Bruce Wawrzyniak
Catholic Sports Radio
Helping listeners find the right balance and priority when it comes to their faith life versus their sports life, interviews are done with guests who are Catholics in sports - current or former athletes, coaches, officials, clergy, administrators, and more, from the pro, amateur, and scholastic ranks. 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.
Author
Bruce Wawrzyniak
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Jul 6, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
CSR 289 Lauren Hazbun 12.08.2024 37:47
She is a current student-athlete, competing in the sport of volleyball. Away from the court, she brings her love of sports into her faith through a new non-profit that she is the founder and president of, called Field of Dreams Foundation: Catholic Sportsmanship in Action, Corp., which she talks about during this interview. She also shares strong faith testimony as it relates to medical challenge...
CSR 288 JJ Niekro 05.08.2024 36:11
He is a pitcher for the Mississippi Braves, the Double A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, with whom he signed as a free agent in 2021 after having pitched in the MLB Draft League. He then proceeded to post a 2.76 earned run average over 16 ⅓ innings in rookie ball. He had played collegiately in Lakeland, Florida, and in high school as well. Fans of Major League Baseball absolutely will recognize...
CSR 287 Mike Lynch 29.07.2024 43:54
He is the head coach for women's soccer at Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic college in North Carolina. Having started there in 2011, he has a .633 winning percentage and has earned two conference regular season championships, two conference tournament championships, and competed in three NCAA postseason tournaments. Prior to Belmont Abbey, he also held head coaching jobs at Nebraska Wesleyan Univ...
CSR 286 Dr. John Acquaviva 22.07.2024 38:53
He played college baseball and then following his senior year took an offer to play professionally in Italy. He was educated in the field of fitness and exercise physiology and is a Catholic speaker, professor, and author, having written three books, the latest of which just came out in February and is called, "Improving Your Sportsmanship Through Catholic Teaching...and Common Sense: A Practical...
CSR 285 Brad Wilkerson 15.07.2024 31:18
He served one year ago as Assistant Hitting Coach for Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. He played for eight seasons in MLB, having been drafted in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos and then going on to play for them and the Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays. Along the way he earned the distinction of hitt...
CSR 284 Thomas Morstead 08.07.2024 40:59
He is the punter for the New York Jets, entering his 17th season in the NFL. He was chosen in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints and went on to play his first twelve seasons with them before playing for both the Jets and the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, then the Miami Dolphins in 2022, and back to the Jets last season. He is coming off a 2023 season during which he set fo...
CSR 283 Fr Jason Nioka 01.07.2024 27:35
A former judo champion who has walked the path from seminarian to the diaconate to – 48 HOURS BEFORE THIS INTERVIEW – ordination, while being in charge of the largest contingent of Olympic chaplains, about 40 Catholic priests, nuns, and lay faithful. This role of service to the world's elite athletes is under the banner of the Holy Games, a project led by the Conference of Bishops of France. Holy...
CSR 282 Robbie Mouton 24.06.2024 39:46
He was a pitcher on his high school baseball team, including being All-State AND having thrown a no-hitter at a tournament where he made the All-Tournament squad. He went on to college baseball at both Bradley University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He also played in the Northwoods League for the Alexandria Blue Anchors. Almost immediately after his baseball career he delved into the...
CSR 281 Jared Veldheer 17.06.2024 33:53
He is a veteran of 12 years in the NFL as an offensive tackle, including having come out of retirement three times - as recently as this past December! He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft and, in addition to that team, went on to also play for the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, and Indianapolis Colts, appearing in a combined total...
CSR 280 Larry Tucker 10.06.2024 38:08
He was chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the eighth round of the 1983 NBA Draft. He has been enshrined in both the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Fame. He is the Lewis University men's basketball all-time scoring leader and helped the program to its first conference championship and to their first two NCAA Tournament berths. Pr...
CSR 279 Taylor Kemp 03.06.2024 39:48
He is a former Major League Soccer player with over 100 MLS appearances throughout a six-year career that took him to four continents and more than ten countries. He spent ten years in locker rooms of the highest level, from the University of Maryland, to D.C. United, to the U.S. Men's National team. On the faith side, after living a life apart from God for many years, he experienced the unique c...
CSR 278 Matt Hoven 27.05.2024 41:12
This is something of a special edition. This guest was on the show before, more than a year-and-a-half ago, back on Episode 190 in September 2022. He is a professor and Kule Chair at St. Joseph's College, a Catholic college at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. And since we met him then – and you can go back and hear his story on that episode – this conversation instead gives us all...
