Coach keeps the faith ... on the football field

The Interview, a regular feature of The Catholic New World, is an in-depth conversation with a person whose words, actions or ideas affect today’s Catholic. It may be affirming of faith or confrontational. But it will always be stimulating.

This week, Catholic New World staff writer Michael D. Wamble talks with Todd Kuska, head football coach at St. Rita of Cascia High School.

Todd Kuska’s not a fan of the NFL. At least he can’t condone the actions that prompted several professional players to enter pleas to judicial rather than league officials. Nor does he find some of the hot doggin’ televised on Sundays and Monday nights very appealing.

Who cares about the Broncos vs. the Cardinals when you can watch the Mustangs vs. the Caravan down the street?

Mount Carmel vs. St. Rita. For Kuska, that’s football the way God intended it.

Of course, this comes from a South Sider with deep-dish roots as a player at “Rita.” It was his school, and both his older and younger brothers’ alma mater.

There’s no doubt this former tight-end/offensive lineman is red and blue, through and through. He’d have to be to trek into the office right after his honeymoon to begin summer football camp.

With a record that has improved each of two previous years—3-6, followed by last year’s 7-5 (with three losses against Illinois state finalists Mount Carmel, Providence and Marian Catholic)—the only thing more important to this head coach than “making football fun” is passing on life lessons from an Augustinian tradition of Catholic education.

Recently, the United States Supreme Court overruled a Texas school district’s plan to allow student-led prayers at high school football games.

The coach has but one question of the 6-3 decision: What’s the problem, Supreme Court?

At St. Rita, and other archdiocesan schools, coaches and players continue to keep their faith in the game.

Catholic New World: What was your path back to St. Rita?
Todd Kuska: I played here for four years before going on to college at St. Xavier University. Shortly after I started to play there I was injured and told I shouldn’t play anymore. But I was invited to stay on as a coach. That was the best injury I ever had. I was there for three and a half years before coming to St. Rita as a football coach.

CNW: Interacting with young people, do you find that you use football as a conduit to talk about things beyond the field of play?
TK: Understanding football can help you develop qualities that are important in life—discipline, teamwork;,camaraderie. Here, we talk about St. Rita being one family. As a family, I have numerous talks during the course of the year with players about problems at home or at school and other topics. I see my coaching staff as guides that can help our kids along on the road of life.

CNW: This summer, National Football League players made the news for all the wrong reasons: alleged sexual assault and attempted murder. What do you say to young people who see NFL players, supposedly role models, in trouble with the law?
TK: Well, I’m not a big fan of the NFL and I don’t think many guys on my staff are fans of the NFL. That league is going down the wrong road. College football and high school football are truer expressions of football.
If a person wants to really be entertained and watch a good game, they’ll watch high school and college sports. You’ll find kids who play the game because they love the game. They are not playing in search of shoe endorsements. They’re not doing it for big bucks. People in the NFL are pretty much beyond the reach of the public. Most normal people don’t have the problems that come with $50 million contracts.
I think that while most kids watch the NFL they know those actions aren’t OK. Even some of the actions on the field. What we value is sportsmanship. We value shaking hands after the game, win or loss. We teach players not to hate or fear anybody, but to respect all of our opponents.
In practice, we tell kids, “This happens on Sundays but pattern yourself on the real game that’s played on Fridays [high school] and Saturdays [high school and college].”

CNW: But also, in those moments when the camera stays on the field, you sometimes see NFL players from each opposing team join hands to form a circle of prayer?
TK: I think that’s a good thing because kids do see that. I’d have to say that they’re doing that because that’s what they believe. I don’t think it’s a fake message. It is a good message being sent out by NFL players.
When I returned here, our current president, formerly our pastoral director, [Augustinian] Father Thomas McCarthy, brought our team scapulars with the image of Our Mother of Good Counsel. As a team, we held a ceremony where each of our players received a scapular. Now, each freshman who enters our program receives one before the season starts. We also attend Mass every day before our games. We pray in the locker room before the game and on the field. And after the game—after we shake hands—there is a closing prayer. So when they see guys on TV praying, it is a positive message to everybody else, but for us and many other Catholic schools, prayer is just a normal part of the game.

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