Are We Sacrificing Our Kids on the Elite Sports Altar? Part III: The Reward?

practicingcatholicmedicine

A Catholic pediatric PA and former collegiate hurdler and Varsity Catholic missionary weighs in

PART III: THE REWARD?

This is Part III in a 3-part series on elite youth sports and early sport specialization. Read Part I here and Part II here.

Pope Leo XIV’s intention for month of June is for the values of sport, and that sports, “… May be an instrument of peace, encounter and dialogue between cultures and peoples, and may promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.”1 I fully believe that sport, at its best, does all these things.

The youth sports landscape has changed over the years, with increased emphasis on elite youth sports and early sports specialization. As a former collegiate athlete and Varsity Catholic missionary, and now in my role as a pediatric PA caring for many youth athletes, I was deeply curious what the evidence shows regarding these changes.

Follow along in this three-part series – The Gamble, The Risk, and The Reward?- examining what current evidence and Church teaching have to say around the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of elite youth sports and early sport specialization.

Photo by Ambitious Studio* | Rick Barrett on Unsplash

Do Elite Sports and Sports Specialization Actually Predict Long-Term Success?

From a purely athletic standpoint, I was curious to see if elite youth sports and early sport specialization actually results in playing collegiately or professionally. Interestingly, the data shows that for most sports, children benefit psychologically and athletically if they wait to later in life to specialize.2 There are outliers: athletes in individual sports like gymnastics, dance, swimming, and tennis do to specialize earlier.3,4 Overall, though, when it comes to sports specialization, the data is clear: play a variety of sports for as long as you can.

World-class athletes often didn’t specialize before age 13 and instead competed in many different sports.2 Growing up, these elite athletes gain valuable play time in unstructured activities.2 In one study of NCAA DI athletes, 45% played multiple sports to 16 years old. Even the individual-sports athletes didn’t specialize until age 14.5

Another study looked at the age of sports specialization in youth, comparing DI athletes to their non-athlete college peers. It was the non-collegiate athletes who specialized in earlier in youth sports. For my fellow science-minded friends, the average age of specialization was 15.38 ± 2.7 years for the DI athletes versus 14.30 ± 2.6 years for the non-athletes; P = .002.6

There are a lot of percentages and statistics thrown out (by me, in this post), like 11% of parents think their child can be a professional athlete.7 The odds are… not that. Let’s use high school boys’ basketball players as an example. There are currently 540,704 high school boys’ basketball players. The chance of playing in any division of the NCAA is 3.6% (1.1% D1 and DII each, 1.5% DIII).8 Of all NCAA basketball players, 1% will be drafted into the NBA. To put that in perspective, of all the 540K+ U.S. high school boys basketball players playing today, only 54 of them will go pro.

A lot of people may be thinking, well, why not my child? I too think, why not your child? There is so much that goes into the formation of an elite athlete, and a not-exhaustive list includes coaching, a child’s desire to play, financial support, time, genetics, muscle composition, ability to stay injury-free or at least career-ending injury-free, mental health, proper diet, adequate sleep, work ethic, teams available in the area, decent teammates and competition, the reputation of a club/team/school, which college scouts see a kid play, and a dash of pixie dust and luck.

Speaking specifically on genetics, DI athletes are also more likely to have parents who played either collegiately or professionally compared to their non-athlete college peers.6 My parents weren’t collegiate athletes, and I like to think that I just happened to fall in love with hurdling on my own. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my first pair of sprinting spikes were my cousin’s, and she had won State in the 100m hurdles and was an NCAA champion and Olympic trials swimmer. My grandfather hurdled. When I ran at Drake Relays, my dad shared that a few generations back another relative of mine had ran there. I’m part of a long lineage of long-legged folk. What I may have thought was a fun choice as a 7th grader was pre-destined by my genetics.

(This is a bit niche, but in the back of my mind I’m hearing Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada saying to me, “Oh, I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You think you chose hurdling because it you thought it was fun, however hurdling represents generations of runners, and it’s sort of… comical… how you think you’ve made a choice that exempts you from your genetics, when in fact, you’re doing a sport that was selected from you by the ancestors on your family tree.”)

At the end of the day, a child becoming a professional athlete is possible. But if you look out at a court of high school basketball players, even those who really love playing, only one out of 100 will go DI. I say that practically, statistically, medically. That doesn’t mean your child won’t. It’s just the way the math maths. We all know kids and have friends who made it big. It’s nowhere near impossible! We just need to have perspective.

Where Does This Leave Us?

From a strictly data-driven viewpoint, I would advise parents to think of a year-round baseball league for their 9-year-old as more of a short-term performance boost instead of a long-term plan. Early specialization and elite level playing increase risks for injury, abuse, and burnout, and the likelihood of becoming a world-class athlete goes down. There are outliers in everything, and I don’t know your family or children. However, as a PA, I’m trained in evidence-based medicine. While I try to tailor my advice to patients as individuals, I can’t avoid the piles of papers arguing against early sports specialization.

I empathize deeply with parents trying to make the best decisions for their kids, especially with outward pressure recommending private lessons, a special training session, another camp, or a coach growing annoyed at the recovery time for a concussion. Here’s the warm, beautiful truth: In most cases, no one cares more about a child’s long-term physical and mental health than the child’s parents. Not coaches, not teammates, or college recruiters. At the end of the day, anyone making money in the sports world has quotas to fill and games to win and a job to keep. Short-term success gained by pounding out hours on the pitching mound may benefit the team this year, but will your son need Tommy John surgery on his UCL a few years down the line because threw too much on a developing elbow?

Before I go on, I do want to say on the record that there are so many good coaches and people in the sports world. Thank you to all of the kind leaders out there. I have been abundantly blessed by some really excellent coaches who taught me not only in sport but were great mentors. One of my coaches literally saved my life and drove me for hours across rural South Dakota to a major medical center while I was in kidney failure after a race with an IV jabbed in my arm as I stuffed my face in a pillow and tried not to vomit. I am not arguing that your child’s coach doesn’t care about your kiddo; in fact, I hope their coach is excellent and is a trustworthy source of information and guidance. I just want to encourage parents to feel empowered to make the decisions they feel are best for their child. I’m hoping these kids will gets to play the sport they love for life, not just for a few years.

It’s hard out there, and there can be a lot of not-unrealistic fears of being left behind if kids aren’t in the leagues everyone else is, especially as high schools cherry-pick kids from feeder elite youth teams. I don’t know what decisions my family will make in the coming years. I’m curious to see how demographics shift in the NCAA and beyond as graduates of hyperintense youth sports make their way into the collegiate and professional world. Even with this movement, I’m still hesitant to say that we will see more elite adult players specialize early. The risks for injuries and burnout will still drive a lot of would-be great athletes to leave their sport, though with the current climate of needing to be in elite clubs early just to make it on to school ball teams, maybe we really will see a change. If I were a betting woman (and I’m not, I bring about $20 when I once-in-a-blue-moon go to a casino), I’d bet that us pediatric providers will see an increase in overuse injuries, sports-career ending injuries, and burnout in the coming years.

Called to be Saints

Most parents taking their Catholic faith with some level of seriousness move through the world with their eyes heavenward. Memento mori and all that jazz. All the statistics and studies matter, but at the end of the day, do elite sports help form our children into saints?

This is obviously not a question I’m going to be able to answer for anyone else besides maybe my own family, and even then, it is one that I’ll be re-evaluating over the coming years. Certainly, we are called to achieve the greatness God places on our hearts. We are given the gift of friendship with God, knowledge of our children and their hearts, the ways our family operates best, the discernment of spirits, and holy spiritual guides.

An Alternative

I want to acknowledge a youth sports group in our area that, in my opinion, is doing youth sports well and could encourage other cities to put something similar into practice. This is not an advertisement. The organization has no idea I’m writing this, but I’m so impressed by their approach I had to share. Highlight Catholic Ministries in the Denver area has two branches for boys and girls, Frassati and Badano Sports, respectively. They offer camps, clinics, in-house teams and leagues that play city-wide in the Catholic Schools Athletic League as well as against other leagues. Prayer, testimonies of saints, and encouragement to seek God’s glory in sport are integrated seamlessly into practices and games. Prices are affordable, and most coaches are volunteer. This exact model may not be feasible for smaller towns (thinking of where I’m from, rural Minnesota, where I was practically the lone Catholic in a sea of Lutheran kids), but I’ve been so impressed by the sports we’ve done through their league. My daughter has come home from their tennis camp every day this week excited to share a new story of a saint who loved Jesus through strength and sport.

