The habit of sports

Victor Penney:

College basketball has lost one of its impressive figures, and no, it wasn’t a lean, mean, dunking machine — it was a five-foot nun in a wheelchair.

I’m talking about Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who died back on Oct. 9 at the tender age of 106. She was a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the longtime chaplain of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team, and a folk hero to March Madness fans the world over. If you’ve never heard of her, there’s no shame in that, but trust me – you’ll love her story.

Sister Jean was born in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919, and grew up in a devout Catholic family that loved its sports. You could say faith and athletics were the two great influences in her life, but a religious calling proved to be the stronger attraction. When she was just eight years old, she could feel the pull of the Holy Spirit; according to her 2023 memoir, she would say the following prayer every day: “Dear God, help me understand what I should do, but please tell me I should become a BVM sister.”

She left home after high school, making a beeline for Dubuque, Iowa, to join the Sisters of Charity and took her final vows in 1945. From there, she went back to her roots. Sister Jean returned to California to teach elementary school in North Hollywood, which is about the same time she started coaching girls in a number of sports like softball, track, and, you guessed it, basketball.

In the 1960s, after receiving a master’s degree, Sister Jean scored a teaching position at Mundelein College in Chicago, which would later become part of Loyola University. She “retired” from her role as an educator in 1991, but I use the term loosely, because she became a team chaplain, a position she held for decades.

Fast forward now to the 2017-2018 basketball season, that’s when Sister Jean broke her hip at the age of 98 after taking a bad fall off a sidewalk. She missed nine home games that year, but I think she made up for it during the March Madness tournament. The underdog Loyola Ramblers went on a Cinderella run in the NCAA tourney, making it all the way to the Final Four, and Sister Jean was courtside for the ride in a wheelchair, wearing a maroon-and-gold scarf for her boys. She was already a local hero, and her students loved her, but now, the diminutive nun had won the hearts of fans across America – and around the world.

Sister Jean finally retired again, officially, this past September amid ongoing health concerns, just a few weeks before she died.

Even though she has departed from this earthly life, her legacy lives on at Loyola. The Ramblers narrowly won their season-opener on Nov. 3, with a last-second three-pointer. After the game, the coach, Drew Valentine, said things aren’t the same without her. He told ESPN: “Not seeing Sister Jean there when walking off the court, it’s definitely something that’s going to take time to get used to.” The team will wear a special patch to honour her this season.

While I’ve never been a fan of college basketball, and I would have liked to have seen Sr. Jean wear a habit to the games, I love the story. It’s the “good side” of sports that families need to share more of.

Her life, on the whole, had a positive purpose, rooted in faith. More importantly, for us now, her passing is an excellent reminder of the final four things we must all keep in mind: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death …  either entrance into the blessedness of heaven … or immediate and everlasting damnation.” (CCC 1022)

“Memento mori,” as they say, right? Of all the unknown challenges and evils we’ll ever face, our death is the only certainty, which is why we need to be ready for it.

Finally, no matter what anyone might think about the life she lived, none of us knows the eternal fate of Sister Jean – only God does – so don’t canonize her. Instead, as we prepare to welcome the Christ Child into our hearts at Christmas, let’s make sure to pray for her soul and that Our Blessed Lord will welcome her into His Heavenly Kingdom.

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