Important Dates

The Soul of Youth Sport Conference

The point of departure for this conference, running June 27-29, 2008, is the view that sport practices should lead, as John Paul II has put it, to the “integral development of the person.”  We will be making use of the wisdom of experienced coaches, administrators and scholars in philosophy, moral development, and theology/spirituality to explore how youth sport participation in the contemporary U.S. context leads leads to
personal and spiritual development or to human diminishment and desolation with
respect to the spiritual life. We will attend, in particular, to issues related to community and the experience of play.

The Center for the Study of Sport and Exercise at Seattle University is uniquely suited to host this conference.   At the Center scholars are inquiring into sport as an aspect of culture using the lenses of philosophy, the social sciences, and theology and spirituality on a sustained basis.  The Center also hosts a thriving Masters Degree in Sports and Administration program.  Informed by the Jesuit commitment to educating the whole person – body, mind and spirit, the Center is committed to working against the dualism found in many educational settings which tends to separate bodily pursuits such as sport from reflection and intellectual inquiry.  

Don’t pass up this remarkable opportunity for growth in your understanding of how sport can be a context for personal and spiritual growth for young people.  The conference is ideally suited for coaches, physical education teachers, administrators, youth ministers, parents or anyone involved with youth in sport or interested in the connections between sport and the spiritual life.  A note to school administrators: this conference is a wonderful way to provide your coaches, physical education teachers, ADs and youth ministers with a chance for professional development that will certainly have long terms benefits in the lives of their students in a way that fosters the mission of your schools.

For more information, see our conference web site at http://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/css/youthsport  

Or contact Fr. Patrick Kelly, S.J., the organizer of the conference at pkelly@seattleu.edu