Pope Leo XIV and His June Intention

If you’ve made it this far, you probably don’t need this reminder, but I’m going to give it anyways: this series specifically focused on elite youth sports and early sport specialization. Me = still big fan sports. When it comes to the hard decisions in sports and life, I often remind myself that we were never promised it would be easy this side of heaven. As an athlete, I get excited about that. Give me a challenge and I’ll rise to it, coach! As a parent, my kids aren’t in any elite leagues, but they have played many rec league sports. Sure, registration can be a headache, my daughter never learned to swim with private lessons at our local rec center, and I’m not sure she knows to not guard her own team in basketball. But! We’re having so much fun. We’re making friends. We’re learning virtue. Praise be God.

I’ll end with Pope Leo’s video message1 that went along with his intention for the month of June, sport:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord of life, we thank you for the gift of sport, for those who glorify God through the exercise of their bodies, for the friendships born on the field and the joy of playing as a team. You teach us that in life, as in the game, no one is saved alone. We need others to grow, to learn respect, to overcome our limits, and to celebrate together the victories we achieve. We ask that sport may always be a school of fraternity, not of empty rivalry, a space of encounter, not exclusion, a path of peace, not violence. May those who play, train or cheer discover in sport a universal language that brings cultures together, unites peoples, and sows respect, solidarity and personal growth. Lord Jesus, may every sport become a parable of life lived with you, working with joy and effort, living with humility in defeat and with gratitude in the victory you offer in your Resurrection. May your Spirit never be lacking in us, making us one team, united with you to build communion and fraternity in history. Amen.

This is what sport can do. Consider the unifying delight it has been watching American host the FIFA World Cup this summer, deep in the midst of the United States really ticking off every nation worldwide politically. Norwegians doing the Viking Row on the floor of a New York subway, Scotts in kilts singing along to bagpipes in Boston, the French discovering how great air conditioning is.

I reminisce on the Olympics earlier this year. Athletes competed next to allies and “enemies”, athletes represented themselves individually because their nations were war-torn, the U S of A kicking old Canada’s behind back to the frigid North, all the heroic stories of redemption and love and families supporting each other. Sports are something that can rally us, encourage us to be more than we thought possible, and honor God.

I pray we each pursue God’s will for us, whether that’s on a fancy international soccer team or kicking a ball in the backyard.

St. Sebastian, patron of sports, pray for us!

The views are not necessarily those of my employer, and this Substack is not meant to intended to replace medical advice from a licensed provider. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

References:

1. Holy See Press Office. Bulletin. Published June 2, 2026. Accessed June 20, 2026. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2026/06/02/260602e.html

2. Jayanthi N, Pinkham C, Dugas L, Patrick B, Labella C. Sports specialization in young athletes: evidence-based recommendations. Sports Health. 2013 May;5(3):251-7. doi: 10.1177/1941738112464626. PMID: 24427397; PMCID: PMC3658407.

3. Pasulka J, Jayanthi N, McCann A, Dugas LR, LaBella C. Specialization patterns across various youth sports and relationship to injury risk. Phys Sportsmed. 2017 Sep;45(3):344-352. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2017.1313077. Epub 2017 Apr 10. PMID: 28351225.

4. Guettler JH, Chrumka A. The fallacy of falling behind: the realities of early sports specialization. Sports Medicine Update. Fall 2024. Published 2024. Accessed June 18, 2026. https://www.sportsmed.org/membership/sports-medicine-update/fall-2024/the-fallacy-of-falling-behind-the-realities-of-early-sports-specialization

5. Swindell HW, Marcille ML, Trofa DP, Paulino FE, Desai NN, Lynch TS, Ahmad CS, Popkin CA. An Analysis of Sports Specialization in NCAA Division I Collegiate Athletics. Orthop J Sports Med. 2019 Jan 28;7(1):2325967118821179. doi: 10.1177/2325967118821179. PMID: 30729145; PMCID: PMC6350152.

6. DiFiori JP, Quitiquit C, Gray A, Kimlin EJ, Baker R. Early Single Sport Specialization in a High-Achieving US Athlete Population: Comparing National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athletes and Undergraduate Students. J Athl Train. 2019 Oct;54(10):1050-1054. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-431-18. PMID: 31633415; PMCID: PMC6805068.

7. Solomon J. Project Play survey: 11% of sports parents believe their child can go pro. Project Play. Published May 28, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://projectplay.org/news/project-play-survey-11-of-sports-parents-believe-their-child-can-go-pro

8. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Probability of competing beyond high school. NCAA. Updated April 2024. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2013/12/17/probability-of-competing-beyond-high-school.aspx

Are We Sacrificing Our Kids on the Elite Sports Altar? PART II: THE RISK

practicingcatholicmedicine

A Catholic pediatric PA and former collegiate hurdler and Varsity Catholic missionary weighs in

This is Part II in a 3-part series on elite youth sports and early sport specialization.

Pope Leo XIV’s intention for month of June is for the values of sport, and that sports, “… May be an instrument of peace, encounter and dialogue between cultures and peoples, and may promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.”1 I fully believe that sport, at its best, does all these things.

The youth sports landscape has changed over the years, with increased emphasis on elite youth sports and early sports specialization. As a former collegiate athlete and Varsity Catholic missionary, and now in my role as a pediatric PA caring for many youth athletes, I was deeply curious what the evidence shows regarding these changes.

Follow along in this three-part series – The Gamble, The Risk, and The Reward?- examining what current evidence and Church teaching have to say around the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of elite youth sports and early sport specialization. Part I is available here. This was originally posted on my Substack, which you can read here.

boy playing soccer
Photo by Baylee Gramling on Unsplash

Wear and Tear

Sports-related injuries are the bread-and-butter of pediatric clinics. As a pediatric PA, I often congratulate kiddos in the exam room. They’re staying active, found a sport they love, and occasional injuries will happen that aren’t related to hyper-intense training.

Look, I once sprained my finger hurdling. That was not an overuse injury. That was just confusing.

But elite youth sports are a whole different ball game (yes, roll your eyes, pun intended). Kids playing a year-round sport put repetitive stresses on developing bones, and they may be performing skills and playing aggressively in ways that aren’t developmentally appropriate.

At baseline, children in club sports have more injuries than non-club athletes.2 Unsurprisingly, kids have more injuries with increased time playing at an intense level of competition when compared to free play.3 Sport specialization is associated with an increased risk for injuries, and high school athletes that specialize in a single sport are 70% more likely to have an injury than the students who play multiple sports.3,4

A child may be doing great as an elite preteen softballer, but as they put themselves at greater risk for injury over the years, they may find themselves unable to keep playing a sport they love. One study showed 20% of highly competitive athletes listed injury as the reason for quitting their sport.4

Year-round training without a break shouldn’t be the new norm for kids. Even at the collegiate level, our coaches stressed cross-training. In-season we paused from running once a week and swam instead. After outdoor season finished, I did virtually no running for a month and instead biked, swam, and played a lot of beach volleyball. Think of any favorite professional athlete, they too have down seasons. I try to remain objective, but truly I’m aghast hearing about incessant single-sport practice without breaks in young, developing bodies.

Mental Health

There are very real mental health benefits to youth sports, and those benefits extend to high-level athletes.6,7 However, adolescents who specialized in a sport reported greater levels of physiological burnout compared to athletes who didn’t specialize. These psychological symptoms included a reduced sense of accomplishment, sport devaluation, and exhaustion.8 Adolescent athletes deserve as much attention to their minds as they do to their growing bones.

Abuse Risks

Abuse (emotional, sexual, and physical) can happen anywhere at any time by anyone. I am a Catholic; the heartbreak of abuse in our church is not new. The good news is there are ways to mitigate risk. And so, I do not say this to fear monger but to alert: Competing at an elite level, specializing in a sport, and increased hours of weekly sports participation are all known risk factors for abuse.9,10,11 (

The US Center for SafeSport, created by Congress after it was revealed that a pedophile doctor abused child gymnasts for years, detailed factors in elite youth sports and early sports specialization that lead to abuse.10 Practices are long and at random times of day (early before school, late into the evening) when very few “outside adults” are present to witness.12 Club sports tend to be tight-knit communities where coaches and mentors and organizers are all in cahoots together. This can lead to ostracization for athletes if they speak up about abuse concerns. Often, the child has been training with the same team and coaches for years, which creates a strong sense of loyalty and can prevent reporting abuse. After years of training in a small community, think the same gymnastics gym with the same coach for fifteen years, athletes and their parents can think things are normal. This is how elite athletes are trained, this is just how things are done. The coach must yell at their athletes and call them idiots because how else are you going to get perfection? The runners have to sprint injured because our competition is busy getting faster. The diets must be insane and comments on body shape must be said because how else are those figure skating jumps going to soar high? Add to all this that we are talking about children who may be fearful of speaking up to adults, or may not recognize that what is being done to them is abusive.

