A super idea: Extra effort helps Mother Theodore Catholic Academies reach new goal for sports programs

Football players from the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies do stretches during a practice on Aug. 18 at the indoor facility where the Indianapolis Colts prepare for their games. The Mother Theodore Catholic Academies will field combined football teams for the first time this year, thanks to funds from a Super Bowl raffle made possible by Indianapolis Colts’ president Bill Polian. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

For a boy who loves football and the Indianapolis Colts, 9-year-old Nick looked like he had just entered his personal version of heaven.

He beamed as he walked across the green, spongy artificial turf inside the indoor football field that the Colts use for practice—a facility that features huge banners of the team’s championship years.

And Nick’s eyes appeared to get even bigger when he spotted a tackling dummy. Building up a head of steam, he ran toward the dummy and smashed into it. Then as he rose from the turf, Nick flashed one of those “life doesn’t get much better than this!” grins.

“This is awesome!” he said. “We get to be in the place where the Colts play, and we get a lot of gear, too. I love football!”

In the after-school hours of Aug. 18, Nick and 44 other boys savored the memorable experience of playing and practicing for one day on the same field where Peyton Manning, Dwight Freeney and the other Colts get ready for games.

It was the start of a football season that organizers hope will make a difference in the boys’ lives—and in the future of the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies, the archdiocesan inner-city Indianapolis schools where many of these boys attend.

For the first time this year, the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies—Central Catholic School, Holy Angels School, Holy Cross Central School and St. Philip Neri School—plus the charter schools of Andrew Academy and Padua Academy will have combined football teams that play in the Catholic Youth Organization football league.

And while the CYO season doesn’t officially start with games until the weekend of Sept. 11-12, the teams that will represent the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies have already won an amazing victory—one that came about because of a dream shared by a core group of people and a stunning offer from Colts’ president Bill Polian.

The perfect call

No one knows the story better than Tom Dale, a member of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis, who has been coaching in the CYO since 1975.

Looking for a new challenge three years ago, Dale volunteered his services to the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies and immediately noticed that the schools weren’t taking full advantage of the CYO’s sports programs.

From his own youth and the experiences of his six children, Dale knows the difference that sports can make to children. He also views sports as one more way to strengthen schools, and sees them as a way to build enrollment at the Catholic academies.

Another member of the enrollment committee shares that belief: Bill Polian.

But funding the sports, especially a tackle football program, was always a major challenge. Then, a year ago, Polian offered a proposal during a meeting of about 20 committee members at the Colts’ headquarters.

“Bill says, ‘If I donate four Super Bowl tickets, flights, lodging, the whole deal, and we have a raffle, do you think that would work?’ ” Dale recalled.

It didn’t take long for Polian to get a response.

“Growing up Catholic, we all know you can sell chances on certain things and make money,” Dale said and then laughed. “We all said, ‘Yeah, it will work!’ ”

The plan was to sell 1,000 raffle tickets at $200 each. After about 800 tickets were sold for last year’s raffle, the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies had $150,000 to fund their sports programs.

Last year, the programs included flag football, cheerleading, chess, and boys’ and girls’ basketball. This year, the goal was to add two tackle football teams—one for third- and fourth-grade boys, and one for fifth- and sixth-grade boys. Some of the money raised from last year’s raffle will pay for uniforms, equipment and the cost of providing charter buses to transport the players from different schools to their practice field at St. Andrew Parish in Indianapolis.

“In my heart, I believe that if kids get exposed to this, our enrollment will improve,” said Dale, a 2010 winner of the CYO’s highest honor, the St. John Bosco Award. “And studies show that kids who are involved in things like this do better in school. They grow from the experience both academically and spiritually.”

The spirit of the sport

The spiritual component is key, according to Peggy O’Connor-Campbell, the CYO coordinator of the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies.

“We want to help the Church and promote our faith in God and share our beliefs, and if we can do it in sports and extracurricular activities as well as school, all the better,” she said. “We pray before and after practice. As Mother Theodore [Guérin] said, ‘Through God’s providence, we can do many things.’ ”

Watching the boys practice at the Colts’ facility was just part of the scene that brought tears to the eyes of O’Connor-Campbell. She noticed the way that parents and grandparents pitched in to help in any way they could. And she and Dale both went out of their way to acknowledge the young adults who have helped to start the program and coach in it.

Dale gave credit to Mike Dury and Andy Sahm—two former quarterbacks at Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis—for helping to coordinate the football program.

O’Connor-Campbell was impressed as she watched Charlie Feeney and Matt Lubbers lead the boys through football drills at the Colts’ facility, using patience, smiles and one-on-one instruction. Two of the coaches for the fifth- and sixth-grade team, Lubbers and Feeney are both 2006 graduates of Bishop Chatard who played football there.

“They needed coaches, and I thought it would be a great thing to do, “said Feeney, a student at Marian University and a member of Christ the King Parish, both in Indianapolis. “Lubbers is as excited as I am. The kids have told us they want to be the quarterback or the wide receiver and go deep. Matt and I just laughed. I want to help them learn the fundamentals and get them to continue to play.”

During one drill, Lubbers led the clapping for everyone who completed it, making sure that teammates supported one another.

“Sports have always been my passion, and I just want to help kids learn something I love,” said Lubbers, a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. “Nothing is more rewarding to me than to see them get it, and to see the smiles on their faces.”

Smiles like the one that seemed permanently affixed to the face of A. J., a fifth-grade boy.

During that late afternoon on the Colts’ practice field, A. J. could have been the poster child for everything that Polian, Dale and everyone else associated with the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies hope for in its growing sports program.

“It’s amazing,” A. J. said. “This is my first time playing. And it’s pretty exciting. I know all my teammates, and everybody is really friendly. I’ve always wanted to play football.” †