Catholic Athletes for Christ (CAC), a national organization serving professional and amateur athletes, is expanding its presence in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati through a new, local missionary focused on helping student-athletes and staff put faith at the center of competition.

Based out of Dayton, Mike Hoendorf is the new Midwest Region Sports Missionary and Director of Strategic Development, a new position created by CAC that Hoendorf started at in February 2025.

“The goal for this position is to be a resource for every athlete, coach, parent, athletic office, or anyone associated with sports in this region, to better connect their faith with athletics,” Hoendorf said. “Through meaningful events, relationships, and faith-focused programs, we look to bring Christ back to the center of athletics.”

Already known for organizing Masses for MLB and NFL players and staff on game days, CAC also operates the “Cathlete Program,” a club-based approach for high school student-athletes at Catholic schools. Trenton, New Jersey, is among a few dioceses to adopt Cathlete on a diocesan-wide level, but nationally, it is primarily a school-by-school operation. Not yet in Ohio schools, Hoendorf is in talks with some local schools to adopt it or a similar program.

Though CAC is new to the area, Hoendorf has made inroads. The highest profile event on the local level is the Catholic Baseball Showcase, which hosted its third annual event in March.

Played in Xenia, the showcase features top Catholic high school baseball teams from the archdiocese and around Ohio, as well as a welcome dinner and keynote speaker who talks about faith and athletics. This year’s speaker was retired minor league pitcher J.J. Niekro, son of former Houston Astros’ Joe Niekro and nephew of the famous knuckleballer Phil Niekro. J.J. shared his life story and spoke about how deeply faith shaped the lives of both his father and uncle, as well as his own career.

In addition to the dinner, the showcase features Mass, confession, and adoration. This year’s showcase featured eight teams, including local schools Chaminade Julienne, Badin, McNicholas, and St. Xavier, along with schools outside the archdiocese: Archbishop Hoban, Walsh Jesuit, Lakewood St. Edward, and Toledo St. Francis de Sales.

“Many kids are pulled in because they get to play in a premier baseball event,” Hoendorf said. “I think we had 30 or 35 pre-season all-state players playing in that one weekend. One game had 12 pro scouts sitting in the stands. So, these kids are excited to play in the event, some of them just because of baseball. But once we get them there, most of the time the feedback is not about baseball. [Players, parents and coaches] say things like, ‘Man, did you hear J.J.’s story? Wow. How impactful is that?’ Or ‘I loved the opportunity to go to adoration last night.’ So that ends up being how we draw them in.”

In addition to organizing opportunities for the sacraments, CAC also supports local teams by hosting team retreats. These retreats help teams come together, building camraderie and trust. CAC hosted a pre-season retreat for Chaminade Julienne’s girls and boys basketball teams. It was a great start to the season, and then the girls team went on to win the state championship.

“I thought the retreat rooted us so we could grow,” said Chaminade Julienne girls basketball head coach, Logan Allen. “Our team had a lot of newcomers—a lot of young players in important roles—but we also had a lot of established experience with not a lot of middle ground. So, it was important for us to find roots and commonality that we could always revert back to when times inevitably got tough.”

Hoendorf would like to see more high schools and teams take advantage of similar opportunities with CAC.

“The question is, how do we start to make this something where a coach is sitting there saying, ‘I know I want this. I know it’s important for my team, but I don’t know how to do it. Let me engage with the organization,’” Hoendorf said. “If you’re interested in sports, if you’re interested in how to bring faith into sports, CAC is a great partner in that, from an individual all the way through an entire school or entire team.”

Hoendorf also launched the Virtuous Athlete podcast, where he talks to local and national guests about the importance of their Catholic faith in sports. Featured guests included San Diego Padres Manager Craig Stammen and Chicago White Sox Catcher Drew Romo. The podcast can be found at VirtuousAthlete.com or on Spotify.

As the organization builds its presence locally, Hoendorf sees an opportunity to form athletes in a way that lasts longer than any final score.