Stetson coach delivers address at the Vatican

PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN SAINT SING
Just back from Rome — Stetson coach and author Susan Saint Sing talks sports and spirituality. She delivered a talk on those topics at the Vatican this month.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Nov 20, 2009 - 12:05:09pm

What's a nice gal from DeLand doing at the Vatican, talking about sports to the pope and other dignitaries?

It was the spirituality of sports that brought about the meeting.

The woman is Susan Saint Sing, a rowing coach at Stetson University. Saint Sing just returned from Italy, where she delivered an address at the Vatican and delivered a copy of her book The Wonder Crew: The Untold Story of a Coach, Navy Rowing and Olympic Mortality, to Pope Benedict XVI.

The Beacon interviewed Saint Sing via e-mail, while she was still in Italy.

She said of the pope, "His eyes just twinkled, and his smile was broad and warm, like a little kid."

Being able to address such a distinguished group, including church leaders and members of the International Olympic Committee, added to the honor.

"As a woman, and as an American Catholic, I was humbled to be asked. What else can you say? It is like a dream and a bit surrealistic to get an inner look into such a closed, insular world," she said.

Saint Sing said she delves into the best of human performance in her books, and that formed the core of her talk. Her eighth book is due out in the spring.

"St. Paul talks about running the good race, and Scripture talks about play in several areas," she said. "We are created to play and enjoy and perfect these human vessels which contain handedness and footedness with which to express part of the joy of God."

The invitation from the Rev. Kevin Lixey, head of the Papal Commission on Sport and the Laity, came as a surprise, but it was no more startling than Saint Sing's own story.

Her path to the Vatican was a rocky one.

In 1977, while attending Penn State University on a lacrosse scholarship, Saint Sing broke her neck and back in an accident while doing some moves with the gymnastic team.

She narrowly missed becoming a paraplegic. Her recovery was long, hard and painful — full of 10 years of treatment for constant pain in her back.

"Things like patience and compliance, and discipline, and humility all get forced upon you," she said.

A turning point came for Saint Sing when, feeling broken in body and spirit, she took a leave from her treatment and went to Assisi in Italy, the home of St. Francis. She worked in a Franciscan center. There, centering on her faith among the Franciscans, she found renewal.

That was 25 years ago, and Saint Sing still remembered enough Italian to get through the streets of Rome during the recent trip.

Rejuvenated by her work at Assisi, she completed her physical and spiritual healing and took up a new sport: rowing.

Saint Sing is a member of the U.S. National Rowing Team. She also earned a doctorate in kinesiology from Penn State. She was hired by Stetson University in 2008.

Now, she's using her story of personal struggle to inspire others, and finding inspiration in the stories of the people she writes about.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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