CYO volunteers honored for service to Church, community
Four of the 2013 St. John Bosco Award recipients pose for a photograph with Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin during the Catholic Youth Organization Volunteer Awards Ceremony on May 7 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. They are, from left, Phil Kenney, Paul Weaver, Sandy Clegg and Tom Hayes. The fifth recipient, Mary Jo Reed, wasn’t able to attend the ceremony because she was traveling out-of-state. (Photo by Jennifer Peterson)
By John Shaughnessy
In the world of youth sports, it was one of those moments when a coach’s perspective is tested and a young player’s confidence hangs in the balance.
The softball pitcher for the team from St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis had just released a pitch that soared over the head of the batter and kept rising until it rattled against the top half of the backstop.
Embarrassed, the girl began to lower her head until her coach, Paul Weaver, shouted from the dugout, “Nice job mixing up your pitches! Way to keep them guessing!”
A smile flashed across the pitcher’s face and the game continued—a game where a coach’s emphasis on giving encouragement, building self-esteem and keeping sports in perspective set the tone for the season.
That approach recently led the archdiocese’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) to give its highest honor—the St. John Bosco Award—to Weaver and four other people for their longtime commitments and contributions to youth.
Sandy Clegg, Tom Hayes, Phil Kenney and Mary Jo Reed also received the St. John Bosco Award during the CYO’s Volunteer Awards Ceremony on May 7 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. Here is a brief look at how each of these honorees makes a difference to young people. (Related: Full list of the recepients of the 2013 Msgr. Albert Busald Awards and the 2013 Spirit of Youth Awards)
The essence of life
Mary Jo Reed has always told her players that they need to rely on each other to be successful. She’s also told them that they can count on her in the tough times. She even kept that commitment on one of the most devastating days of her life.
On a morning in February of 2010, Reed was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I was scared at first. I cried,” she recalls. “Then it was the attitude of how do we go forward, how can we beat it?”
Twelve hours later, Reed was in the gym at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, coaching her girls.
“I had strength, and I had faith, and I didn’t want my girls worried about me.”
That combination of strength and faith has guided Reed in 16 years of coaching girls in basketball and volleyball. She strives to pass along that combination to her players.
“I don’t have any children of my own. When we’re together, I look out for them as my own kids. I’ve had kids on my teams whose parents are going through a divorce or they have an eating disorder. They know they can come to me in tough times. I care about them so much. After all these years, they make sure I know where they are, what they’re doing, and what life goals they are pursuing.”
“Clean” of cancer three years later, Reed lives the one essence of life that she always wants her girls to practice—faith.
“I’ve had struggles, but I have faith. It’s something I want to pass on to them. Faith is something deep within that you practice all your life. You use it through life’s obstacles and with life’s blessings.”
‘It’s part of giving back’
Phil Kenney remembers Camp Rancho Framasa in Nashville as the first place he spent away from home as a child.
“It was a little scary at first, but when you got involved with everyone in your group, it was a great experience,” recalls Kenney, the president of F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co. in Indianapolis.
For three generations, the family construction business has been a friend of the CYO and its camp that serves about 5,000 children each year. In recent times, the company has made repairs and improvements to the camp’s facilities, bridges and pool.
“It’s part of giving back,” notes Kenney, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis. “Those who have should give back, whether it’s through your time or your know-how, to provide others with an opportunity. The camp serves kids of all sizes, shapes and colors. It’s also set up for kids with disabilities. Any child can have a great experience there now.”
Kenney says he and his cousin, Chris Wilhelm, are continuing the CYO connection that began with the commitment of his grandfather, F.A. Wilhelm, and his uncles, Phil and James “Tippy” Wilhelm.
Kenney is now part of another family tradition. He is the sixth member of his family to receive the St. John Bosco Award from the CYO. Besides his grandfather and his two uncles, his father, Dr. David Kenney, and his wife, Colleen Kenney, have earned the honor.
“My wife made it very clear that she won it five years earlier than I did,” Kenney says with a laugh. “She thought it was really neat for me.”
‘Lead like Jesus’
For a moment, all the girls could see was that the scoreboard showed their team had lost the match in the volleyball tournament. Tears flowed and shoulders sagged until the players saw the face of their coach, Sandy Clegg.
“We got beat, but I wasn’t disappointed because we played like a team,” recalls Clegg, who has coached volleyball for 12 years at St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Parish in Indianapolis. “It didn’t matter what the score was because they did everything right. They went out trying their hardest.”
Clegg’s perspective led CYO executive director Ed Tinder to praise her “lead like Jesus” approach to life and faith.
“That’s a term that’s been going around Little Flower,” Clegg says. “We teach our students to ‘lead like Jesus.’ Little Flower has embraced that whole philosophy—that you need to be an example of how you want people to be.”
Beyond coaching, Clegg lives that approach in her volunteer work at Holy Family Shelter in Indianapolis and her involvement in the children’s Liturgy of the Word at Little Flower.
“I have two things that I always preach to my players,” Clegg says. “All of our talents are gifts from God that we have to share. I also tell my kids that when something negative happens, something positive will come from it. God gave us his Son, and he had to die for us. That’s the ultimate of something positive coming from something bad.
“I love it when I see the kids not getting down and trying again.”
Starting a tradition
Soon after Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis opened its new gym in 2001, Tom Hayes thought it would be a great idea to start a new tradition combining sports and faith.
“We start each game on our home court with both teams and the referees coming together at the center circle and saying a prayer,” Hayes says. “That tradition of mixing faith and sports is important to me. It’s important for children to know that all their talents are from God, and they need to thank him whenever they get the chance.”
Hayes has followed that approach during 30 years of coaching football, basketball, soccer, track and cross country at Christ the King.
“Just being around the kids is a lot of fun,” says Hayes, a lifelong member of the parish. “What’s kept me coaching is a chance to give back to the parish, and it’s a way to give back to the coaches I had.
“I try to accomplish two or three things when I coach. I try to make it fun for them. I try to make it a faith-filled experience for them. We pray at every practice and at every game. I also try to teach them the fundamentals of the sport.”
One of his favorite memories involves the saying of the pre-game prayer by two rival teams before a championship game in the jam-packed gym.
“The whole gym got quiet and then everyone joined in the prayer. It was just a good chance to remind everyone to put God and sportsmanship first.”
The bond of a parent and child
When Paul Weaver expressed encouragement and light-hearted humor in response to the softball player’s wild pitch, he wasn’t just trying to bolster the girl’s confidence. He was also striving to do something that is always a priority for him as a coach:
Set an example.
“It’s important from the standpoint of setting the example for the children—and sometimes the parents—of how we should treat each other,” says Weaver, who is noted for his emphasis on praise while coaching football, basketball, softball and cross country.
Setting an example has also led to a wonderful family connection for Weaver. On the same night that he was presented with the St. John Bosco Award, his son Daniel was honored with a Spirit of Youth Award from the CYO.
The father and son both volunteer at Miracle Place, a neighborhood ministry on the near east side of Indianapolis that aids low-income residents, with a special emphasis on children and senior citizens. They’re both involved in the Challengers’ baseball program, a program that helps children with disabilities enjoy the sport. And they served on a mission trip to Honduras for a week.
The shared experiences have strengthened the bond of father and son.
“My dad always does service,” says Daniel, who recently graduated from Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis. “It’s just fun giving back, and seeing how much joy people get from it.” †