CSR 277 Krista Steinbeiser 20.05.2024 43:52
She has coached for FC Dallas Juniors and for TOCA -- which is an official soccer training partner of MLS -- in addition to being a private trainer / entrepreneur for soccer skills, camps, and events. She has six years of training in Krav Maga, Karate, Jiu-jitsu, and other forms of self-defense and now teaches private lessons to individuals, groups, churches, and monthly women's seminars. She re...
CSR 276 Brett Milazzo 13.05.2024 37:15
He is an outfielder with the Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League, which is a Professional Partner League of Major League Baseball. Last year in 78 games played he batted .300 and had a .995 fielding percentage. After playing collegiately at the University of Minnesota-Duluth he went on to play double A ball with the Chicago Dogs of the American Association. He had started his college caree...
CSR 275 Colleen Scariano 06.05.2024 33:11
She grew up playing a wide array of sports, from softball, basketball, volleyball, and track, to swimming and volleyball. She has also played golf and in tennis leagues, plus she has run a half-marathon AND a triathlon. Present day her focus, fitness-wise, is on stretching, strength, and restorative movement, adding that she loves a good hike. She has overcome personal tragedy more than once, an...
CSR 274 Fr Steve Kim 29.04.2024 35:33
He has been the Catholic chaplain for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers for the last eight years, which have included two trips to the Super Bowl. He was a competitive golfer, to the point of having considered going pro at one point, AND he did a 53-mile walk from East San Jose to East San Francisco as part of a fundraiser. He is the founder and president of several non-profits, was ordained to the pr...
CSR 273 Ciaran Clarke 22.04.2024 31:53
He is an undefeated professional MMA fighter, currently boasting a 9-0 won-lost record, with his most recent victory having come on March 22nd, winning by way of a third-round submission in a featherweight match, after which he said, "I feel really great in this weight class and please with the help of God we can keep this streak going." He hails from Dublin, Ireland, and is signed to Bellator MMA...
CSR 272 Anna Zschuppe 15.04.2024 40:56
She grew up playing soccer from the age of 9 and played goalkeeper and striker for AC Premier, Croatia Cleveland, and Kirtland High School and was trained under some notable former U.S. national team players. She also has received her youth futsal/indoor referee license from the U.S. Soccer Federation, and she served as the girls' head soccer coach at Braves Soccer Academy for U9-U11 teams for tw...
CSR 271 Claudio Reilsono 08.04.2024 39:25
He has had a long career in baseball, including being the all-time leader in wins as coach of the Carnegie Mellon University baseball team, which he guided to consecutive conference championships in 2015 and 2016. As a professional scout, he has assisted in professional player signings all over the world and in 2002 was named General Manager of the Global Scouting Bureau. He is also a profession...
CSR 270 Mark Aylward 01.04.2024 32:50
He has played sports his whole life. He was captain, All-Star, and MVP of his high school baseball team and a starter on their varsity basketball team. Collegiately he attended Notre Dame and played in the Bookstore Basketball Tournament all four years that he was in college. After high school he had continued to play in a variety of sports into his middle age, including softball, tennis, golf,...
CSR 269 Paul Joel 25.03.2024 29:41
He has a miraculous health-related story. On the sports side, he played football in high school and college, including in the Glenwood Football League and training camp with the New York Jets' farm team. During his first two years he became the best table tennis player in college. As a Pulmonary Fellow at Mass General Hospital, he worked with some of the world-class runners competing from the Bost...
CSR 268 Terry Tucker 18.03.2024 32:10
He attended The Citadel on an athletic scholarship, going on to co-captain the men's basketball team in his senior year and then receiving the Senior Class Sportsmanship Award at graduation. He had played for Marist High School in Chicago and was co-captain and MVP of his team in his senior year and was All-State Honorable Mention. He had also played for St. Charles Prep High School in Columbus, O...
CSR 267 Dave Schultz 11.03.2024 29:46
He was active playing baseball as a youngster, and then added swimming to his list of sports when he got to junior high. As he got into high school, he stuck with swimming but dropped baseball, only to find out in the future that he was being scouted at the time. Later in life he taught at a Catholic school where he was also the softball coach and took a group of girls who never won a game prior t...
CSR 266 Bonnie-Jill Laflin 04.03.2024 30:34
She is a trailblazing sports broadcaster, TV personality, author, and philanthropist. She is the first and only female NBA scout, holding the front office executive position with the Los Angeles Lakers. A former ballet dancer, she is the first woman to dance at a professional level for three teams in two sports: the NBA's Golden State Warriors and the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys....
CSR 265 Bill Bommarito 26.02.2024 36:41
He has written a book on coaching youth sports, which just came out at the start of this month and is titled, "Beyond the Skills and Drills: The Keys to Successfully Coaching Youth Sports." He has been involved with both high school and youth sports for 47 years. In addition, his nationwide coaching and parenting seminars have been attended or watched by nearly one hundred thousand participants. ...
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