From the tackle to the altar, from the locker room to the sacristy. Three protagonists, with the oval ball as their school of life, decided to pursue the priesthood, driven by a profound search for meaning. Rugby, faith, and vocation intertwine in their stories, showing how a contact sport can forge hearts open to service and dedication.
These stories aren't simply about giving up, but about carefully considered choices. An injury, a void that sporting success couldn't fill, a restlessness that wouldn't subside until one dedicated their life to a greater good . Alfonso Alonso-Lasheras, Juan Andrés MarÃa Verde, and Ignacio Palma share a common thread: the discovery that happiness matures when one's inner compass points to a purpose that transcends Sunday's scoreboard.
From grass to discernment: when sport opens the door to vocation
In the case of Alfonso Alonso-Lasheras, a Jesuit, the turning point came with an injury. The forced break gifted him silence, perspective, and profound questions . His life revolved around top-level rugby, with experience in the División de Honor and stints with the national teams, but that pause invited him to reorder his priorities and listen deeply to the direction his story was taking.
Alfonso not only lived rugby with passion, but he also joined faith groups and volunteered . In that context, a desire emerged and grew stronger: that his life story would serve many, especially the most vulnerable, in the style of Jesus of Nazareth. This desire didn't remain a vague wish, but rather translated into concrete decisions that changed the course of his life.
For his part, the Uruguayan priest Juan Andrés MarÃa Verde, affectionately known as Gordo, acknowledged that he had everything to be happy: family, studies, sports, travel, friends, and nights out. And yet, something inside felt off . He asked himself an uncomfortable question that stirred him deeply: was life going to be just that? That honesty with himself set him on a path toward a different horizon.
In Argentina, Ignacio Palma, a member of Opus Dei, also experienced rugby as an essential part of his development. From the age of eight, with Club Newman as his reference point, the team sport taught him to understand his position and to trust his teammates. Over time, the call to serve as a priest took shape , in constant dialogue with his formation, with his faith, and with that childhood intuition that, amidst jokes, already pointed to the possibility of the priesthood.
Alfonso Alonso-Lasheras: from the Savior of Valladolid to the Society of Jesus
A native of Valladolid and a player for the historic Salvador club, Alfonso won titles from youth categories to the elite level. He was a Spanish champion at the cadet, youth, and junior levels , and in the División de Honor (the top division) he won two league titles and a Copa del Rey, making his debut in the top flight at 18. At 23, he was on the verge of making his debut with the Spanish national team.
Just then, at the height of his career, the decisive question arose. An injury forced him off the pitch long enough to catch his breath and look inward. The silence of the bench helped him hear a voice deeper than the applause, and he chose to enter the Society of Jesus. It wasn't about fleeing the world of sports, but about channeling what he had learned toward a broader service.
As a Jesuit, Alfonso has been involved in vocational initiatives and social projects. During the pandemic, he collaborated with refugees in Mexico , lending his hands and heart wherever needed. Previously, he had been a player and coach in Brazil and several African countries, convinced that sport is a universal language that builds community.
Interviewed by Antena 3 Deportes, Alfonso expressed a clear conviction: rugby instilled in him habits of dedication and service that are vital in his consecrated life today. For him, playing sports well fosters commitment . The health crisis, moreover, confirmed for him that human fragility compels us to ask fundamental questions of meaning that cannot be postponed.
She is currently working to promote a broader vocational culture than the usual stereotypes. She emphasizes that there is no crisis of priests or nuns, but rather a crisis of understanding life as a vocation , as a gift received and a personal response. From this perspective, she is participating in the team of the National Congress of Vocations, held in Madrid from February 7th to 9th, in a dual role: co-presenter with journalist Ana Samboal and speaker at the joint opening session.
A demanding and hopeful vision of vocation
Alfonso's perspective extends beyond the ecclesiastical sphere. He argues that the dominant culture promotes immediate gratification, which, if left unchecked, ultimately leaves a lingering sense of dissatisfaction. Consuming more, traveling more, and accumulating possessions do not fulfill our deepest desires . True happiness matures when life is aligned with a purpose that transcends self-interest.
Hence my insistence on a paradigm shift. Understanding existence as a vocation places the individual in relation to an Other who calls and to a world that awaits. Vocation is not a fixed destination reached and then it's over; it is a horizon to be journeyed toward , step by step, with perseverance, training, and nurturing of relationships. A path that demands constancy and affective and intellectual investment.
This conviction translates into concrete proposals: to encourage every Christian community to incorporate the vocational dimension into its daily life. Proclaiming the Gospel means fostering a transformative encounter with Christ that prompts very direct, personal questions: Lord, what can I do for you? What do you want from me? True happiness, Alfonso reiterates, lies in this dialogue.
