playing time objectives. Playing time and player substitution decisions will be made by the coaches based on the skills of the players, game conditions, player conduct, attitude, and attendance at practice. Although not specifically mandated, each player in good standing should be afforded the opportunity to play in games.
3. Any member of Sacred Heart Parish shall have the opportunity to participate in CYO athletics. Members of neighboring parishes are also eligible to participate in the Sacred Heart program as long as their home parish does not have sports program, their sports program doesn’t offer the sport in question, they’ve been cut from their program, or they receive proper sign off from their pastor and/or Athletic Director. As a result, teams shall be organized to include all eligible and interested parishioners and non-parishioners, while maintaining a manageable number of players.
4. Sacred Heart CYO believes that all students interested in participating in sports add value to teams in multiple aspects from athleticism to team spirit, thus Sacred Heart is a NO CUT program. Students will make teams.