On Sunday, our spring sport teams attended our Spring Sports Retreat! The student-athletes and their coaches participated in Mass together, heard from our guest speaker Jim DeRose, and then had break-out sessions to plan out goals for their seasons. Special thank you to Monsignor Ward for celebrating Mass!
Mr. DeRose currently serves as the President of Peoria City Soccer after retiring from coaching soccer at Bradley University Soccer for 28 years. He was hired as the youngest coach in NCAA Division I men’s soccer in 1996 and went on to have many successful seasons. Mr. DeRose and his wife Robin are members at St. Philomena Parish. Their two children, Raleigh and JR, are PND graduates and now coach at the collegiate level themselves.
Mr. DeRose spoke to our students about the “bell curve” of both life and athletics and the stand-out people who go above and beyond, asking students to reflect on their stance on the bell curve (among many other topics). Are you sitting thinking you’d rather be somewhere else, or are you actively engaged in participating and being a role model to those around you? It was a great message in leadership!
