Photo from Boston Globe
Sister Lisa Maurer, a former high school teacher who was called to religious life, spoke with NPR’s Weekend Edition about how she integrates her spiritual work with the football players she coaches. One of 70 Benedictine nuns at the small college of St. Scholastica, Sister Lisa has always been a passionate football fan, and became a volunteer coach last year.
Her players saw the habit-wearing nun coaching their games as a bit of an anomaly, but they appreciate her work both on and off-field. Senior quarterback Mike Mensing spoke about her approachability outside of the game as a benefit to her coaching.
From the story:
“Off the field, there’s definitely the sister part of her job, so you can go to her with maybe a little bit more personal level than other coaches. She asks me how my family’s doing, how my girlfriend’s doing. So it’s nice to have a coach like that as well.”
A full transcript and audio clip are available at the NPR website.
The Boston Globe wrote about Maurer earlier this year, when news came out about the first woman rugby coach in America, noting that Maurer was the first woman to coach a men’s college football team.
Do you think there is a broader story in Maurer’s trailblazing? Many people oftentimes see religious values as lagging behind secular values in social justice issues like sexism and equality; what do you think Maurer’s story adds to that perspective?