Team Chaplains Support Student Athletes

Viterbo Universitiy’s Team Chaplain Program was implemented by Father Tom O’Neil, Viterbo’s Campus Priest who passed away in 2009. With 10 years since Father Tom’s passing, the men’s soccer team chaplain, Chad Gilbeck explains how he tries to personify what Father Tom wanted when the Team Chaplain Program began.

“I believe the purpose of the chaplain program is to offer support and any guidance the student athlete might require outside of academics and athletics,” Gilbeck states.

Whether it’s supporting them in personal or academic challenges, Gilbeck is an involved and reliable resource for his team.

He emphasizes the importance of having an administrative presence on his team, to form relationships on and off the playing field, as Gilbeck states that by being a team chaplain, “I feel embedded in the team. I get to know [the team members] better and we maintain that relationship even after the season ends. If they need anything they can come to me.”

Some of the activities Gilbeck implements for his team includes organizing a team dinner. “This year we supported the dietetics on-campus spaghetti dinner,” Gilbeck explains. The team also participated in recycle day in August, as a preseason activity. “The team came and carried 8,000 pounds of recyclable material,” he says.

“I have more of an impact than I realize,” Gilbeck continues, “Three years later, I’ll run into alumni, and they will want to go to lunch and they thank me.”

Evan Wenberg, member of the men’s soccer team expresses his perception of Gilbeck as a team chaplain. “[Gilbeck] is there for motivation. He’s someone to speak to outside of soccer.”

“With a lot of the boys, they want to talk, not to someone other than a counselor or coach, whether it’s family issues or relationship issues, sometimes they just don’t want to open up to anyone else,” Gilbeck states.

Gilbeck has done it all for his team between help members move into a new apartment or letting a team member borrow his truck. “You name it; I have probably done it for my guys.”