Reflecting upon the true key to success, famed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne once said, “The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team.”
Catholic grammar schools in the Diocese of Camden nurture their young student athletes with fundamentals and faith, never losing sight that the team’s true captain is the Lord. A look at some of these sports programs, many of them lovingly and selflessly tended by volunteer coaches, share valuable lessons both on and off the field or gymnasium floor.
Decibels & Dedication
Delicate eardrums stand no chance against the sound of 60 enthusiastic, blue-and-white clad Saint Mary School cheerleaders, their voices raised in love and pride for their school community.
“Gimme a C-R-U! Gimme an S-A-D! Gimme an E-R-S! Gooooo, Crusaders!”
“I always leave practice with a smile on my face because the girls’ energy and spirit are contagious,” said Nicole Lenhardt, the Williamstown Catholic school’s cheer coach and coordinator. “The cheerleaders bring so much joy to our school community.”
Saint Mary’s cheer program consists of about 40 mini-cheerleaders from grades kindergarten to three, and a competition squad of 20 girls in grades four to eight. Lenhardt, a Catholic grammar school cheer alumna, took leadership of the Crusaders with the retirement of the former coach. The hours of practice, performance at school assemblies and rigors of competition, she asserted, “gives the girls an opportunity to share what they love about the school.”
Even the COVID quarantine and suspension of in-person classes and practices couldn’t suppress the Crusaders. In fact, Lenhardt said, it offered the squad the chance to strengthen bonds with the help of long-distance technology, and her to toil alongside her sixth-grade cheerleading daughter, Lyla.
“Lyla and I learned to make videos,” the coach said, chuckling. “We demonstrated cheer moves, sent them [fellow cheerleaders] one a week for six weeks, then had a Zoom meeting where the team performed all together. It was awesome, and we stayed connected.”
Lenhardt hastened to add that the value of the sport lies not just in athleticism and individual achievements, but community spirit and love for the Catholic educational community. “There is so much joy and so many blessings.”
Faith on the Court
Though small in number, last season’s Resurrection Catholic School’s girls volleyball team packed a lot of power at the net and foul line.
“Last year, our JV team had only five players,” recounted coach Bill Hertline, “and we went undefeated for the season and finished first in the league tournament.”
On the heels of that success, the team has grown to number some two dozen players in grades five through eight. Hertline stepped forward to volunteer on the coaching staff when the sport was first introduced at the Cherry Hill Catholic grammar school; this season, his fourth, will conclude with his younger daughter’s graduation from Resurrection.
Hertline enumerated the reasons such a sports program benefits the students and the entire school community.
“It’s great that we can offer these types of sports to our students, to give them an opportunity to shine outside of the classroom,” he said. “This sport also helps strengthen relationships among the girls who may not otherwise have been friends in the classroom.”
Considering the sport from a faith-based perspective, Hertline continued, “Our faith in God helps keep us grounded, and helps the coaches and players focus on what’s really important. We’re teaching our kids how to respect one another and maintain a healthy competition, all while having fun on the court.”
Going the Distance
Whitney Pascale, Resurrection Catholic School cross country head coach, agrees that “sports and religion go hand in hand.
“[Both] have important lessons like values and appropriate behavior. We also pray a lot during meets and games. Kids exercise, make friends, learn teamwork and have a sense of purpose. They feel like they belong and their self-esteem improves.”
The school’s program fields competitors on three levels: cadets (grades two through four); juniors (grades five and six), and seniors (grades seven and eight). The upper two age groups compete against schools in central and southern New Jersey and are shepherded by Pascale and assistant coaches Adrian Ayran and Rudolf Rotter.
Rotter, too, sees more value in the faith-based program because “Catholic schools are a meritocracy. It teaches kids to prepare for the future, work hard, go out and earn it,” he said. “I always tell the kids that the only things your entrance fee will get you is a T-shirt and a pizza party, no trophies for participation.”
The assistant coach, an alumnus of Cherry Hill’s Camden Catholic High School cross country team, continued, “I enjoyed the camaraderie, and I want to pass on the coaching I received to the next generation, and they can pass it on to the generation after that.”
Fundamentals and Philosophy
Jamie DeCastro was invited to assist the boys basketball coach of the Saint Rose of Lima Catholic School in 1995, “just until they found a permanent coach,” he said with a smile. “I’m still here.”
The Haddon Heights grammar school carries about 33 seventh- and eighth-grade boys on their team (“we won’t cut anyone before high school,” DeCastro explained) and the Falcons have competed in a league of area Catholic schools since the 1970s.
In addition to the fundamentals, boys are taught valuable faith tenets and principles which will last a lifetime.
“It is important for them to work hard from a young age, be selfless and work as a unit,” DeCastro said. “No one is perfect; they have to deal with failure and learn to apologize from their mistakes. It is important how kids interact with their peers and officials and adults.
“Faith and sports are intertwined,” he continued. “What you stand for is exceptionally important. The fundamentals and philosophy tie in with what the Church teaches. I could not be luckier with the support from the faculty, parents, school and parish community, for they feel the same way.”
Looking back over his nearly three-decade coaching ministry, DeCastro concluded, “I was 21 when I started; I would never have believed I would get just as much out of this as I give.”
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