From the Touchline

Life in football — whether in the professional or the amateur side — can feel quite lonely at times. For the one just dismissed or moving to a team half way around the globe. For the player who just can’t seem to catch a break. For the one in hospital or on the sidelines languishing in a return from an injury — in these moments and in a thousand more it make no difference that you might be surrounded by a team/teammates or even supportive friends and family — it can be quite lonely and exhausting at times.

Today, on the podcast, I share the music of one of our own Billy Cerveny. Billy is the volunteer chaplain to Nashville SC and a great friend and good pastor. His song, You Are Not Alone, is played here today with permission and with the hopes that no matter who you are or where you are in the midst of the Beautiful Game, that you would know that with God, you are truly never alone.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Probably there are few people who don’t know who Lionel Messi is — he’s world renowned as a footballer. Well, his loyalty and life are so intimately tied to Spanish club Barcelona FC that the news a few weeks ago came as a shock to football fans, as well as to Messi and his family — he wouldn’t be retuning to Barcelona as financial details couldn’t be worked out.

Today, on the podcast, I talk about how often we make plans — plans for career, education, marriage, retirement, and so much more, but really those things need to be subject to the will of God

I am Rev Brad Kenney, and this is the Soccer Chaplains United podcast, From the Touchline.

Today, on the podcast I mention some verses in the Bible. They are hyperlinked here (available on our website) for quick reference:

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Finally! We move on to Episode 2 of Season One of Ted Lasso. Do you remember how you felt on the first day of school? Or, maybe it was the first day at your new club, your new team? Excited? Nervous? Both. Coach Lasso and Coach Beard share their feelings and help each other with “first day jitters” and we look at those feelings as part of our Lessons from Lasso series on the podcast today.

Ted Lasso, the new and immensely popular streaming TV show on Apple TV+ features the antics and quirky, ‘Ted Lasso’ character brought to life in his own TV show series. Lasso first appeared a number of years ago as a comedic character as NBC purchased the broadcast rights to the English Premier League. Played by Jason Sudeikis, Lasso (as a coach) brings change to the difficult football (soccer) team that he has traveled overseas to coach.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, Rev Brad shares lesson eight and how God is often preparing us to be able to handle the pressures and joys of the next challenge, if we will but open our eyes and see. In the ‘Lessons from Lasso’ series, Rev Brad looks at some of the different life learning points brought up in the the show from a chaplain’s point of view.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

There’s no hiding the facts — divorce rates in professional sport, including football, are immensely high. The life on the road, time spent away from spouse and children, the glory, the fans, the chasing of dreams and so many more reasons bring cracks and pressures to marital and family life that are unique. In truth, the athletes and those in the game are entertainers — but it all takes a toll and we see this in the closing scenes of episode one and the last of our Lessons from Lasso in the first show.

Ted Lasso, the new and immensely popular streaming TV show on Apple TV+ features the antics and quirky, ‘Ted Lasso’ character brought to life in his own TV show series. Lasso first appeared a number of years ago as a comedic character as NBC purchased the broadcast rights to the English Premier League. Played by Jason Sudeikis, Lasso (as a coach) brings change to the difficult football (soccer) team that he has traveled overseas to coach.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, Rev Brad shares lesson seven and just how difficult football can be on family life and relationships. The ‘Lessons from Lasso’ series, Rev Brad looks at some of the different life learning points brought up in the the show from a chaplain’s point of view.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Do you travel much? Have you ever been away from home and living out of a suitcase? Are you the kind of traveler that leaves everything in your suitcase or do you unpack your bags and use the drawers? In this week’s Lesson from Lasso, Rev Brad unpacks the bags a bit and looks at the spiritual and mental aspects of doing so.

Ted Lasso, the new and immensely popular streaming TV show on Apple TV+ features the antics and quirky, ‘Ted Lasso’ character brought to life in his own TV show series. Lasso first appeared a number of years ago as a comedic character as NBC purchased the broadcast rights to the English Premier League. Played by Jason Sudeikis, Lasso (as a coach) brings change to the difficult football (soccer) team that he has traveled overseas to coach.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, Rev Brad shares lesson six and how it can be helpful to ‘unpack the bags and stay awhile’ when it comes to the different temporary spaces we find ourselves in throughout life. The ‘Lessons from Lasso’ series, Rev Brad looks at some of the different life learning points brought up in the the show from a chaplain’s point of view.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Not long into the show, we understand that not many love Coach Ted Lasso coming to AFC Richmond. The fans, the players, the media — even the club owner who has brought Lasso in had an ulterior motive. While it might be a stretch to call her an enemy of Ted Lasso, it certainly isn’t a stretch to say that she doesn’t seem to mind Lasso (and others) being casualty to her attempts to run the club into the ground to get back at her former husband. Our favorite coach has some opposition against him — what do we do when we encounter such opposition in football? That’s the heart of today’s podcast and Lesson from Lasso.

