Pro Sports Chaplain Willie Alfonso Meets With Nyack College Athletes
December 7, 2021
Keith Davie, Nyack College Athletic Director
Nyack College athletes are called Warriors because they are equipped and empowered holistically to compete in and outside of the sports arena. In addition to the mentoring and training in athletic skills they regularly receive from the coaching staff, special events like a recent gathering arranged by Director of Athletics Keith Davie is a perfect example of how Nyack Warriors are being prepared for leadership. Monthly meetings address various aspects of collegiate life including the academic, physical, social and spiritual.
“Academically, we used a talk on procrastination as an opportunity to discuss time management, specifically during their off-seasons. Socially, we spoke about the honors student-athletes have accomplished since our last meeting,” explains Athletics Director Davie. “A presentation entitled, “Avoiding the Stigma,” provided by the National Collegiate Athletic Association focused on mental health.”
To address spiritual health, the athletes met with Chaplain Willie Alfonso (wearing red sweater in group shot), who has been an advisor to the New York Yankees, New York Giants, Staten Island Yankees and other teams. His 2015 autobiography, It’s a New Beginning: How to Turn Setbacks Into Comebacks, was endorsed by retired New York Yankee Mariano Rivera. A companion Bible study guide to Chaplain Alfonso’s book was published in 2018.
“He brought his story of growing up in an abusive home, living on the streets of New York City, battling a drug addiction before his life was transformed by Christ,” Keith Davie shares. “The student-athletes were eternally impacted by the evening and we look forward to seeing the fruit of that evening in the future.”
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