Parents enrolling their children into elite sports may not have the experience of competing at a high-level themselves. Many are following the guidance of society/coaches/their begging kids to keep moving up to a greater level of intensity of their training. I need to pause to emphasize that this is not bad in itself. Pursuit of excellence is good. There are a lot of really, really good people in the world of sport. There are also a lot of icky people who get their kicks domineering U10 soccer leagues. My purpose isn’t to make you creeped out by the prospect of creepy people, but just to be as present and aware as you possibly can be.

Unfortunately, I can speak from experience. A former coach of mine, at a high level, resigned a few years after I left the team when they were alleged to have violated an anti-abuse policy. I thought what was happening on the team was normal for a competitive organization. I’ve heard many stories of abuse and inappropriate behavior on travelling club teams and school ball teams and college teams. Recently, I read autobiographies by runners Kara Goucher and Mary Cain, both of whom ran under the now-disgraced coach Alberto Salazar with the Nike Oregon project. They detailed their stories of abuse under a coach treated practically like a god.13,14 Cain trained with Salazar as a minor and adult, Goucher only as an adult. In both cases, they didn’t recognize that what was happening was abuse at the time. Given the increased risk for abuse with early sports specialization and elite level sports, I share all of this because I want to emphasize that abuse doesn’t always look like abuse to those in the midst of it. Often, especially in sports, it looks like the way winners are made.

Faith and Identity

Rev. Joshua Whitfield wrote an excellent article for America magazine titled Soccer vs. Sunday Mass: How youth sports are undermining religion- and hurting our kids.15 You should actually take a break from reading this and go read his article. I’ll wait.

Welcome back.

Perhaps your favorite quote was the same as mine: “The Romans went about it all wrong. If they wanted to wipe Christians off the face of the earth, they didn’t need to arrest them or try them, persecute or kill them. Better something else. Better to have made a spectacle for them than of them. Perhaps if the ancients weren’t so bloodthirsty, they would have understood better the power of distraction over destruction. Would early Christianity have survived the cultural allure and power of today’s youth sports? I’m not sure.”

Is current American Christianity surviving youth sports? I’m not sure. If in 10 years we find out some foreign government used funding youth club sports to distract the citizens of the United States, would we be totally surprised given how all-consuming the youth sports culture has become?

It’s incredibly frustrating that sports schedules are piled on weekends, especially Sundays, and that youth sports are such a money-making machine that kids who want to be in a sport have limited options outside of selling their soul to wear a softball jersey. I acknowledge I’m fortunate to live in an area where I could find a mass at all hours from Saturday afternoon to Sunday night so to fulfill my mass obligation. My kids aren’t begging to be in the competitive leagues. I could be reading this a few years later like, “lol, plz. U don’t even KnOw.” But I also come from a world of sport and living mission through sport and I’m passionate that sports are both good for our souls and can destroy us at the same time.

Sports are so good for our children and so alluring. How slyly the devil works in parents’ hearts to have us say, so casually, “We don’t go to mass during baseball season. It’s too busy and we have games.” What message does that send to our kids? We are perfectly comfortable making an idol of sport because that’s what the culture has told us is good and pleasing. We can talk about Jesus and do a team bible study and pray before games, but if we’re skipping church for basketball, we’re showing our kids the that if there is ever a choice between sport and God, sport wins.

We didn’t kill anyone, we didn’t use the name of God in vain, we didn’t cheat on our spouse, and yet, we’ve just possibly committed repeated mortal sins by missing mass on the Sabbath and putting false idols before our King. Yes, priests can give mass exemptions in extraordinary circumstances, and we can enjoy things without idolization. I don’t know your soul and I’m certainly in no position to pass judgement. What I do know is that sin is real, the devil is real, and he’ll use anything he can, as innocent as it seems, to distract us from heaven. I would be failing my Varsity Catholic training if I wrote some emotionally pleasing platitude like, “God sees our hearts and knows we love him. We don’t have to worship Him in a church, and it’s okay that you put Him to the side when soccer gets busy.” God does see our hearts and knows we love him, and he has made it very clear through scripture and His commandments that our bums better be in the pew come Sunday, and we had better not be putting any false idols before Him. He’s obsessively loving like that. He wants all of us, not just the parts of our hearts that seek Him when it’s convenient.

Consider all the informal ways our faith is passed down through family meal times, prayers before bed, summer nights on the porch, rosaries as a family (ha, haha, hahaha she cackles, knowing how not peaceful and serene occasional rosaries with our ornery children are). Chaotic sports schedules interrupt it all. All those beautiful things can still happen, but it’s much harder. God may absolutely be calling you to a crazy life of drop-offs and pick-ups and dinner in the car, and I’ll admit those car conversations are some of the best I have with my kids. But if mom and dad are ships in the night because dad needs to travel to Texas for baseball with the youngest, mom needs to bring sister and her friends to California for gymnastics, and big brother needs to be in Hawaii for a special training and forgot his socks, we are now all in a middle school math word problem that no one can solve. Family life, especially as Catholics with between none to a thousand children, is tiring as it is. Are we showing kids that their desires get to run the entire family schedule? Is God calling us to navigate a Tetris-like schedule every week? Maybe. Maybe not.

There’s also so much stress put on families with elite team politics between all the money and the perceived high stakes. Again, maybe this is where God is calling us to spend our time. He could be asking for a voice of truth amid Zoom calls with coach and angry parents upset that their kid isn’t getting playing time. But how much discord does deciding to change teams last minute or add a new player or concern surrounding a coach’s style bring to what should be healthy leisure time?

Elite leagues, camps, and private lessons are far from affordable for most families. As discussed in Part I of this series, it’s such a money-making racket that private equity firms want a piece of the youth-sports pie.16,17 We are called to be prayerful financial stewards of the resources God has given us. I kind of want to barf at the thought of how much debt families may go into for a child’s sport, or how much good the amount money currently being poured into club leagues by large donors could do for access to sport and the creation of safe, open spaces for kids to play. Again, discernment of finances is between you and God, and I can think of plenty of instances where the monetary cost is worth it.

What happens when the competitive, year-round, elite, specialized sport… ends? Because it will, whether it’s before graduation or after an Olympic gold. Eventually our bodies grow old, and we won’t be able to run as fast or play as hard (Though I’ll be the first to admit I’m delusional because, like, what if the marathon is really my event and I just haven’t run one yet and I qualify for the Olympic trials?). We can absolutely raise our children to find their identity in God, to offer their workouts as a prayer, to know we love them regardless of the outcome. Anyone can be at risk to lose their identity in something other than God, they don’t have to be an elite athlete. However, the pressure, money, and time these kids and their families empty into their sport adds another layer of burden when or if a child decides they want to step back. Who are they without their sport if every waking hour of the family was devoted to a singular goal? Who are they if they are injured, or burned out, or abused? Will they be forthcoming with their struggles, or will they crumble under the burden of the enormous sacrifices they and their parents made?

Adding it all up

Pressure is a privilege, and encouraging children the values of hard work and perseverance are worth our investment. At the same time, I want to be sure our youngest of athletes feel free to learn and grow and move within environments that are challenging and appropriate and fun for them. There are very real physical, emotional, and potential abuse risks to elite youth sports and early specialization. I don’t think it’s too off-base to suggest there are questions regarding eternity that need to be asked, as well. We’re left with that question still lingering in the air: Are these risks worth it? Do elite sports help reach the goals of athletes and their families?

To be continued. Part III will be available 6/29/26.

Addendum:

This post is not meant to be an all-inclusive on abuse prevention, but I’m very passionate about this topic and want to provide recommendations to prevent harm towards our children. The American Academy of Pediatrics provided recommendations on creating a safe environment in youth sports. To summarize a few key points:

o All adults involved should have training on recognizing abusive behavior and appropriate and non-abusive training methods.

o There must be a code of conduct policy explicitly stating the organization’s expectations for athletes and adults, and everyone should be familiar with what is considered motivational coaching behavior and training methods versus that which crosses the line to physically and emotional abuse (this is harder than it may seem!)

o Both youth and adults should know what needs to be reported and how to report.

o There should be no direct communication via phone, texts, or social media from an adult to a youth athlete, but rather parents should be involved in all communication.

o Any private training should be in a highly visible location, preferably with other adults nearby.

o All youth athletes must travel with a parent, not alone, and parents should have detailed travel plans.

o Training facilities should provide athletes with adequate privacy and security.

The views are not necessarily those of my employer, and this Substack is not meant to intended to replace medical advice from a licensed provider. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

References:

1. Holy See Press Office. Bulletin. Published June 2, 2026. Accessed June 20, 2026. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2026/06/02/260602e.html

2. Dahab K, Potter MN, Provance A, Albright J, Howell DR. Sport Specialization, Club Sport Participation, Quality of Life, and Injury History Among High School Athletes. J Athl Train. 2019 Oct;54(10):1061-1066. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-361-18. PMID: 31633407; PMCID: PMC6805066.

