The first Pius X Fellowship of Athletes (PFA) was held on Friday, Jan. 27.

The event took place before school in the study hall room and was an open event.

It was led by coach Matthew Sestak and lasted about 35 minutes.

Sestak gave a speech for all to hear; it had multiple lessons for attendees to learn.

“The purpose was to show athletes that feeling wounded and having feelings like that are real, and that it’s okay,” Sestak said. “With recognizing those feelings, we should try to reach out to others, and more importantly Christ, to help us.”

In his speech, Sestak talked from his experiences as an athlete, a Christian, and even now as a coach/teacher.

“It was a good way to reach out to young athletes who may be struggling with anything and helping them find a way to grow closer to God,” sophomore Jack Hagge said.

Sophomore Lucy Willis stated how Sestak’s talk felt very personalized and relatable in specific ways to the audience.

“Being vulnerable even as a teacher and coach to your students is a sign of strength not weakness,” Sestak said. “Showing them that their teacher is human and went through similar struggles to them is a great way to be open.”

The event ended with a room full of applause for Sestak’s great words.
Sestak said, “To see so many students there that came to listen to what I had to say and to come to build those relationships with Christ and others was a very humbling experience.”

This being the first PFA, there were free donuts and juice provided, it was a very welcoming atmosphere.

“We wanted to make something as an outreach to the athletes at Pius, they don’t currently have a lot of participation in the religious aspect,” senior JP Mattern said. “The turnout was better than we expected. We had around 110 people come, it was a great first talk.”

The PFA is planned to become a monthly event every last Friday of the month at Pius X from now forward.