By Dennis Kellogg
Director of Communications
Boxing out and grabbing a rebound. Leading the fast break. Hitting a three-pointer from the corner.
A group of 20-to-50-plus-year-olds are doing their best to play basketball like they did in high school or college. Some of them never made it further than the backyard hoop. It doesn’t matter. Fun, fellowship and faith dominate this Saturday afternoon at St. Joseph School gym in Lincoln. Welcome to the first annual St. Joe’s Ladies Basketball Tournament.
“I think us women need a chance to exercise, be silly, kind of re-live our glory days,” said Tracie Goodenberger, who organized the event and is known as “the commissioner” on this court.
The tournament attracted 26 women from parishes in the Diocese of Lincoln. They were divided up into four teams – The God Squad, which included three Marian Sisters playing in full habits, Queens of the Court, The Collection Baskets and the Beatitude Ballers.
The tournament is the culmination of weeks of pick-up games that were part competition, part meeting new friends, and part ministry in t-shirts and sneakers. Goodenberger called it a “very natural form of evangelization.”
“Every week we begin by introducing ourselves, sharing our “glory days” basketball stories, and saying which parish we belong to,” Goodenberger said. “We open in prayer – giving glory to God and praying no one gets injured. It’s simple, but meaningful. Connections are formed. Women from different parishes meet. And yes, some non-Catholic friends have joined, too.”
Goodenberger is relatively new to the Diocese of Lincoln. Before moving to Lincoln, she was in optometry school in Memphis, Tenn., where she started a Bible study. Her roommate added a spikeball league along with it.
“Honestly, that spikeball league brought our class together in such a unique way, I was inspired to do something similar here in Lincoln. It opened the door to deeper friendships and more intentional conversations about faith.”
Goodenberger said when she moved to Lincoln and joined St. Joseph Parish, she was impressed by the abundance of Bible studies and small groups available in the area.
“But as a new mom with limited time, I thought, ‘what if we created something that combined exercise, laughter, healthy competition, and community? Something that allowed women to just play,” she said.
Katie Fischer plays on Saturdays. She attends Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parish in Lincoln and is a mother of six.
“After the first game I played, I just couldn’t stop smiling, thinking about it the rest of the day,” she said.
“It had been a while since I’d played basketball, but the competitive juices started to flow, and I kept wanting to come back. The women involved are so faith filled and bring the reason to compete back to the Lord,” Fischer continued. “It was so fun just to play sports again. Women don’t usually get a chance to have a basketball league, so I’m thankful to Tracie Goodbenberger for putting the work in to make it happen.”
Goodenberger said St. Joseph Parish was very supportive of the women’s basketball games and tournament. She said her husband plays in the men’s league and has his games on Sunday nights—and now she has her games on Saturday afternoons.
Basketball has been a way for her to become more involved and give back to her parish.
“I listened to a podcast that said, the best way to feel belonging is to contribute,” Goodenberger said. “And that is ultimately how I felt. Once I started contributing to the parish, I feel more of a sense of belonging.”
Tabitha Divis is another St. Joseph parishioner who participates. She played basketball at North Platte Community College. She is also now nearly 30 weeks pregnant.
“I definitely feel like I’m just a little bit slower, but still got some game,” she said.
Goodenberger said Divis, who she nicknamed “MVP” for her skills, “brings the competition.”
Divis said while the games can get competitive, they ask about everyone’s basketball experience before they start and split up the teams to make it more even.
“I would say the majority of the women didn’t even play in high school,” she said. “All levels are welcome.”
Goodenberger, who played several sports in high school, including basketball, said everyone competes hard, but it’s really more about meeting new people, sharing the faith and having fun.
“It always ends in high fives and good laughs, and as long as no one gets injured, that’s a successful day.”
Goodenberger said basketball is a unique way to bring women together to grow in their love for Jesus Christ. As a former Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionary, she said she learned about “incarnational evangelization” – “in the flesh, sharing the Good News” and building relationships.
“Sports allows us to build those relationships on such a natural level that can lead us closer to Christ,” she said, “because we grow in virtue by taking care of our bodies. We grow in virtue by working with people on a team. We grow in virtue when we learn how to be a little uncomfortable and maybe invite someone or to break out of our usual Saturday routine and go play basketball and meet other women.”
Goodenberger is also hoping the Saturday afternoon athletic outings for women in the diocese don’t end with the last shot on the basketball court.
“Maybe we can expand this to multiple sports,” Tracie said. “Maybe in the fall we have a volleyball pickup game. Or this summer, girls get together to play soccer. We can try different sports. And that kind of stretches us.”
“We’d love to see it grow in Lincoln and invite more women and get other parishes involved,” Divis said. “Even by inviting women who aren’t Catholic, but that could come and just see what the love of Jesus can do in their life.”
And the relationships being formed on the court or the field will also hopefully expand to friendships between these women away from athletic competition.
“I kind of hope people start to make these connections, and when they see them at Sunday Mass or around the parish, they have that initial, ‘Oh, we play basketball together,” and that goes a long way,” Goodenberger said. “Maybe that can lead to a Bible study. Maybe that can lead to having your families together for dinner. Whatever it might be.”
On this Saturday in the St. Joseph School gym, the Beatitude Ballers team walked away with the tournament’s championship trophy. But each player received their own small trophy as a reminder of the day—a day where some of the women relived their basketball glory days, but all of them spent the day giving glory to God. One jump shot at a time.
For information about the Lincoln CWAC (Catholic Women’s Athletics Club), or for updates about the next sport season, contact Tracie Goodenberger at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
SNR photos by Natalie Bender and Cathy Blankenau Bender. Click for more photos.
