OLGS Wins Repeat Basketball Championship

On January 19th, 2020, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary’s basketball team became the first team in a decade to successfully defend their title at the annual Father Pat O’Malley Invitational Basketball Tournament at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. Once again, 16 basketball teams from Catholic seminaries across the United States were invited to this annual seminarian basketball tournament sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The event was celebrating its 20th year and the beautiful campus of the University of St. Mary of the Lake was bedecked in its customary coat of freshly fallen snow.

It was the 5th appearance at this tournament for OLGS and they won 5 of their 6 games, defeating Sacred Heart Seminary and Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary before narrowly losing one to Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in the pool-play stage. A 3-way tie resulted in their pool, but since OLGS possessed the superior point differential, they were top-seeded going into the quarterfinals, where they defeated the hosts, Mundelein Seminary, in a rematch of the 2019 championship game. OLGS and St. John’s Seminary faced each other in the semifinals as they had in 2019, and though St. John’s had the tournament’s three-point shooting champion on their side, OLGS prevailed. The championship game served up a rematch with their pool-play defeaters, Kenrick-Glennon, whom they overcame to claim the title on Sunday morning. The team was led by coaches Fr. Joseph Lee, FSSP and Fr. Anthony Uy, FSSP along with team captain Mr. Nicholas Eichman, FSSP, who was awarded the tournament MVP title for the second time.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary is proud of its players and coaches who sacrificed so many hours of their recreation time to represent the Fraternity of St. Peter well in front of the priests and seminarians of dioceses across the United States. And yet such accomplishments that result from the well-rounded formation of FSSP seminarians would never have been possible without the generous and selfless support of the many benefactors of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. In particular, the 2020 Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary Championship basketball team would like to honor and ask prayers for the repose of the soul of Mr. Harold Landrigan, who made a most special remembrance in his estate that enabled our beautiful seminary gymnasium to be constructed in 2014. The recreational facilities that were built on the campus in Denton, Nebraska provide ideal conditions for fraternal recreation and healthy exercise for our seminarians, priests and staff throughout the frigid winter months. The team would like to dedicate this year’s hard-fought victory to all the benefactors that make their priestly formation possible and assure them of their prayers.

Participation in the basketball team provided the seminarians with a unique opportunity to grow in camaraderie, discipline and the virtue of Eutrapelia (cf. ST II-II Q. 168, a. 2) while providing entertainment and inspiration to their confreres and the many families and parishioners that tuned in to the live internet video stream produced by Mundelein Seminary. In sum, it was a blessed weekend that will live long in the memory of, Deo volente, many future priests.

Non nobis, Dómine, sed nómini tuo da glóriam! +