The Play Like a Champion Today sign that Notre Dame football players tap on their way out of the locker room is more than just a motivational slogan for a big game. It’s also an involved approach to athletics that Kristin Komyatte Sheehan ’90, ’93 M.A. and the Play Like a Champion Today Educational Series have inspired in parents, coaches, and young athletes for nearly 20 years.
The mission of Play Like a Champion Today is to create a sustainable and healthy culture in youth sports, ensuring every child has the opportunity to explore their athletic potential regardless of their socioeconomic standing. As a former athlete, Sheehan has experienced for herself the impact sports can have on one's aspirations, which continues to inspire her work today.
As she was growing up, Sheehan’s father, Richard Komyatte ’59, would bring her and her siblings to one Notre Dame football game a year. It was there that Sheehan set her eyes on the field she’d later cheer on, from the stands of the University she had always dreamed of attending.
Growing up in Northwest Indiana, not far from campus, Sheehan always felt drawn to the Golden Dome. But, it was her father who inspired her to further her academics in South Bend.
The day her acceptance letter arrived in the mail, Sheehan and her parents danced excitedly around the kitchen.
“My dream was to go to Notre Dame,” Sheehan said. “And I got to live that out, which was really special.”
As a student, Sheehan was dedicated to both academics and athletics. As a cheerleader, she had a sideline view of the early Lou Holtz era at games both home and away. She even got to cheer on the Fighting Irish during the 1988 National Championship win against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
“There was just this electricity in the air and this excitement around the whole team and the whole experience,” Sheehan said.
It’s this feeling that Sheehan and Play Like a Champion Today hope to inspire in young athletes all over the country — a sense of belonging.
“We envision a world where every child does play and has a team and a coach they can count on, not just those who are athletically gifted, but every child has the confidence and the space where they can call a team their own,” Sheehan said.
Being a part of the cheer team not only left Sheehan with lifelong memories and friends, but it brought her to her husband Dan Sheehan ’87, who she met through cheering. The two of them would go on to have three children together: Shannon ’16, Jack ’19, and Danny ‘23, a graduate of DePauw University.
Their eldest son, Jack, followed in his parents’ footsteps and cheered on the Irish as the school’s famed mascot during the 2017-19 season. “Two cheerleaders married and they had a leprechaun,” Sheehan joked.
When Sheehan wasn’t cheering, she was also involved with the Center for Social Concerns, volunteering and studying Catholic Social Teaching. She still has close connections to what is now the Institute for Social Concerns and Rev. Don McNeill, C.S.C., ’58, the founder and director until 2002, who was the officiant for her wedding.
The lessons Sheehan learned as a student at the University and through her involvement in the service work sponsored by the CSC encouraged new ways of thinking about change. Instead of viewing service from a savior’s perspective, she looks at it as a collaboration.
“Wanting to swoop in and help is really kind of hierarchical, because it means I have something that I don’t think you have — that you should have — but instead, we walk together. I would urge people, rather than seeking to help, to walk with others.”
In 1990, Sheehan graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology and minors in gender studies and peace studies, returning to earn her master’s in psychology in 1993. After graduation, Sheehan and her growing family moved frequently for her husband Dan’s sales job, typically staying in one place for two years before relocating. But Sheehan always knew she eventually wanted to return to South Bend.
In the fall of 2006, an opportunity to work in South Bend arose, so Kristin and Dan made their way back to where they’d met. Shortly after their move, Sheehan heard about the Play Like a Champion Today program.
Clark Power, the founder of the program and professor emeritus at the University, saw a future for youth sports that reflected a care and respect for the athlete and their mental well-being — unburdened by the rising costs and expenses tied to participation. Power was in the early stages of developing a model for his vision and seeking partners when Sheehan hopped on board.
As Program Director, Sheehan instituted workshops and helped to expand the program's reach from two partners to over 280 partnerships with schools and sports organizations around the country. Since its creation, the program has trained over 160,000 coaches and sports parents across 42 states.
Play Like a Champion Today has established close relationships with communities like North Lawndale, a neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, and South Bend — creating the North Lawndale Athletic and Recreation Association (NLARA) and the Michiana Athletic and Recreation Association (MARA). Both organizations provide nurturing environments for local youth to engage in safe, supervised play throughout year-round programming.
“It’s so beautiful to see the people in the community doing what they can for the kids and wanting to give them that space for sport,” Sheehan said. “They’ve all lost somebody and they say, if they had sports, maybe it would’ve been different.”
She encountered a similar sentiment during her time with the Holy Cross Moreau College Initiative, where she taught yoga to incarcerated individuals.
“They’d always say that they loved sports and wished they could’ve stayed with it more because maybe they could’ve done something different. It could’ve kept them off the streets and away from difficulties that caused them to end up incarcerated.”
Sheehan isn’t alone in recognizing the value of youth sports in fostering potential. In September 2022, she was invited to meet Pope Francis and moderate a session for the Vatican’s international sports summit, Sports for All.
“A lot of people don’t know that the Vatican has an office for sport,” Sheehan said. “It’s in the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and they care very much about sports. They value it as an opportunity to really change kids or people’s lives.”
Sheehan and Power were first invited to a Vatican seminar in 2015, “Coaches: Educating People," where the Pope, in a letter, emphasized the importance of educating coaches.
“That was a big stamp of approval for Play Like a Champion Today; we were doing what Pope Francis urged us to do.”
In 2018, the Vatican published Giving the Best of Yourself, a 30-page document on the value of sport that became a guiding resource for the organization and inspired the program’s book Play Like a Champion: Following the Vatican's Lead to Elevate the Culture of American Sport, co-authored by Sheehan.
Meeting the Pope at the Vatican and being surrounded by others passionate about the impact of sports left a lasting impact on Sheehan, continuing to drive Play Like a Champion to new heights.
In the fall of 2024, Sheehan was awarded the Harvey G. Foster Award by the Notre Dame Alumni Association in recognition of her commitment to elevating the culture of youth sport and enabling access to recreation opportunities for all children.
Sheehan believes one of the most important parts of the slogan, ‘Play Like a Champion’ is the last word, ‘Today,’ which is sometimes left out.
“We say ‘Play Like a Champion Today.’ And the ‘Today,’ in our view, is the spiritual moment. It’s a moment that God can be present in an athlete's life to help them become his or her best self.”
Athletes are the heart of sports, and Sheehan, along with Play Like a Champion, continue to nurture that spirit through their work.
“Sometimes in this society, we get so caught up in the wins and losses, and certainly the champions are the winning team,” she said. “But if we only focus on that, we’ve lost a huge opportunity to create total champions: people of virtue and character.”
