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I am pleased to announce that Soccer Chaplains United will be part of the Denver Prays time happening this upcoming weekend. The Denver Prays movement is a 3-Day Christian virtual prayer meeting stretching from Friday, April 24, 12:01 AM to Sunday, April 26 Midnight. The aim is to pray for the city of Denver during the COVID-19 pandemic and just as the city gets set to loosen its social distancing and shelter-in-place restrictions. You can go to denverprays.com to learn more or to sign up.

Pastor Rubèn Rodríguez will be leading a Zoom prayer time on Sunday, April 26 at 1:00 pm Mountain. His prayer topic is specifically for Denver Youth, a fitting subject given his many years as a youth pastor and currently as the Colorado Rapids Development Academy chaplain.

I will be leading a Zoom prayer time on Sunday, April 26 at 2:00 pm Mountain in consideration of a typical sports event kickoff time. If you are someone in sport who has been effected by the current global pandemic.

I will be leading this prayer hour for those in the sport industry (from youth to professional) that have been effected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Many have certainly considered that there are no sports going on, but we may not have thought of the different people and their lives impacted economically through this time.

Perhaps the first image that comes to mind is the multi-million dollar athlete or owner — they should be fine financially, right? But we forget about the part-time stadium guard who is retired and needs the extra income to make ends meet. We forget about the local businesses near the stadiums that depend on heavy traffic flows to help their monthly revenues. We forget about the front-office and ticket sales staff who are facing furlough, lay-offs, and firings because they don’t have events that they are selling, promoting, or working. We forget about the Olympic athlete and the collegiate athletes — whose scholarships, livelihood, and other parts of their lives have been impacted.

In addition, the realities of the income of sport also include those that play at lower levels. The median salary of an athlete in Major League Soccer is $179,000 and much of the league’s athletes make less than $100k. If you go into the second division of soccer (USL-Championship) and lower you will find players making as little as $500-$1000/ month for an 8-month contract. And their subsidized income from soccer camps and clinics aren’t happening right now because of social distancing regulations.

Please consider joining in to pray with us during this time. We encourage you to join (go to denverprays.com) to sign up for either hour, or to look at some of the other hours and subjects for prayer.

Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 developing chaplaincy, counseling, and community service across all levels of soccer.