3. Myer GD, Jayanthi N, Difiori JP, Faigenbaum AD, Kiefer AW, Logerstedt D, Micheli LJ. Sport Specialization, Part I: Does Early Sports Specialization Increase Negative Outcomes and Reduce the Opportunity for Success in Young Athletes? Sports Health. 2015 Sep-Oct;7(5):437-42. doi: 10.1177/1941738115598747. Epub 2015 Aug 6. PMID: 26502420; PMCID: PMC4547120.

4. Howard B. Injury rates higher for athletes who specialize in one sport. National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Published December 20, 2016. Accessed June 20, 2026. https://www.nfhs.org/stories/injury-rates-higher-for-athletes-who-specialize-in-one-sport

5. Butcher J, Lindner KJ, Johns DP. Withdrawal from competitive youth sport: a retrospective ten-year study. J Sport Behav. 2002;25(2):145-163

6. Guddal MH, Stensland SØ, Småstuen MC, Johnsen MB, Zwart JA, Storheim K. Physical activity and sport participation among adolescents: associations with mental health in different age groups. Results from the Young-HUNT study: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open. 2019 Sep 4;9(9):e028555. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028555. PMID: 31488476; PMCID: PMC6731817.

7. Snedden TR, Scerpella J, Kliethermes SA, Norman RS, Blyholder L, Sanfilippo J, McGuine TA, Heiderscheit B. Sport and Physical Activity Level Impacts Health-Related Quality of Life Among Collegiate Students. Am J Health Promot. 2019 Jun;33(5):675-682. doi: 10.1177/0890117118817715. Epub 2018 Dec 26. PMID: 30586999; PMCID: PMC7213817.

8. Giusti NE, Carder SL, Vopat L, Baker J, Tarakemeh A, Vopat B, Mulcahey MK. Comparing Burnout in Sport-Specializing Versus Sport-Sampling Adolescent Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Orthop J Sports Med. 2020 Mar 2;8(3):2325967120907579. doi: 10.1177/2325967120907579. PMID: 32166094; PMCID: PMC7052469.

9. Dallam, S. J., Ortiz, A. J., Timon, C. E., Kang, J. S., & Hamilton, M. A. (2024). Interpersonal Violence in Elite U.S. Athletes: Prevalence and Mental Health Correlates. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 33(9), 1135–1153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2024.235099

10. U.S. Center for SafeSport. Grassroots to games. U.S. Center for SafeSport. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://uscenterforsafesport.org/grassroots-to-games/

11. Pankowiak, A., Woessner, M. N., Parent, S., Vertommen, T., Eime, R., Spaaij, R., Harvey, J., & Parker, A. G. (2023). Psychological, Physical, and Sexual Violence Against Children in Australian Community Sport: Frequency, Perpetrator, and Victim Characteristics. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(3-4), 4338-4365.

12. Parent S, Clermont C, Radziszewski S, Vertommen T, Dion J. Child Maltreatment and Links with Experiences of Interpersonal Violence in Sport in a Sample of Canadian Adolescents. Social Sciences. 2023; 12(6):336. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12060336

13. Goucher K. The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team. Hachette Books; 2023.

14. Cain M. This Is Not About Running. Random House; 2026.

15. Whitfield JJ. Soccer vs. Sunday Mass: How youth sports are undermining religion—and hurting our kids. America Magazine. Published January 13, 2025. Accessed June 23, 2026. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/01/13/youth-sports-catholic-rest-249675/

16. Drape J, Belson K. Youth sports are a $40 billion business. Private equity is taking notice. New York Times. Published July 9, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/business/youth-sports-private-equity.html

17. Maddox C. What families are really spending to keep kids in sports. Kiplinger. Published May 28, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/family-savings/what-families-are-really-spending-to-keep-kids-in-sports

18. American Academy of Pediatrics. Creating a safe environment to prevent abuse in youth sports: a parent checklist. HealthyChildren.org. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/sports/Pages/Creating-a-Safe-Environment-to-Prevent-Abuse-in-Youth-Sports-A-Parent-Checklist.aspx

Are We Sacrificing Our Kids on the Elite Sports Altar? Part I

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A Catholic pediatric PA and former collegiate hurdler and Varsity Catholic missionary weighs in

This post was originally posted on my Substack, which you can read and follow along here.

Pope Leo XIV’s intention for month of June is for the values of sport, and that sports, “… May be an instrument of peace, encounter and dialogue between cultures and peoples, and may promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.”1 I fully believe that sport, at its best, does all these things.

The youth sports landscape has changed over the years, with increased emphasis on elite youth sports and early sports specialization. As a former collegiate athlete and Varsity Catholic missionary, and now in my role as a pediatric PA caring for many youth athletes, I was deeply curious what the evidence shows regarding these changes.

Follow along in this three-part series – The Gamble, The Risk, and The Reward?- examining what current evidence and Church teaching have to say around the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of elite youth sports and early sport specialization.

person in white and red soccer jersey kicking soccer ball
Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash

PART I: THE GAMBLE

My WNBA Dreams, Crushed.

A few weeks ago, I watched my daughter play basketball, a new-to-her sport. Boy, did I surprise myself as I struggled to not coach from the stands. My daughter had an absolute blast. Meanwhile, I watched the WNBA dreams I had for her dissolve into the ether. I had no real reason to think we’d be a basketball superstar family, though my illustrious career as a middle school B-team guard and the single basket I made over two years make an argument for the perseverance of a professional athlete.

My daughter’s team was rec-league basketball. Two girls on the team were accidentally given the same number jerseys. Trips to the drinking fountain and after-game snacks were just as important as winning. The final game was cancelled because why not? My husband and I have been successfully intentional about not signing our kids up into the intense youth sports leagues that are rampant in the suburbs where we live, but it’s getting harder as our children get older. It was easy to ignore the pressure when our eldest was an infant and “she can’t walk yet” was a great excuse for not enrolling her into a technical soccer day camp. We are insulated somewhat by our Catholic school and community because for the most part, our circle of friends are on the same page. As my children age, and perhaps if they find some level of success in sport, I know these decisions won’t be as clear.

Not a Hater

Let’s start here: I love sports. I love playing sports, watching sports, and cheering my kids on in sports. I was a child of the ‘90s in a rural area, and I played all the sports the local community education catalogue had to offer. My parents said no to club teams because they didn’t want to spend all our time and money just so I could be somewhat mediocre at softball (as it was, I was already mediocre at softball, so who needed to throw more money at that?). I did get to go to an overnight summer camp for tennis hosted by a local-ish college and loved getting to play all day, every day. I was first singles on varsity tennis, and while my parents did invest in some private lessons, I got better mostly by playing with my friends at the school courts for hours every day. In the spring I hurdled on the track team, but I really only joined the team to stay in shape for tennis. Shocking everyone including myself, suddenly my junior year I was, like, fast. I went to State, and then I went to State again my senior year. College recruitment letters came in, and in the end, I chose an NCAA DII school that offered a scholarship and great competition while staying in a city I loved with the programs I wanted. After running in college, I joined FOCUS and served with Varsity Catholic as a missionary to collegiate athletes. Grown-up-me still works out almost every day because it’s fun for me and helps me not burn down everything in my path when I’m overstimulated. I dabble in local races, mostly aiming for PRs and placing in my age group, but I’ll admit I drank a beer handed to me by a kind Boulder local cheering from the roadside halfway through my last 10K race.

I’m currently editing this article while my daughter is at tennis camp. The benefits of sport for children are incredible. Friends! Teammates! The chance to meet and work with people who look and act different than you! Bravery! Hard work! Leadership skills – did you know 94% of women in C-suite positions played sports?2

The Church has also spoken on the good of sport, especially for young people.3 Pope Leo XIV’s intention for month of June is for the values of sport, and that sports, “… May be an instrument of peace, encounter and dialogue between cultures and peoples, and may promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.”1 I fully believe that sport, at its best, does all these things.

