Saint Philip Neri CYO
CYO Sports Mission Statement
CYO Sports is:
One component of a parish’s comprehensive youth ministry program which
enables the partnership of parents, coaches, priests, religious, teachers
and adult leaders to manage and support a sports program that allows
youth to grow in their relationship with God and come to better understand
themselves and the Catholic faith.
Such a program:
Employs healthy and enjoyable competition to promote the sharing of
gospel values among athletes, parents, and coaches, assists parish leadership
in nourishing the emotional, spiritual, social, and physical needs of young
people, encourages young people to appreciate the gifts that they possess
and challenges them to share these gifts with their community.
Allows youth to witness the life of Christian discipleship in their coaches and
adult leaders, encourages youth to become responsible members of their
faith community.
CYO Points of Emphasis…
MINISTRY— CYO sports provide a unique opportunity for youth ministry with the
potential for great Christian influence. All CYO sports volunteers should strive to ignite
spiritual development out of the relationship between the youth and athletics. God has
blessed the youth with many gifts and talents, and volunteers are called to realize the
importance of animating an appreciation for those blessings. We encourage our
volunteers to act as ministers by facilitating prayer before and after practices and
games, attending Mass as a team, and creating a team service project, among other
things. Most importantly, we ask that the volunteers teach values of faith and
character development and reflect those values in their own actions. Participation in
athletics provides many “teachable moments” and all involved need to be prepared to
constructively address those opportunities.
SPORTSMANSHIP— All CYO programs must reflect Christian attitudes and values
through coaches emphasizing good sportsmanship. Coaches are expected to set
sportsmanship standards with their teams and discuss proper conduct. Part of
showing good sportsmanship involves both coaches and their teams shaking hands
with the other team before and after each contest. Sportsmanship also includes
treating game officials with respect. Officials will make mistakes, and therefore coaches
and athletes must be tolerant. The CYO is not tolerant of shouting and criticism nor
any negative or derogatory comments toward officials, coaches, spectators and/or
athletes. In short, let players play, coaches teach, officials officiate and parents
support.
ENJOYMENT– Youth play sports because it’s fun; youth leave organized sports
because it’s not fun—it’s that simple. The CYO is not a spectator sport for the
benefit of coaches and parents. All competitions are supposed to be enjoyable for the
athletes! Good CYO coaches “succeed” by enabling youth to develop their talents,
not simply by winning. Coaches succeed by helping each youth become the best
they can be through skill development, building a team as part of the parish
community, helping youth see beyond themselves to the needs of others, appreciating
the social aspects of sport, seeing God as the source of our gifts and praising Him for it,
and having fun along the way. Good CYO coaches constructively instruct their athletes.
It is critical that our youth understand that they get their worth from God as a
free gift, NOT from “success” in athletics. We pray that parents will support their
children without placing undue pressure on them to win or be the best athlete on their
team or in their Region, none of which their child can control. We also ask that
spectators cheer in a positive manner. Remember that the participants are not small
adults, they are children playing a game.