Augustinian friars watched anxiously courtside, Vatican officials cheered from the stands and fans in costume bishops’ miters sang “That’s Amore” as Notre Dame defeated Villanova Nov. 1 in the Eternal City Tip Off.

As the Partners In Excellence scholarship program celebrated 30 years of helping students from families with limited financial means access a Catholic education, two of its beneficiary schools took the spotlight Oct. 24 at Baltimore’s Under Armour Stadium. And when the inaugural PIE Homecoming Classic ended, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School had delivered a statement performance, defeating Archbishop Curley High School 30-7.

Archdiocese of Baltimore Soccer Program president Steven Bartomioli doesn’t want any prospective youth soccer player to be denied the opportunity to play “The Beautiful Game” this fall. Judging by the roughly 2,000 youngsters who have joined the league, there is plenty of room for players who want to pass, dribble and shoot in a competitive but faith-­centered environment. This season, 156 teams will compete across the under-6 through under-14 age groups.

Seeking a way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Partners In Excellence scholarship program, Roxanne Fiddler, director of the program, and her fellow PIE board of advisors brainstormed an idea especially fitting for the fall season.

What had once been our youthful field of dreams, where we encountered mythic figures – Triandos and Wilhelm, Robinson and Aparicio, Palmer and Weaver – was a field of rubble.

Addressing a delegation from the Special Olympics, Pope Leo XIV recalled his own great fondness of sports and invited them to live holy lives following the example of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, “who, in love with Jesus, knew how to translate values of sport into a holy life.”

Although Taina Fernandez looks forward to her senior year at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, she also has major plans following graduation. An elite athlete and the first girl to claim a wrestling title against boys in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association – arguably the most challenging prep league in the state – Fernandez has her sights set on a berth in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington inducted 12 distinguished alumni into its Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 11.

George Matysek goes behind the scenes of Notre Dame football with Holy Cross Father Nate Wills, the team’s chaplain and author of “Pray Like a Champion Today: Sacred Stories from the Sidelines of Notre Dame Football.” Ordained in 2006, Father Wills is also an education professor at Notre Dame and a national speaker on artificial intelligence in Catholic education.

On a rain-soaked course this past April, Elizabeth Scully came from behind on Shootist to finish second in the Maryland Hunt Cup – while, on the sidelines, her mother fingered beads.