The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), a program that provides opportunities for children to grow in multiple areas of life through participation in sports, has endeavored to become more relevant across the diocese. A recent change is usage of a new logo that more accurately portrays its purpose.
The old logo contained the CYO acronym with a mission statement.
The new logo specifies Columbus as its location. It also includes a profile image of two children running.
“We wanted to re-brand to bring a spark and uniqueness to the CYO,” said Michael Berndt, the organization’s new director of athletics.
Berndt began as director about two months ago after having volunteered for roughly two years. During that time, he witnessed much progress in the CYO.
“Ryan grew the program exponentially,” he said, referring to previous director Ryan Aiello. “One of the biggest achievements (I saw) over that two-year timeframe was the (technological) modernization.
“We went from a largely paper-and-pencil type registration process to a modern registration platform that’s internet-based.”
Payments can also be processed, and coaches can communicate with parents more easily and efficiently with technology the previous director implemented.
The CYO’s primary goal is to increase the variety of sports it sponsors and the number of athletes.
“Our goal is to get as many kids involved in as many sports as possible,” Berndt said. “There are certain sports out there that are not technically CYO right now, and we’re looking at what avenues and what steps we would have to take to make those CYO sports.”
Being under the CYO umbrella benefits teams because of financial support. It also adds more organization to athletics in the diocese.
“It’s really hard to organize something if (we) only have control over half the teams,” Berndt said, referring to sports where some teams are diocesan and others are not. “If we don’t have enough teams to field an entire … league, then it’s hard to absorb that sport and make it a consistent product.”
As a result, some sports may be offered one season but discontinued the next. “That’s a disservice to the kids,” Berndt said.
CYO also brings the benefit of incorporating faith into training.
“I think CYO programs are just built a little bit differently just because of the faith aspect,” Berndt said. “They’re all run through the Catholic schools, so we emphasize sports as a way to kind of educate kids on the Catholic faith.
“One of the things we do is prayer before games. … We emphasize the holistic person and growing kids spiritually but also athletically.”
Berndt attended Westerville St. Paul the Apostle School. He said he is honored to be making a difference in the community where he grew up.
Berndt’s three children attend Columbus St. Catharine of Siena School, where his wife serves as principal.
He noted that lacrosse, golf and cheerleading are three sports quickly growing in Ohio. He hopes they soon become CYO sports.
To gauge if certain sports will be successful, quarterly meetings are held for athletic directors from around the diocese to gather and provide input.
“We’ve got to think through all aspects of it,” Berndt said, “whether that’s insurance … venue management … creating a sport in this time of year – is that going to take away from another sport that we’re trying to drive?”
The process of acquiring and successfully launching a sport is complex and often requires trial and error.
“We tried to launch flag football this year for fifth through eighth grade girls,” Berndt said.
“The timeframe that (was) determined prior to my existence here was the volleyball season. We just have some communities that are so entrenched in volleyball that they didn’t want to take away from (that) to sign up for this new venture.
“That doesn’t mean we’re giving up on it. It just means we have to pivot the way we look at it.”
Berndt said he finds the work rewarding despite its many requirements.
“We have these ‘Play Like a Champion’ coins that we’re starting to award (student-athletes),” he explained. “We started it this soccer season, and handing those coins out to the handful of kids that I’ve presented them to, the smiles on their faces, it makes all the late nights and all that kind of stuff worthwhile.”
For more information about Columbus CYO, visit ccyo.doodlio.com.
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