“Fr. Patrick Kelly offers a prophetic voice reminding us that balance, ethical values, and joy should be at the heart of youth sports. Offering both academic and practical inspiration, this book calls all athletes, coaches, and parents to integrate competition with character, winning with wisdom, fitness with fun, and sports with spirituality.” —Mike Hughes, Athletic Director, Jesuit High School, Portland, Oregon
"This is a much needed and very important book. The volume's unique contribution is that it is the first time academics, coaches, and others have explicitly drawn on Catholic accounts from a range of disciplines to inform ideas on youth sport. We already have some excellent work on this topic informed by ideas from secular accounts and those of other Christian denominations; a Catholic perspective will be of great interest to those of that faith and of great importance to others who have little awareness of or do not fully understand this view." —Mark Stephen Nesti, Liverpool John Moores University
"A delightful, practical, and inspirational collection of essays on the spiritually formative aspects of youth sports: the ways they might teach self-transcendence, build character, and allow participants to experience the sheer creative joy of play, a crucial dimension of spiritual maturity too often ignored in 'serious' treatments of both spiritual formation and sports." —Wendy M. Wright, Creighton University
" . . . an insightful resource for coaches, athletic directors, youth ministers, and others. Youth Sport and Spirituality uses an engaging blend of history, theology, spiritual reflection, and cultural commentary to examine how playing sports can foster personal growth for young people. The topics addressed show an acute understanding, from sports’ many benefits to children as well as some of the uglier issues, such as win-at-all-costs mentalities and aggression toward officials. The chapters present nuanced arguments; indeed, some contributors even respectfully disagree with each other on important questions, such as whether sport truly builds positive character traits or if children should receive equal playing time." —U.S. Catholic
“It is clear that the authors believe sports participation goes beyond physical and character building to moral, spiritual, and community building. All want to retain the spirit and joy of play in games and contests. Many use examples from real athletes to illustrate the rewards and virtues that inhabit sports . . . This book will enrich any reader who enjoys athletics, especially regarding youth in Catholic contexts.” —Catholic World Library
“Youth Sport and Spirituality is an excellent book that could become a handbook for anyone involved in or merely interested in sports for young people. In his conclusion, Kelly presents his belief that ‘maybe the time has arrived for . . . youth sport organizations to reclaim play and recover the joy that should rightly be a part of youth sport.’” —Sooner Catholic
“The [second section] places youth sports within the family context; indeed, family . . . is placed at the top of the spirituality list. Youth sport is seen throughout in a ‘context where self-transcendence can occur.’ This is a welcome volume in a world in which sports are too often self-centered, and the attitude is ‘win first’.” —Choice
“In an age when an increasing number of Americans find themselves on ball fields on Sunday mornings either watching or participating in the ritual of sports, rather than in the pews, Jesuit Father Patrick Kelly offers a much-needed perspective to place sport in its proper context. . . Fr. Kelly’s thoughtful analysis and perspective makes coaches, athletes and parents alike co-creators in the development of youth through the participation of sports.” —Catholic Missourian
“Unsportsmanlike behavior by student athletes or parents at youth sporting events happens with regularly these days. The timely, innovative essays in Youth Sport and Spirituality present a wide-ranging overview that draws on resources from Catholic spiritual and theological traditions to address problems . . . as well as opportunities in youth sport in the United States.” —Studies in Spirituality
"The book serves as a launchpad into an array of valuable theological insights and applications of play from a variety of Christian figures past and present." —Religious Studies Review
"(One of the ten) best recent Catholic sports books. . . . Kelly brings together some of the most thoughtful voices in contemporary theology, philosophy and psychology to examine both the social and religious significance of sports . . . (and) to show how athletic competition is a durable venue for the pursuit of self-mastery and communal harmony." —America Magazine