Not every kid is going to be a standout basketball player (see: my one basket), and not every kid wants to be a standout basketball player (I did want to be a super awesome basketball player, mostly because I thought the jerseys were cool). As a pediatric PA, I care for kids across the sports spectrum- those who have never tried to get their heart rate above resting to superstar kiddos competing at elite levels. From a health standpoint, I frequently encourage adolescents to find a way to move their body that is fun for them. I am such a big fan of all the creative ways kids find to be active in ways they enjoy- fencing, roller skating, walking their dog, taekwondo, jujitsu, dance, jumping on their trampoline. Physical exercise strengthens our muscles, bones, and heart. It improves our mood and decreases our risk for chronic disease. The mental health studies on sport are incredible, too, and this needs to be sung from the rooftops at a time when depression in kids is skyrocketing. Increased physical activity improves mental health, and this holds true even at high levels of performance.4 Even NCAA DI college athletes reported improved mental health compared to their non-athlete peers.5

And yet…

You Gotta Know When to Hold ‘Em

Anyone born in a year that starts with 19–, ye olde nineteen hundreds, will likely have felt the rapid increase in early sport specialization and elite youth sports compared to the podunk sports leagues we grew up with. By some accounts there has been a 70% increase in kids specializing on sports by age 13.6 Sometimes the way I hear parents talk about their kids in sports sounds a whole lot like gambling, and I can’t blame them. If I bet $20,000 over the course of my child’s adolescence on training camps and high-level teams and private coaches, what are the odds they will get a full ride? Us fun millennial parents were flooded under the housing market crash and were left to either enter the workforce with no jobs available, or we watched our college savings tank to poo poo butt (my middle son’s current favorite curse phrase). A college degree is outlandishly, disgustingly expensive these days. If a parent could give their child a leg up on life, to graduate with less or no debt, would they not be interested in that option? Add in NIL deals, and your child could do well financially in college as an athlete.

My question isn’t if elite youth sports are right or wrong. What I’m wondering is if elite sports and early sports specialization are actually helpful for reaching a child’s and parents’ goals? And what are the goals? Are we letting our kids play a sport they love at an elite level to fine-tune skills and improve long-term performance, or are we gambling with their bodies? Or both? If they don’t get a scholarship going DI or DII, if they don’t get an NIL deal, if they don’t go pro, if they get hurt their senior year of high school… Was it worth it?

I know a lot of people who would emphatically say yes, it would all still be worth it. Elite youth sports have benefits outside of just a college scholarship. Competitive sports challenge kids to be their very best and become mentally tough. There’s the opportunity to form solid community among team families and to travel the nation. Sometimes, the only way kids can continue on in sports is specializing early and playing in the “right” leagues.

Depending on local offerings, there might not be access to rec league sports or opportunities for children to play unstructured sports in the neighborhood. It’s a different era now, one where kids can’t run out and play freely without CPS being called. Last summer, a concerned neighbor knocked on our door because my eldest was playing on our front lawn while I watched on from the window.

In the metro area where I live, there are elementary feeder programs for the public high school teams. It breaks my heart to know that to be on the school team as a freshman, a child better have played with the $5,000-a-year travel team before they knew how to tie their own cleats. With these rising costs, equity in access to sports differs across gender, race, and geography, and unfortunately the fees of these competitive teams are shutting out entry to sports.7,8

Big Youth Sports

Speaking of finances, adults kind of ruin everything fun, don’t they? There’s a lot of talk about “Big Pharma”, but what about “Big Youth Sports”? An insightful article from the New York Times detailed a myriad of investment groups and private equity firms chomping at the elite youth sports bit.7 Retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and others are buying into youth sports clubs as investments, which makes sense considering the youth sports market generates $40 billion annually.7,9 American parents spent 49% more in 2024 compared to 2019 on their child’s primary sport, up to an average of than $1,016 annually, twice the rate of inflation during that time frame.8 The costs increase with age, with families spending nearly $2,000 a year for their teens.9 That may sound expensive, but I’m sure there are plenty of families reading this saying, “I wish it were that cheap.” Mid-level competitive soccer leagues can cost up to $6,000 annually, with elite youth leagues racking up a total cost of over $15,000 per child.10

With the high percentage of parents who think their child could be an Olympian, or at the very least use who want to use their child’s membership in an elite sports club as bragging rights and a status symbol, of course investment groups are going to follow the trend. Can you really put a price on raising an Olympian? (Yes, you can, and private equity is taking notes.) It’s the like peer pressure to smoke in high school, but now it’s dance moms in matching bedazzled jackets telling you everyone who’s anyone is on the hyper-elite dance team.

Elite Youth Sports- Good, Bad, or Ugly?

What to think of the push towards elite youth sports and early sports specialization? Is this a positive trend, helping our kids be the best they can be at something they love? Is this a way out of generational poverty and into a free ride for a bachelor’s degree? Or are we pouring a lot of time and money into a greedy youth sports machine that is going to leave our kids injured and burned out?

This is a delicate topic for a lot of families, both for those who choose elite youth sports and those who don’t. The pressure to specialize young is intense; there are not-unreal threats of kids being left out.

My goal is to provide the data, discuss the risks and benefits of elite youth sports and early sports specialization and give wiggle room for families to decide what is best for them. I’ll be using the term “elite” broadly in this series but think of “elite” as an intensity beyond community ed and rec league. Think year-round and early sports specialization, cross-country travel for games, politics and angry parents, $$$, intensive camps, private lessons with former pros, true Olympic hopefuls and the kids coaches tells parents could become Olympic hopefuls if they just spent more time and money.

As typical for this Substack, I will bridge the medical evidence with our Catholic faith and our vocations as children of God and, for many of us, as spouses and parents. And I’ll try my darn hardest to make it interesting and maybe a little funny, kind, and not overwhelming. Easy peasy.

My impetus for writing this article was twofold. Our friends are all feeling the squeeze and pressure of elite youth sports, some choosing to go that direction and others trepidatiously declining. Providers are seeing a lot of overuse injuries in clinic related to hours and hours a week of repetitious singular sport activities on young bodies. I was curious if this was just a fluke, or if there is real data to back up what I was seeing.

A word of caution before we begin: I was not expecting the level of risk and the lack of benefit for early sport specialization and elite youth sports that I came across. Honestly, I thought I was going to write a quick 1,000 words and call it good. Joke’s on me (and now you, dear reader), because we’ve got a three part series ready to go.

I worry we might have overshot our landing and are aiming for something far more dangerous when it comes to youth sports.

To be continued.

Subsribe to my Substack to receive post updates here.

The views are not necessarily those of my employer, and this Substack is not meant to intended to replace medical advice from a licensed provider. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

References:

1. Holy See Press Office. Bulletin. Published June 2, 2026. Accessed June 20, 2026. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2026/06/02/260602e.html

2. Mai A. From athletics to the C-suite: why sports shape stronger leaders. Medium. Published February 26, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://medium.com/@andrea.maillardtouche/from-athletics-to-the-c-suite-why-sports-shape-stronger-leaders-9362eeb9f7f9. (medium.com)

3. Holy See Press Office. Giving the Best of Yourself: A Document on the Christian Perspective on Sport and the Human Person. Bulletin. Published June 1, 2018. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/06/01/180601b.html

4. Guddal MH, Stensland SØ, Småstuen MC, Johnsen MB, Zwart JA, Storheim K. Physical activity and sport participation among adolescents: associations with mental health in different age groups. Results from the Young-HUNT study: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open. 2019 Sep 4;9(9):e028555. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028555. PMID: 31488476; PMCID: PMC6731817.

5. Snedden TR, Scerpella J, Kliethermes SA, Norman RS, Blyholder L, Sanfilippo J, McGuine TA, Heiderscheit B. Sport and Physical Activity Level Impacts Health-Related Quality of Life Among Collegiate Students. Am J Health Promot. 2019 Jun;33(5):675-682. doi: 10.1177/0890117118817715. Epub 2018 Dec 26. PMID: 30586999; PMCID: PMC7213817.

6. Healio Orthopedics. Risks outweigh benefits of early sports specialization in young athletes. Published November 7, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.healio.com/news/orthopedics/20251107/risks-outweigh-benefits-of-early-sports-specialization-in-young-athletes

7. Drape J, Belson K. Youth sports are a $40 billion business. Private equity is taking notice. New York Times. Published July 9, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/business/youth-sports-private-equity.html

8. Project Play. Challenges. Project Play. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://projectplay.org/youth-sports/facts/challenges

9. Maddox C. What families are really spending to keep kids in sports. Kiplinger. Published May 28, 2025. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/family-savings/what-families-are-really-spending-to-keep-kids-in-sports

10. U.S. Soccer Parent. Costs of youth soccer. US Soccer Parent. Accessed June 21, 2026. https://ussoccerparent.com/costs-of-youth-soccer/

16. You Visited Me: Grace and Healing in the Modern Medical Center, with author and oncologist Robert Collins, MD

practicingcatholicmedicine

We are BACK!

I’m so excited to share a new episode with you all. You can now watch the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Substack, or if you prefer to listen to the audio only, it is available on all the main streaming platforms.

This episode is a conversation I had with oncologist and author Robert Collins, MD.

He is a professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where he specializes in blood cancers and is the director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy Program and the Combined Adult and Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program. Dr. Collins is also a recipient of the institution’s Watson Award, which is the institution’s highest honor in clinical medicine.

We discuss his new book, You Visited Me: Grace and Healing in the Modern Medical Center, available from Ignatius Press.

