Ways To Wear Your Faith On Your Sleeve — And In Other Places — When You're A Student-Athlete At A Catholic School
As a student-athlete at a Catholic high school, your faith is likely an important part of your average school day. In addition to taking classes on religion, you might also meet with a religious leader from your local church and contribute to Catholic charities in the community. Your faith may also be important as you take to the field with your school's team. Commonly, Catholic school sports teams will pray together before and after they compete, and they may even have a local church leader offer a prayer before the game begins. Here are some ways that you might choose to represent your faith while you compete.
On Your Wrist Tape
Athletes in many different sports wear tape on their wrists as a way to lessen the risk of injury. After you've taped your wrists prior to the start of the game, you may wish to use a permanent marker to write a Bible verse on the tape. Many religious athletes take this approach, and it has multiple benefits. For example, you might feel more confident in knowing that you're playing for your faith as you compete. Or, you might choose a verse that relates to strength and be able to look down at it when you're tired and need some extra motivation.
On Your Eye Black
Football and baseball players commonly wear eye black — black pieces of tape that adhere to their skin under their eyes as a tool for absorbing the sunlight and making it easier to see while competing. If you choose to wear eye black, you might wish to take a white or silver permanent marker and make some scripture-related notes on the tape. This is something that many athletes do, including those at the college and professional levels. Even though you won't see these markings yourself during the game, you may find comfort in knowing that they're there.
On Your Cleats
If you wear cleats for your sport — which is the norm for soccer, field hockey, baseball, and football — you may wish to use a permanent marker to write some messages that reflect your Catholic faith on the surface of the shoes. Choose a color of marker that will show up on the cleats, and then write something that is poignant to you. Even the abbreviations for a chapter and verse of the Bible can be valuable. When you're sitting on the sidelines, you can look down at your footwear and recall the verse in question.
For more information or for other ideas like this, reach out to local Catholic high schools.