Coach strives to return the favor of being helped to overcome adversity in life

By John Shaughnessy

It was a moment that would challenge any coach. It was also an opportunity to impact a youth for the rest of his life.

As the coach of a boys’ basketball team at St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis, Steve Looney watched as his players were getting pounded on the scoreboard by a far better team during a Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) game.

As someone who has played and coached a lot of basketball in his life, Looney has learned to accept that such games are part of the sport. What wasn’t acceptable to him was what one of his eighth-grade players did during the game.

“We came over for a timeout, he sat down on the bench, and he just gave up,” Looney recalls.

Looney didn’t do anything in the moment, but after the game, he calmly had a one-on-one talk with the youth.

“What I was trying to teach him was that it didn’t matter if you’re on the receiving end or the giving end, you have to learn how to lose with dignity and win with grace. And your effort is the only thing you can control in that equation. And that giving up is not a good reflection on anyone. At the end of the conversation, he committed to me that he wouldn’t do it again.”

As someone who enjoys learning about and staying in touch with his players through their high school years and into adulthood, Looney says, “Overcoming adversity in life is the number one thing I try to teach. It’s my understanding he has taken that lesson with him through the years. That means a lot to me.”

That emphasis on wanting to make a difference in young people’s lives is one of the reasons Looney recently received the St. John Bosco Award, the highest honor the CYO gives. So are the realities that he has been the boys’ basketball coordinator for his parish for 10 years, and that he’s also been a referee for CYO basketball games for about 20 years.

All those efforts are his way of giving back to the people—and the Catholic faith—that have helped him overcome adversity in his life.

A 1986 graduate of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, Looney singles out longtime Roncalli educator Bob Tully for dramatically changing the course of his life in high school.

The father of three also stresses how he has relied upon his Catholic faith during the dark times and challenges of life.

“I lost my father 20 years ago to cancer, I had a brother who was killed five years ago by a drunk driver. Instead of pushing me away from the faith, all those things drew me closer. Through those times, I was leaning heavily on not only my faith but Father Guy Roberts [pastor of St. Barnabas], my family and my friends. They have all rallied for me. All of this has served to deepen every aspect of my faith. It’s not what I am. It’s who I am.”

It’s why he is humbled by receiving the St. John Bosco Award. As someone who has always strived to make a difference through the actions of living his faith, he focuses more on others who do the same.

He praises the teachers in Catholic schools, the priests and the religious.

“We are all the beneficiaries of their sacrifices for the Church. They’re the ones who are the real heroes to me.” †

Related story: Archbishop encourages CYO volunteers to keep Christ as their focal point