I read this book in less than a day, and it’s incredible. Each chapter provided so many things to ponder and pray through, and I felt emboldened to go out and serve well in my career. You can purchase the book ⁠here⁠.

In this episode, we talk about:

  • Dr. Collins’ journey from agnosticism to Catholicism and the impact friendship with his patients
  • Miracles and changes of hearts he has witnessed over his many years of practice
  • Emotional resiliency, especially a high-stakes field like oncology
  • The experience of writing a book and advice for any aspiring authors

For more on Practicing Catholic Medicine:

As always, the views expressed by my guests and myself are not those of our employers, and this podcast is not meant to intended to replace medical advice from a licensed provider. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

Enjoy!

Beautifully and Wonderfully Made

practicingcatholicmedicine

A Catholic PA’s Reflection on Modern Medicine and the Real Root Cause of Disease

This article was originally posted on my Substack which you can check out here.

That Time I Sent Way Too Many Texts in a Row

Recently, a friend bemoaned to me how difficult it was to make the right medical decisions for her children. I agreed. It’s hard for me to know what to do, and I know what to do. I spent seven years of undergrad and graduate school studying the human body, did a year-long post-graduate fellowship working grueling hours where I celebrated the rare “golden weekend” when I had both Saturday and Sunday off, am somehow already up to take my boards again, and have worked nearly a decade in pediatrics as a physician assistant. My days are spent giving advice to twenty different patients using all the brain cells I can rally together nine months postpartum.

While I’m confident in my abilities as a provider, it’s still hard to be sure I’m making the right decision every time. I say this with my full heart. In fact, I pray a rosary every Monday morning on my way to work specifically for the intention that God will guide me in how to best care for my patients that week.

I empathize deeply with my friends and patients outside of the medical field. There’s a lot thrown at all of us every day. Medical studies use sophisticated methods and data interpretation strategies. It’s challenging even for those of us who read medical journals all day long to distinguish a real gem from fool’s gold. What statistical analysis methods were used? What was their sample population? What biases do the authors have, implicit or not?

And then… Some influencer with an iPhone comes along on and talks about how you should avoid (medical intervention) because (study taken out of context said so) and instead take (supplement influencer hawks). Or, a doctor states they are the only one reporting (a finding) that (has been kept hidden) and (everyone) is lying to you! Or, your own doctor suggests (a treatment) that you find (repulsive) and (is he actually a real doctor or is his first name just doctor?). Or, a news source you trust posts that (something you eat daily) causes (horrible disease). Or, a certain HHS secretary comes aboard and says (something) and then (someone else) retracts (something) and (everyone is confused).

When my friend expressed her frustration with knowing who and what sources to trust, I, just so smart, texted her a fancy slide of the Hierarchy of Evidence and proceeded to tell her how healthcare providers interpret data. At the base are individual patient case reports, and at the top are meta-analyses. I described how we utilize all of this, what the studies are, blah blah blah (so boring).

Then, I realized that’s not what this is really about. It is, but it also isn’t.

I apologized. Well, what I actually texted was, “Sorry, you did not come here for a college lecture. I see now how I super over replied. Please excuse me hahaha.”

This conversation led me to think. What actually needs to be said on Al Gore’s internet that hasn’t been said already? At first, I desperately wanted to make a Substack post on how providers interpret data, why we recommend what we recommend, how truly difficult it is to actually “do your research”. My job is hard! I didn’t go into one of the lowest paid specialties to hurt children! I love making kids better! Thankfully, there are already plenty of providers online posting evidence-based information in easy-to-digest bits, and I’ll share some of my favorite online follows at the bottom of this post. I didn’t just want to add to the noise of an already-saturated and overwhelming region of the interwebs.

I paused, pondered, and then realized where the truth actually lied.

After my magnum opus of in-the-weeds-science-stuff texts, I sent back, “There’s a lot of unknowns, and there’s going to be a lot of different answers, because GOD IS SO MAGNIFICENT.”

This is a treatise on the unique, miraculous nature of the human body. I’m not offering medical advice, and if you need some, please seek a trusted healthcare provider (who may in fact be me if your kids are my patients!). I’m not going to go on ad nauseum about autism or vaccines or Tylenol or parasites. What I am going to do is explain the wonder of medicine that I think sometimes gets lost in the textbooks and MCATs of it all.

Medicine is hard.

Know why?

Because humans didn’t design the human body.

My brand new Toyota Sienna, my beloved with its sexy sliding doors that I love so dearly, has a recall on it with no fix in sight after months and months. A Toyota salesman recently said to us, “The Sienna recall is just for the second row. Can’t you just use the back row only?”

Sir, I know this may be hard to believe, but I did not get a minivan for the cool-factor alone. I can assure you all the rows and car seat latches are very much needed.

I digress.

Toyota will be able to fix the car (someday… allow me to pause and take generous swig of wine) because Toyota designed the car. There’s not going to suddenly be a surprise part that was found while looking for something else. Our engine isn’t in the trunk while someone else’s is under the hood, you know?

The human body, meanwhile, is awe-inspiring. Each is unique. We are the pinnacle of an all-powerful God’s creation. We are made in the image and likeness of the Almighty. Who am I to think I will ever understand everything about the very thing that is a design of the one and only LORD?! We are the result of eons of slow evolutionary design and the intricate knitting of a soul and body from God’s own mind. We breathe because God breathed life into man. You are here because of the intentionality of God.

I am a big nerd. Massive. Huge. There can be a fear among some Christian sects that the deeper you delve into the science realm the more you’ll float into atheism. My experience has been quite the opposite. The absolute magnificence of God, the complexities of His handiwork, are so obvious to me in every biochemical pathway. The Krebbs cycle? Beautiful. The creation of adenosine triphosphate? Incredible. The more I learn the more I come to realize, in the words of our fearless leader Taylor Swift in her Mastermind lyrics, “None of it was accidental.”

The best medical advice related to my career choice came from my own nephrologist. I was a medical mystery at 19-years-old. My kidneys had failed after a track race and no one could tell me why, not even the top doctors at a top research institution. I laid in a hospital bed for almost a week on a liquid-only diet with talks of dialysis and transplant. Then one day, I just started getting better. I kept getting better, and then I just was better. My kidneys appeared diseased on both ultrasound and labs, and yet the biopsy came back so *chef’s kiss* that the slide was used for the hospital’s medical students to see what a healthy kidney looked like. My doctor, decades into her practice and knowing I was an aspiring provider, said, “People think we know everything. We know a lot, but there’s more we don’t know.”

This Ain’t Your Grandmother’s Tapeworm Diet

I firmly believe the best thing a healthcare provider can be is curious. I’ll take a doctor who says, “I don’t know, but let’s see if we can find out,” over an overly-confident brilliant a-hole any day. The minute we as providers stop asking questions is when patients get hurt.

We laugh at generations past because weren’t they just so silly with medicine? Blood-letting for infections? Leeches? Lobotomies? Tapeworm diets?

Here’s the thing, though. We aren’t all that advanced. Consider the antibiotic penicillin- it was discovered on accident less than a century ago. Humans have been around a whole lot longer than that. New things are discovered every day, and advice is going to change with novel information.

I think there’s an underlying fear of, “What are we doing now that we will be appalled at in fifty years? What are we missing?” This is especially true when our kids are at stake. I can’t decide if I’m slowly hurting them from the inside out by giving them boxed macaroni and cheese, for crying out loud. It makes sense that we would be a bit trapped at all the information flying at us when it comes to what we inject in their bodies or the medicines we use or the dietary recommendations that seem to change with the seasons.

Increasingly, I see a clawing for control in the medical realm. I experience it myself. We are in an absolutely astonishing era in medicine and wellness with so many tests and treatments available. Despite all this, even with all the advances we have, tests are vague. For the most part, I can’t get a clear picture from just one result. The CBC, the workhorse of the laboratory world, is just a starting point. I recently had someone ask me why we couldn’t get all the information we needed from just a drop of blood. I agreed it would be nice, but also so did the founder of Theranos, and that endeavor, um, did not go well.

It can seem, though it isn’t true, that absolutely everything can be prevented or cured. Death is a thing that happens to old people when the body is ready.

In a wealthy nation with practically everything at our disposal, it makes sense that we have an illusion of control over our health. It is just that, though- an illusion. You can do everything “right” and still get cancer or sepsis or kidney failure.

I don’t say this to cause fear. Quite the opposite. At the end of the day, each miraculous breath we take is a gift. “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”1 Some health decisions are literally life-or-death, and I don’t mean to undermine the gravity of this. You may be caring for someone right now and are determining whether to start hospice or continue treatment. I have been there too, my friend. It is agonizing and I will be praying for everyone reading this.

And yet, and yet. The Lord is the author of life.

