Prayer Service for Football: One Letter, One Body

On November 22, 2024 the St. Ignatius Wildcats won the CCS Open Division football championship 10-7 over the Lancers of St. Francis. They did this in the pouring rain with family and friends in red ponchos cheering for them every step of the way. Congratulations to this talented team—a spirited squad—and all who helped them to get there. 

I have gotten to know this group a little better as my colleague and I have led their prayer services this season. It has been an honor and privilege to offer these young men a sacred pause in their day—a time to reflect and listen to the Word of God. Each gathering offers students a moment to center and ground themselves in the gift and opportunity of playing football.

I am not their team chaplain. I hope in the future that a faculty member will officially take on that role and be an integrated presence on and off the field for these athletes. However, as a contributing voice in Sports and Spirituality, I have a skill set, the ability and desire to create and design what I hope has been meaningful pre-game gatherings. 

Through this experience I have learned there aren't many resources for team chaplains or coaches to access, refine and replicate. I was motivated to write Pray and Practice with Purpose for this very reason. Were I to publish another edition, I will add what I have used throughout this season. A coach, chaplain, athletic director or sports and spirituality teacher has a much better sense of what will speak to their team, their athletes. I say that as a word of encouragement. Still an outline or framework is a great place to start. This role has not been easy. It may sound hard to believe, but a 15-20 minute service takes me about four hours to plan. You want to have student involvement and get outside voices contributing to the meeting. And so it is with great joy and thanks to George Kittle, that I share one example. Feel free to review and reuse, modify or mend. I have four others to pass along. This *might* be my favorite. Enjoy!

Theme: Hope and Intention: We are one Body
My colleague and I have determine a theme for each prayer service. Most are tied to our Jesuit roots. Yes, we speak Ignatian. And yet, at St. Ignatius, a popular song among the student body is "One Body in Christ." I decided to capitalize upon this theme, knowing how it connects to a reading in scripture and an important pre-game ritual for Niners tight-end, George Kittle.

Context for the team:
Long before text messages and emails, letters were an important form of communication. I still remember the day when the acceptance letter came in the mail for college decisions and the rejections. The very sight of the letter—Was it thick or thin? gave an answer.

Some of the great leaders in history have been known for their letter writing. Teddy Roosevelt was known to have written about 6.8 letters / day!
Letters like these, whether professional or personal, have become artifacts and serve as primary sources 
Scripture includes letters, too. The Apostle Paul wrote to different Christian communities and churches to nurture, encourage, instruct, and correct their errors in theology and their lifestyle. His letter to the community in Corinth sets an important tone for us here today.
This passage, "One Body, Many Parts" speaks to a theme we have here at St Ignatius. It is a song we sing: We are one Body, One body in Christ.
As a team, you have learned you must work as one. Let us pray together for that grace.


Reading: A senior read from 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26 (for brevity and clarity, I took out a few lines)

Letters are important today. In fact, reading a letter is an important spiritual discipline for George Kittle. As noted in the hit Netflix series “Receiver," it's an important part of Kittle's pre-game ritual. I’d like to share that with you now.

Video: Episode 7 "Don't Have a Choice": 23:45-26:20

These prayer services have become part of your pregame rituals. And I’d like to integrate that practice of letter writing/reading that you saw between Bruce Kittle and his son, George to our time together today. I’ve asked your Coach to share a letter he has for you….

Coach reads the letter he wrote to the team out loud.

Following this sharing, I invite the team to take a moment to pray for Coach.
Pray in gratitude for his tireless leadership and his vision. We pray for his family and this notion of family he has cultivated here.

That is just the first part of Kittle’s pregame routine. I’d like to share with you the other parts of it.

Resume the video: 26:20 to 27:40

Visualization Exercise: I'm not going to invite you into a similar meditation, right here, right now. You can do as Kittle does when you get to the stadium, but let's start the exercise here.

• Close your eyes, put both feet flat on the floor.
• Take in the Stadium
• Appreciate the moment you’re living in
• Center yourself
• Take some deep breaths
• SLOW DOWN
• Look for your family…your friends in the stands
• Talk to yourself
• Offer a Positive Affirmation
• What do you need to let go of…
• Breathe In
• Breathe out
• Who do you want to remember? Who are you playing for? 
• Ask God to watch over you
• Flip the Switch….GO

I love GKK because he is enthusiastic and energetic, he’s talented and hardworking and he’s incredibly intentional and grounded. The man is loyal and locked in. He has purpose. He lives with positivity. He is hopeful. And so I’ve asked a few people to offer a hope that they have for you today.

Hope/Intention: One coach, one alumni and one former from another Jesuit school had a hope/intention for the team that I had three different seniors read out loud. (this was awesome! I even had a senior who played the same position as the alum and former player read their words on their behalf).

With these hopes, these intentions, these prayers, let us offer the prayer that Jesus taught us…. Praying the Our Father brought us to a close. 

In Conclusion: This prayer service tied so many important ideas and themes together: unity, hope and intention. I loved shared the personal story of a real time player who appears wild and zany but proves to be incredibly grounded. George Kittle draws great strength and support from his wife, parents and family. I do want these players to realize how their family, friends and the SI community does the same. Practically speaking, this story may not resonate with your team in the same way because, Kittle isn't a local hero. You may also take issue with a bit of foul language (you can easily work around this and shorten the clip). However, the rationale behind the letter writing is certainly relatable for a number of young men and his routine is so easy to replicate. 

I look forward to sharing the others. This team play again in the Northern California playoffs. Future prayer service theme is yet to come...

photo credits
BruceKittle
George Reading
George ESPN
All SI Images from school