Catholic Sports Radio is a new weekly podcast launched with the mission of highlighting the intersection of one’s faith life and sports life. Created and hosted by Bruce Wawrzyniak, the show can be heard at www.CatholicSportsRadio.net as well as on iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and TuneIn. Those platforms can be easily reached via links for them on the website.
To-date, six episodes have already been released.
“I’m extremely excited about this launch,” Wawrzyniak said. “I have been in podcasting for more than five years. In that community we are very hesitant to use this phrase, but, no one is doing this. Catholic Sports Radio is a great opportunity for families to unite around a show that features guests telling how they are successfully navigating their faith walk – living the gospel – while pursuing their sports endeavors. I am confident the audience will grow quickly and globally for this initiative.”
Wawrzyniak brings the experience of a podcast (“Now Hear This Entertainment”) that he has been doing every week since February 2014, with that show having gotten listeners from 142 countries. He uses Catholic Sports Radio Episode 1 to discuss the purpose of the show as well as his qualifications (Catholic, sports, and broadcasting/podcasting).
Catholic Sports Radio acknowledges the many benefits of sports – sportsmanship, physical fitness, teamwork – and supports goals of making it to the pros or earning a good contract. However, the mandate is that one’s faith has to come first, before sports or anything else. Giving first-hand testimony are guests who are Catholics in sports – current or former athletes, coaches, officials, administrators, and more, from the pro, amateur, and scholastic ranks.
Wawrzyniak added, “Whether you’re an athlete or a fan, youth or adult, Catholic or not, this show will deliver content that speaks to you and provides opportunities for ongoing reflection for your daily life.”
Guests so far have included a U.S. Olympic skier (2006 Winter Games in Torino), a former NFL’er who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, an individual who was part of an ESPN “30 for 30,” and, the Division I wins leader in NCAA softball history who coached Team USA to the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 ten days after his wife died unexpectedly. Plus, Episode 2 is a former hockey player that Wawrzyniak calls “the poster boy for Catholic Sports Radio.”
Under the username @CathSportsRadio, Catholic Sports Radio is also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus, a “CSR Listeners” Facebook group has launched to bring audience members in community with one another, with an opportunity to post prayer requests as well.