One Team
One Team
The mission of CYC sports is, “building communities of faith through sports.” We believe that sports can help us grow as missionary disciples of Jesus Christ by cultivating the values of Faith, Sportsmanship and Service.
The CYC was started in the Archdiocese of St Louis in 1947, primarily to offer an opportunity for black youth to play sports in St Louis. At that time, they were excluded from other leagues because of their skin color. We are proud of our legacy of inclusion to all kids. We are one of the few CYC organizations in the country that allows anyone to play; regardless of where they go to school or church.
More people are having a discussion about racism and how it has impacted the lives of others. They have forced themselves to look in the mirror and honestly assess what they have done to help or harm the problem. As a Church, we are called to be at the center of this discussion.
The CYC office has organized a committee to discuss the issues of race and sports in our ministry. Our program needs to get together and discuss how we can work as a team to change “they” kind of thinking, to “we” thinking. It can’t be us versus them. We have a common humanity. We have a common baptism. We have to be ONE TEAM.
The committee has outlined specific objectives for the future:
- Educate the St Louis athletic community to raise awareness of the existence of racism.
- Provide more opportunities for integration based on the guidelines from the Vatican.
- Provide a means to report and address uncomfortable and inclusive experiences involving race.
- Promote the CYC values of faith, sportsmanship, and service into addressing the problem of racism in CYC sports.
- Provide an environment where every athlete can have fun and feel welcome.
Racism has no place in CYC sports. We can be better. CYC sports provides a great opportunity to form our athletes in Christian virtues and equip them to treat others with respect. Sports can be a unifier in our communities. We need to be ONE TEAM.