Remember Who the Real Enemy Is

Beyond the miraculous complexity of the human body, we arrive at the root cause of disease, that thing that every crunchy (hey, me included) person wants. Spoiler alert, it’s not a gut biome imbalance or too many cans of the nectar of the gods (Diet Coke).

It is this simple fact: Evil exists and is in this world. That is it. We rest in that beautiful Catholic both/and: God is in control AND it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Eve ate the apple and now we get sick, we lose function of body parts that should be functioning, and we die.

Much of my career is spent combating the effects of evil, something that can only be treated with the aid of the Divine Physician. How incredible to have God give us silly lil’ humans the ability to create the scientific method, to discover amoxicillin treats ear infections, to realize hand washing stops the spread of germs! It is all of Him.

This is also a word of encouragement to my fellow healthcare providers, or those caring for the ill in their communities and families. Illness, frailty, and suffering are redemptive but at the end of the day are the ripples of sin. Not necessarily of a particular person’s sin, but in a more broadly-speaking way. “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.”2 We can throw our anger against an artificial, though sometimes loud, enemy in the healthcare space, whether it be the government or the influencers or the bad doctors or the wellness/insurance/pharmaceutical industries or the hedge funds buying out family practices and churning them into money-making factories. It all sucks, sure, but then there’s that both/and again. It sucks AND what an honor to unite myself to a corporal work of mercy every day I put my stethoscope around my neck and heal the sick.

Seek Counsel

The next time you’re overwhelmed by it all, whether it be a vaccine schedule or a decision about surgery, as much as you can, abandon it all to Divine Providence. Learn what you can and leave the rest to God. His thoughts are so far above our own. “For what human knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.”3

Also, seek wise counsel especially for the big things. Get second opinions. Forgive me for dropping such a big bomb at the very end of an essay, but I had brain surgery in 2021. It was the big kind that involved an all-day-long surgery, ICU stay, needing a walker to brush my teeth kind of business. My surgeon recommended getting a second opinion, which I did, which cemented both that I wanted surgery and which surgeon I wanted it with (Spoiler alert: It was the first one, the doctor who’s online bio stated he liked to read about neurosurgery in his free time).

The wise counsel I really am focusing on, though, is from the Big Guy. This was a surgery that wasn’t emergent and had (not a lot, but some) time to stew over what to do next. It was a decision made drenched in prayer. Specifically, the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick moved me in a way I had never experienced.

The day before my surgery, my husband and I met with a priest dear to us in a small chapel where he administered the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. What I encountered cannot be summed up in any human words other than peace. As my husband and I drove home after, I had utter, complete clarity. I wanted to get the surgery and not in a panicked, fear-of-the-future kind of way. I just saw it as the most obvious choice and wasn’t attached to an outcome. In ordinary life, I’m inclined towards anxiety and solving difficult problems with thorough evaluation. Instead, in this moment, my mind was clear and was I was given the precious gift of knowledge wrapped in a Marian “let it be done according to Your word” attitude.

Having experienced this clarity before, I now can recognize the moments God has given me this kind of peace since then and I am astounded and grateful every time. I pray you experience this as well in whatever decisions you have. Frequenting the sacraments of the Eucharist and confession help me see God’s will clearer, and I encourage this for you as well if you don’t already.

It’s Gonna Be Okay

Yes, I have recommendations as a provider that I’m confident in, and I do think vaccines and antibiotics and modern medicine in general are great things that you should talk with your doctor about. But (and here comes that sneaky both/and again!) I also didn’t design the human body. I’m just a student of life over here in awe of a God who makes beautiful things. I hope you find people in your corner who want the best for you and listen to you and aren’t afraid to tell you hard things and good things. I want you to know that at the end of the long day of waiting for your late PA to see you (sorry), you have a God does and did all of the following: made you, knows you, loves you, loves your babies even more than you do, has a plan for you, wills your good above all, and is just so stinking excited to see you in heaven forever and ever where there is no pain or illness or tears or wellness influencers selling methylene blue.

You are so loved, do you know that?

1 James 4:14 NRSV

2 1 Peter 5:8 NRSV

3 1 Corinthians 2:11 NRSV

A few Instagram follows worthy of your attention: (Note, I don’t agree with EVERYTHING they say all the time, don’t @ me. These are just people I feel approach things *in general* without political bias and speak the facts of the science and discuss the American healthcare system with clarity.)

– @dr.beachgem10

– @dr_rossome

– @docglauc

– @thecheckuppodcast

– @biolayne

15. Serving in Long-Term Medical Missions While Raising a Family, with Dr. Robyn Jennings, family medicine

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Welcome back, everyone! You can listen to episode 15 anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts, or you can listen online here.

Episode 15 is with Dr. Robyn Jennings, a family medicine physician who serves with Mission Doctors Association, a Catholic organization that provides medical care for the poor and training for local healthcare professionals.

While we’ve talked medical missions on this podcast before, this episode brings the fresh perspective of long-term medical missions with a family- and Dr. Jennings was preparing to leave for another mission when we talked!

We talk about:

  • Dr. Jenning’s conversion to Catholicism
  • Long-term medical missions and her experiences serving abroad in Ghana, Honduras,  and Tanzania (as a student)
  • Practicing medicine without the ease of access to supplies/tests/specialists
  • Living abroad on mission with children
  • Dating and marriage in medical school

 We reference:

We reference the books Old Pioneers and Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather, and Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott.

Follow us on Instagram @practicingcatholicmedicine

I am seeking new guests! If you have anyone you’d like to nominate, please go to our website and click the nominate tab. I’d love to hear from a wide range of professions in healthcare!

The views expressed by my guests and myself are not necessarily those of our employers, and this podcast is not meant to intended to replace medical advice from a licensed provider. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.

St. Gianna, Pray for Us!

Wishing you all the best!

In Christ

Catie

14. Counseling, Motherhood, and Faith, with Lisa Gormley, LLC, MA, LPC

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Episode 14 is with Lisa Gormley (LLC), MA, LPC.

Lisa provides beautiful insights into what it’s like on the other side of the counseling session, to be the counselor. She has some excellent thoughts on what it means to honor your healthcare license while practicing ethically and as an authentic Catholic. You can listen online here, or on your favorite podcast streaming service.

We chat about:

  • Complicity and scrupulosity versus being present to another and approaching with a listening ear first.
  • Motherhood and mental health in pregnancy and post-partum period
  • Integrating therapy and Catholicism
  • The “pray it away” culture and the damaging implications of that.

We reference/check out:

  • Lisa’s public Instagram profile @TheCatholicTherapist, and http://www.thecatholictherapist.org
  • Lisa’s Instagram group @catholiccliniciansnetworking- join for a community of healthcare professionals!
  • Lisa’s podcast, Mission Mind & Heart
  • The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
  • The Catholic Guide to Depression by Dr. Aaron Kheriaty
  • Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly

I hope you enjoy!

– Catie

** The views expressed in this podcast by myself and my guests are our own and do not represent those of our employers. This podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical care. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical needs. This podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please see your healthcare provider for any healthcare needs.**

13. DNP, Compassion, and Singleness, with Marissa Mullins, APNP

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Episode 13 is here with a fantastically fun conversation with Marissa Mullins. Marissa worked as an ER nurse for many years, and just graduated with her Doctorate of Nurse Practitioner.  You can listen online here, or on your favorite podcast streaming service.

I was eager to talk with Marissa because we share a mutual friend in Claire, the host of the Catholic Feminist Podcast. Marissa was on TCF several years ago (listen online here), and I knew she would be a great guest for PCM.

In this episode, we chat about:

  • Marissa’s experience as a travel nurse in the ICU, and as an emergency department nurse
  • How she navigated the more challenging days in the ED, including processing trauma and setting appropriate boundaries
  • The gift and experience of anticipatory grief, and the importance of honesty in the reality of diagnoses
  • Her decision to pursue a degree as a FNP and the different roles nurse practitioners can have
  • Masters versus Doctorate NP programs
  • Singleness in late 20s/early 30s and what people who are single want their married friends to know
  • Not comparing crosses with others

We reference:

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed talking with Marissa!

In Christ,

Catie

** The usual boring disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast by myself and my guests are our own and do not represent those of our employers. This podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical care. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical needs. This podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. **

12. Not Your Grandma’s Rhythm Method: A Conversation With Marquette Method Instructor Louise Boychuk, BScN RN

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Did you that there are non-hormonal, peer-reviewed, evidence-based, ways to prevent (and achieve) pregnancy that are all about helping women know their bodies better, can also help to achieve pregnancy, and recognized by the CDC? In episode 12, I’m talking with Louise Boychuk, a registered nurse and instructor of the Marquette method of natural family planning.  You can listen online here, or on any of your favorite podcast platforms.

