A goal! Cheers and high fives follow with the usual congratulatory words. But this goal pleads to be commemorated.
A shout rises. Everyone turns. A fan, uninhibited, races
down the sideline, yellow-and-white Vatican flag draped over his shoulders and
rippling behind him amid his own roars of glee. Players glance and grin. That’s
more like it. The celebration is on.
Mount Angel, three. Reed College, zero.
For the soccer team and their supporters at Mount Angel
Seminary, this home victory on Oct. 7 highlighted the sports calendar. The fan,
Phillip Shifflet, a seminarian from the Diocese of Orange, Calif., relished the
victory as much as the players.
“Even the refs were smiling,” Shifflet said. “Even if I
don’t play soccer, the fact that I’m there and cheering them on, that somebody
cares and is there to support them, that’s one of the many reasons I would go
down to the soccer field.”
The soccer team had not won in two years, said Joshua
Keeney, a former coach, current player, and seminarian for the Diocese of
Sacramento, Calif. Competitive disadvantages for Mount Angel are apparent: A
smaller pool of student athletes, limited facilities, and a demanding academic
and spiritual schedule not present at other institutions. Winning is rare for
Mount Angel athletics, but formation in virtue is not.
“Sports offer opportunities to grow in community,”
Volleyball Coach and Diocese of Honolulu seminarian Frank Villanueva said.
“They are an avenue for men here to express themselves in healthy ways outside
of the academic and spiritual aspects of the seminary. Sports enhance those
opportunities.”
Winning makes for memories, as with Shifflet and the soccer
team, but whether an outing ends in victory or defeat, lessons can be
cultivated in patience, courage, compassion, forgiveness, and virtue, Dr.
Andrew Cummings said.
Cummings is the Athletic Director and a player on the soccer
team. As such, he oversees the $4,600 athletic budget, maintains facilities,
and acts as an advocate for the student coaches in soccer, basketball, and
volleyball, the newest team sport.
Sports among the Mount Angel hilltop community include lesser-celebrated
pastimes, too: Table tennis on Friday afternoons draws a crowd. Diocese of
Helena seminarians Alex Woelkers and Jacob Floch are aiming to complete a
marathon in November, and seven seminarians ran the Mount Angel Oktoberfest
five and 10-kilometer races in September. Other favorite seminarian activities
include aikido, weight lifting, racquetball, cycling, tennis, pool, and the
workout series P90X.
Hiking appeals to many. Fr. Ralph Recker, O.S.B., leads
weekend hikes to Saddle Mountain, Table Rock, and nearby peaks. The reward for
tired legs comes from vivid celebrations of the Mass overlooking the serene
Cascade Mountain Range.
“One of my favorite sports moments is praying on top of a
summit,” Recker said. “Especially if you have someone who didn’t think they’d
make it initially. There is a feeling of conquest.”
The value of Mount Angel sports goes beyond athletes to fans
and the greater hilltop fraternity, celebrating together conquests large and
small, in virtue and in competition.
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