Roman clergy and seminarians to compete for basketball Clericus Cup

Feb 29, 2008 / 01:32 am

Priests and seminarians in Rome are preparing for a new basketball tournament in which teams will compete for the Clericus Cup, ANSA reports.

Inspired by last year’s Clericus Cup soccer competitions, the basketball contest is open to all clergy and anyone registered as a seminarian at the city’s pontifical colleges or universities.

Like the soccer tournament, the basketball competition is organized by the Centro Sportivo Italiano, a Christian organization that promotes education through sport.

The Clericus Cup soccer competition began its second season in November, with 16 teams competing to participate in the May 3 final game.  Though otherwise following most standard soccer rules, games last only 60 minutes and referees show a blue card to temperamental players to send them to a ‘sin bin’ for five minutes to calm down.

A skiing competition for about fifty priests took place earlier this month at an Italian ski area.  The contest, the ninth edition of the Priests’ National Ski Championship had chosen the motto “May the Lord ski with you.”