Behind the scenes in every football club there are people providing often unseen value. One of these is our club chaplain Jude Colhoun.
Jude has been working as a pastor for a number of years now and has also been specifically trained by Sports Chaplaincy UK & Ireland in getting alongside people to help them cope with the stresses of life, promote positive mental health and well-being and to enable people to realise their potential. On the playing side this may for example, mean supporting a player with a long-term injury or helping a young player cope with disappointment and in general encourage them to hold their talent in conjunction with a bigger picture for their life. For all staff it will include listening to and caring for an individual through personal or family illness, crisis addiction or bereavement and in general supporting individuals through life’s ever-changing events and the questions they face along the way. Jude like all Sports Chaplains is motivated by his Christian faith to love and care for people and to be extremely supportive, bringing a non-judgmental listening ear and an empathetic and compassionate presence to everyone irrespective of faith tradition or none .
Sports Chaplaincy Ireland are the Christian charity who train and equip chaplains to serve in sports settings and are the recognised supplier of this kind of specialist support. They work in close partnerships with clubs and sport’s national governing bodies and are endorsed by the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland, the Premier League and Football League in England, the Scottish FA and the Irish FA amongst others. Seventy five percent of the League of Ireland clubs have benefitted from appointing a sports chaplain over the last few years while approximately 80% of the professional football clubs across the UK have a chaplain including Manchester City and Liverpool.
We are delighted to have Jude as part of our team to serve across the whole club. Jude is born and raised in Ballybofey. He is married with three young kids and is a really great guy for us to have at the club, providing pastoral and spiritual care for everyone.