Ted Lasso, the new and immensely popular streaming TV show on Apple TV+ features the antics and quirky, ‘Ted Lasso’ character brought to life in his own TV show series. Lasso first appeared a number of years ago as a comedic character as NBC purchased the broadcast rights to the English Premier League. Played by Jason Sudeikis, Lasso (as a coach) brings change to the difficult football (soccer) team that he has traveled overseas to coach.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, Rev Brad shares lesson five and what it looks like to love your enemies — to literally try to do good to those who would harm or hurt you in life or in football. The ‘Lessons from Lasso’ series, Rev Brad looks at some of the different life learning points brought up in the the show from a chaplain’s point of view.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

A recent Men in Blazers podcast had a line from show host Davo (Michael Davies) which got me thinking. When speaking to some of the racist abuse that came as a result of the Euro 2020 final, Davo said, “I have no solution, so I feel it’s pointless to talk about.” It’s not likely that Davo was saying that racism as an issue isn’t worth talking about — instead, I think it’s a weariness that many around the game and around the issue feel. It’s almost like, can’t we move past these issues? Can’t we all just get along?

Football fans around the world believe the game to be a great leveler — a unifying game between differences. And so, it feels heavy to continue to see the abuses and violence around the game — it mars and makes ugly what we refer to as The Beautiful Game.

Today, on the podcast, I offer up the solution that Davo is missing and I talk about what it looks like to discover and walk in such a way as to affect real change when it comes to something like racism. Not that I (or any of my fellow compatriots Christian people) do this right or well or even all or some of the time — but it is something worth talking about and we do have a solution and we do have something to aim for, to strive for. I attempt to get into this — but truth be told it’s a much bigger issue than time alone today warrants.

I am Rev Brad Kenney, and this is the Soccer Chaplains United podcast, From the Touchline.

Today, on the podcast I mention some verses in the Bible. They are hyperlinked here (available on our website) for quick reference:

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

Heartbreak in England. Celebration in Italy. The 2020 European Championship (played in 2021 due to COVID) has ended the month-long campaign and crowned a winner. It was a football-fest filled with amazing storylines — adversity overcome, unique times and ways for footballer and fan to re-engage with the game with the after-effects of a global pandemic still being felt.

But which storyline most grabbed your attention? Was it the 55-year drought for England which ended with them making the final? The return of the Azzurri to a dominant form? Or, maybe it was another story — Christian Eriksen and the Danes which made it far and deep into the tourney?

I am Rev Brad Kenney, and this is the Soccer Chaplains United podcast, From the Touchline.

Today, on the podcast I mention some verses in the Bible. They are hyperlinked here (available on our website) for quick reference:

• James, warning on the uncertainty of life — James 4:13-15
• Solomon on the uncertainty of a person’s days — Proverbs 27:1
• David on the fragility of life — Psalm 39:5
• Job on the fragility of man — Job 7:7
• Isaiah on the fragility of humans — Isaiah 2:22
• Words of Jesus and Parable of the Rich Fool — Luke 12:13-21
• The Prayer of Moses (Psalm 90) — NIV and The Message

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

A few months ago, The Athletic featured a story on Norwegian footballer, Pal Enger. Enger, known more for his heist of Edvard Munch’s famous Scream painting than for his football, is the subject of today’s From the Touchline podcast. Enger’s story around football and his life of crime outside of it, got me thinking — do we really know our teammates well? And how does what we know change about how we treat them or approach them?

I am Rev Brad Kenney, and this is the Soccer Chaplains United podcast, From the Touchline.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.

As we continue with our Lessons from Lasso series, one of the first changes Coach Lasso brings to the fictitious AFC Richmond, is a slight modification to the locker room decor. If you have never been in a locker room for a professional team (I have been invited in, as a guest at times) — there is something special and sacred about the space. Even coaches and managers will try to preserve something of an “athlete” only integrity for this room whereby a collection of individuals assembles and readies themselves for the challenges of the game, the season, and all that it entails. But Lasso adds a something keenly important to the room on day one — a simple, hand-scribed, one-word placard that says: Believe.

Ted Lasso, the new and immensely popular streaming TV show on Apple TV+ features the antics and quirky, ‘Ted Lasso’ character brought to life in his own TV show series. Lasso first appeared a number of years ago as a comedic character as NBC purchased the broadcast rights to the English Premier League. Played by Jason Sudeikis, Lasso (as a coach) brings change to the difficult football (soccer) team that he has traveled overseas to coach.

Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, Rev Brad shares lesson four and what is so important about seeing and believing the right things — about ourselves, about others, and about God. The ‘Lessons from Lasso’ series, Rev Brad looks at some of the different life learning points brought up in the the show from a chaplain’s point of view.

From the Touchline is a short-feature (usually 10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).

Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd, in the Apple and Google store.