Louisephoto

This is NOT your grandmother’s rhythm method of old. This is a peer-reviewed, evidence-based, non-hormonal approach to avoiding (AND achieving) pregnancy. Natural Family Planning (NFP), also known as Fertility Based Awareness Methods (FABMs) in the scientific community, uses signs from a woman’s body to determine when she is fertile (and, also importantly, when she is most likely very not fertile). Methods can use a variety of different biological markers, from cervical mucous, to hormone levels in urine that can be tested at home, to body temperature, and more.

This is easily one of my favorite topics, most notably because I used to be ardently opposed to what I thought the Church taught on sex and marriage. As you’ll hear in the episode, up until my early 20s, I thought the church was kah-ray-zee when it came to its teaching on sexual ethics and not using contraception. I figured that anyone not contraception was probably either pregnant or immediately post-partum. My (wrong) understanding was that the Church just wanted women to be, as the old adage goes, “barefoot and pregnant”, forever and ever.

(FYI-To all of those who are currently in that scenario, I see you, I hear you, I get you, and I hope you’ll hang in there with me through this post and this episode.)

Enter a good friend, a lot of reading, holy priests, wonderful speakers, and a two-year stint as a Catholic missionary. I was led on a journey that started as me acting like an angry toddler as I realized I was very wrong, leading to joy at discovering the truth of how insanely awesome God’s design for sex and marriage is.

Here’s the TL;DR version of the Church’s teaching on sex and marriage: Sex is meant to be both unitive and procreative. Unitive meaning that it brings a man and woman closer together emotionally, physically, all the things. Procreative in that it’s open to life, so no barriers, either physical or chemical. Abstaining from sex during fertile times to avoid pregnancy for just reasons is still in line with the church’s teaching because there is no use of something to purposefully block fertility. Also in line with church teaching are situations where the couple physically could not get pregnant because of a myriad of other reasons, such as menopause or a hysterectomy. It is the intention that there is a total giving of oneself, saying “I accept all of you, even your fertility.” As Louise says in our episode, “Marquette method does not equal opposed to life, it just equals good science.” These teachings aren’t in place because the Church thinks sex is bad, it’s because the Church knows sex is so good, and sacred, and important- it needs to be treated as such!

Yes, using NFP to avoid pregnancy requires abstinence, the number of days depending on the individual woman and method, which can be difficult. Also, some women experience difficult-to-interpret fertility signs (which is one of the reasons I love Marquette- it’s very objective), and of course, there is always the chance of a surprise pregnancy. But! It also draws you so much closer to your spouse, and encourages challenging conversation, as you prayerfully discern each month. “Do we have a good reason to avoid pregnancy? Where are you at? Oh, you’ve been feeling anxious? You’re worried about our finances? I had no idea. Can we talk about that more?” And so on.

So how does this have to do with medicine? Well, in my search to learn more about NFP, I also found myself infuriated with the medical community and how it had so horribly abandoned women when it came to educating them on their bodies. After all, how many of us have been told to just, “Take the pill!” when we went in to talk to our doctors about an irregular period, horrible cramps, acne, anxiety, a broken toe, a slight cough, or a weird-looking mole? The pill has become some sort of magical cure-all, and I have had enough. Ladies, it is time we stand up and say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” when it comes to being told our little “lady problems” can all go away, all we have to do is load up our bodies with hormones.

Although many providers aren’t aware of the evidence (cue my eye roll when I read through my discharge paper work after having my baby and under the ‘Birth Control’ section, my OBGYN wrote ‘rhythm method’), the good news is that there is peer-reviewed evidence-based journal articles. As you’ll hear in the podcast, the information is slowly disseminating, and even the CDC updated their public information regarding FABMs to more accurately provide pregnancy prevention statistics. It’s our job as practitioners to get the news out there.

I hope you love this episode. I get all riled up when I talk NFP.

We chat about:

  • The science behind NFP (specifically the Marquette Method)
  • The effectiveness of various NFP methods at avoiding pregnancy
  • How NFP fits in with Church teaching
  • Joys and challenges of being an NFP instructor
  • How to become a Marquette instructor (you have to be a healthcare professional, which is perfect for the listeners of this podcast!)

We reference (a lot):

NFP Methods

  1. Louise’s website! There, you can learn more about the Marquette method, and get connected with Louise if you’d like to be taught!
  2. The FACTs (Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to teach the Science) webpage describes in great detail the different methods of fertility awareness based methods
  3. Taking Charge of Your Fertility, by Toni Weschler, is a good book to understand more of how a woman’s body works and is an introduction to a fertility based method.
  4. This quiz is a great place to start when deciding what method if NFP is right for you.

NFP Effectiveness

  1. Check out Louise’s webpage at for peer-reviewed journal articles regarding Marquette effectiveness during regular cycles, breastfeeding, and perimenopause.
  2. This is the article Dr. Jo Stanford co-published that led the CDC to change their statement to stating that FABMs have a 2-24% pregnancy rate (Marquette is the 2%!)

For Healthcare Professionals:

  1. The FACTS group provides continuing education, resources, and even has opportunities for medical students including a clinical rotation.
  2. Interested in teaching the Marquette method of NFP? Here is a link to the Marquette webpage.

For learning more about Catholic teaching on sexual ethics:

  1. The Good News of Sex and Marriage, by Christopher West, is a GREAT place to start, and presents all the questions you’ve wanted to ask but were maybe too embarrassed to in an easy q&a format.
  2. Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love, by Edward Sri , is also an excellent place to start, a fast read, and provides insights from St. John Paul the Great’s Love and Responsibility (also a good read!).
  3. Life-Giving Love: Embracing God’s Beautiful Design for Marriage, by Kimberly Hahn, is a good second-step. Kimberly Hahn was a protestant who converted to the Catholic faith, and she describes her personal encounter with Church’s teachings on sex not as being a rigid list of rules we must follow, but made to help us be who we were made to be.
  4. Holy Sex! by Gregory Popcack, doesn’t dance around taboo topics, and answers the tough questions. It’s a great book for newlyweds!

For when NFP isn’t easy/for community:

  1. Off the Charts is an incredible, first-of-its-kind NFP community from Jenny Uebbing. You may know her from her popular blog Mama Needs Coffee (check out her sometimes hilarious, always inspiring blog entries here, or her writing featured in many publications. The online forum provides exclusive content from NFP instructors (if you loved this interview, Louise is also featured here!), access to the ‘Ask the Priest’ and ‘Ask the Instructor’ resources, teaching, and most of all- community (because NFP is not all sunshine and daisies!). The past few months have been amazing as members are continuing to flourish in their marriages and NFP even in the most stressful season ever! Check it out, as registration for July 2020 is opening up!
  2. The Sinner’s Guide to Natural Family Planning, by Simcha Fisher, is a look at NFP with the rose-colored glasses off. For those who are struggling with NFP, it’s an honest look at the what being ‘open-to-life’ can look like, while at the same time being rooted in hope and confidence that despite the difficulties, NFP is still 100% better than any alternative.
  3. Women Speak For Themselves is an organization that empowers women with talking points and resources regarding the ways women are disadvantaged, especially in the realm of contraception and abortion.

Louise also mentioned this book, and we discussed the Catholic Christian Outreach.

** The usual boring disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast by myself and my guests are our own and do not represent those of our employers. This podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical care. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical needs. This podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical needs.**

You guys rock!

Catie

11. The Role of a Registered Dietician, and Experience in a Senior Care Facility, with Ann Kruse, RD

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The first episode of Season 2 is with Ann Kruse, RD. You can listen online here, or on you favorite podcast listening platform (iTunes, Spotify, etc).
It has been a while since I’ve posted an episode! During the hiatus, I gave birth to a little girlie, Lucy, in December. She is seriously such a delight and is babbling and smiling away. Episodes will be released as I record them, not scheduled monthly like before, as life has changed a bit (in a really great way)! Stay updated on here for new episodes, or follow along on Instagram @practicingcatholicmedicine.
In this episode I talk with my friend Ann Kruse, a registered dietitian working in a long-term senior care facility. This episode was recorded last summer, long before “social distancing” was a buzzword and when we could meet up with friends any time we wanted. Enjoy a podcast NOT about COVID!
We discuss:
  • The wide scope of practice for a registered dietician
  • Ann’s experience working in a long-term senior care facility
  • The relationship between food and faith
We reference:
  • A Love-Letter Life By Jeremy and Audrey Roloff
  • One Beautiful Dream by Jennifer Fulweiler
  • Ann’s website, A Dietician’s ANNalysis, where she talks about all things dietetics and nutrition
  • This article, which talks about emotionally healthy ways to process emotions during this pandemic
Stay healthy and God bless!
-Catie
** The usual boring disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast by myself and my guests are our own and do not represent those of our employers. This podcast is not intended to be a substitute for medical care. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical needs. This podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please see your healthcare provider for any medical needs.**