Video Transcript: Welcome to Sports Chaplaincy Practice — How to Use This Course Well

Welcome to Sports Chaplaincy Practice — How to Use This Course Well
Presenter: Haley Steiner (CLI Synthesia Presenter)

Hi, I am Haley, the Christian Leaders Institute Synthesia presenter.

Welcome to Sports Chaplaincy Practice—a one-unit course designed for volunteer, part-time, or full-time chaplains serving sports communities: youth leagues, school athletics, club sports, college athletics, training facilities, tournaments, and even semi-pro and pro environments. This course is built to work well for volunteers connected to any Christian sports ministry fellowship and local church sports outreach.

This course is built around one core idea:

Sports chaplaincy is a ministry of presence.
Not a ministry of coaching.
Not a ministry of recruiting.
Not a ministry of being the “answer person.”

You show up with calm strength, skilled listening, clear boundaries, and real hope.

1) What this course is—and what it is not

This course is practical formation for chaplains serving inside a competitive, high-pressure culture.

You will learn how to:

• understand sports culture—identity, hierarchy, humor, and team dynamics,

• build trust slowly and wisely,

• support athletes and staff under performance pressure,

• respond to injury, setbacks, conflict, and grief with steady care,

• lead short, opt-in prayer/devotions with humility,

• navigate confidentiality, ethics, safeguarding, and policy,

• and sustain long-term ministry without burnout or role drift.

But let me be equally clear.

This course is not training you to be a coach.
You are not the trainer.
You are not the compliance officer.
You are not the recruiter, agent, or scholarship advocate.
You are not the spokesperson to parents or media.
And you are not a therapist replacing clinical care.

You are a chaplain—called to serve with compassion and integrity.

2) How to move through the course

Each topic includes three basic parts:

First: watch the short videos.
They give you a clear framework and field actions.

Second: read the assigned reading pages.
That’s where you go deeper—biblical foundations, Ministry Sciences insights, and sports-specific practices.

Third: take the topic quiz.
The quiz helps you lock in what matters and notice what you may have missed.

A simple rhythm is:

Video → Reading → Quiz
Then move to the next topic.

If you are doing this course while actively serving with a team or league, go at a steady pace. Even one topic a week can strengthen your ministry over time.

3) The posture you will practice: presence without coaching

In sports culture, trust is built through consistency, not speeches.

Your goal is not to impress people.
Your goal is to be a steady presence.

That means:

• you listen more than you talk,

• you don’t chase gossip or take sides,

• you don’t try to control outcomes,

• you don’t overpromise confidentiality,

• and you don’t make yourself the center of the story.

Scripture gives a simple posture for this kind of ministry:

“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”
—James 1:19 (WEB)

When you learn to be “swift to hear,” you become safe.

And when you become safe, athletes and coaches begin to open up—especially in the quiet moments most people miss.

4) A word about policy, confidentiality, and safeguarding

Sports chaplaincy is ministry inside real policies and real risk—especially when minors are involved.

Throughout this course you’ll hear this phrase again and again:

Honor policy. Protect people. Stay in your role.

Here is a key point:

You can be deeply compassionate without becoming a liability.

You will learn what you can promise, what you cannot promise, and how to speak clearly when hard situations arise—especially around:

• safeguarding minors and avoiding isolated one-on-one situations when required,

• mandatory reporting concerns (harm, abuse, exploitation),

• team rules about devotions, chapel, and faith conversations,

• and how to serve in pluralistic spaces without coercion.

Jesus taught both compassion and wisdom:

“Be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
—Matthew 10:16 (WEB)

That is a chaplain’s balance: wise and gentle, brave and humble, present and bounded.

5) What I hope happens for you

My hope is that this course strengthens you to serve athletes, coaches, and sports communities with:

• steadiness,

• dignity,

• discernment,

• and gospel-shaped hope.

And if you ever feel pressure to become the fixer, remember this:

You are not the savior. Jesus is.

Your calling is to bring His presence into competitive spaces—through calm faithfulness.

Alright—when you’re ready, go to Topic 1 and begin.