The National Congress on Vocations seeks precisely to create spaces for this listening and accompaniment. Alfonso perceives an ecclesial convergence around the urgency of the issue . He advocates emphasizing meaning, commitment, and the profound joy of those who discover their purpose. And he does so with hope, without naiveté, and with great realism.
One final note links his sporting journey with his spiritual one: tenacity. Just as there is no team without training, there is no vocation without daily dedication . Fidelity, he says, is cultivated in the small and the concrete. This idea has permeated his interviews and reflections, including those published in religious publications such as SomosCONFER, where some of his core ideas have been featured.
Juan Andrés MarÃa Verde: a mission born from an eloquent void
The testimony of Uruguayan priest Juan Andrés MarÃa Verde is striking in its transparency. A rugby enthusiast, with a girlfriend, a good academic record, and a backpack full of countries visited by the age of 20, he admits that he lived a life outside the church like many young people his age , without a particular inclination towards ecclesiastical environments.
Nevertheless, the faith of his childhood remained, perhaps like an ember beneath the ashes. A day came when the noise of his achievements could no longer drown out the fundamental question: is this truly all there is to it? That feeling of emptiness wasn't depression; it was a calling . With honesty, he set out to search, and as a first step, he temporarily left rugby to dedicate himself to a mission experience.
His destination was Paiva, a Salesian school in the countryside. There he shared life with the children of rural laborers, experiencing realities that were both harsh and beautiful. The distance from his family and friends made him feel vulnerable ; some thought he had gone mad. In that desolation, he discovered that God was whispering to him in his own language, returning to him multiplied all that he offered.
That wasn't a romantic escape, but the beginning of a new sense of belonging. His encounter with Jesus Christ gave him a purpose and a reason for being. That certainty eventually led to his ordination to the priesthood . Since then, his story is understood less by what he left behind and more by what he found, which he now shares as a servant of the Church.
His case illustrates a key lesson: the mission isn't improvised; it's embodied. The arena where life is played out is concrete reality , with its flaws and its promises. And sport, with its codes of effort and teamwork, admirably prepares one for that commitment where victory lies in others winning.
Ignacio Palma: from Club Newman to Rome, and a game played as a team
Ignacio Palma was born in 1976, a few blocks from the Newman Club, and grew up in a large family. From the age of eight, rugby was his native sport , first as an amateur and then as a player, playing fullback during his teenage years. He transferred to Los Molinos school and combined interscholastic tournaments with his membership in the Bordó (the club's nickname).
With a family close to Opus Dei, he gradually deepened his faith. After finishing high school, he began studying Systems Analysis at the UTN (National Technological University). While studying, doubts and desires surfaced . He felt drawn to the message of Saint JosemarÃa Escrivá: to seek God in ordinary life, in study and work, without waiting for extraordinary events.
He sought advice and received sound guidance: finish his studies and then seriously consider entering the seminary. With his degree in hand, he decided to take the plunge. At 26, he enrolled in an international seminary in Rome , where he followed the classic path of formation: two years of Philosophy, three or four of Theology, and a subsequent doctorate.
He opted for a doctorate in Philosophy and focused his dissertation on Saint Thomas Aquinas. After years of study, the time came to take action : to be ordained a priest and begin a life of real service. In 2008, he was ordained, with the calm nerves of someone who knows that from then on, people will entrust him with their pain, doubts, and important decisions.
After a year of ministry in Roman Catholic parishes, he returned to Argentina in 2010. He served in Salta and later in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia , where he lived four intense and enriching years. Today he is a priest in Córdoba, a school chaplain, and a close mentor to students and their families.
Ignacio never saw rugby as a closed chapter, but rather as a wellspring of metaphors and habits. Football can have a hero who wins alone; rugby teaches that victory comes when everyone fulfills their role . That conviction permeates his preaching and his way of being with people: God doesn't call you because you're a star, He calls you because there's a team that needs you.
His biography includes other summits, both literal and symbolic. Influenced by his father, he developed a love for the mountains and at age 11 reached the summit of LanÃn . Years later, a physical sign changed everything: his right arm stopped swinging when he walked. His leg followed, along with a certain asymmetry in his facial expression, until he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease shortly before turning 40, an age at which only a minority are affected.
The news was a blow, but it didn't define him. Ignacio chose to accept it and adapt. He faced it like someone coming back from three tries down : if you dwell on the blow, you lose the game; you have to react with composure and support. Parkinson's made him appreciate the everyday things: being able to work, walk, spend time with his loved ones. It made him more empathetic and, as he says with good-natured irony, it was a kind of life-changing doctorate.
With his sporting opportunities dwindling, he explored a long-held passion: astronomy. Family and friends gifted him a telescope, and he set up a small studio . Now, in his free time, he returns to the wonder of the sky, perhaps because gazing at the stars always helps put earthly problems into perspective.
There's one lesson he repeats, learned from a childhood coach: seek support. Don't obsess over scoring a try if you're going to be left alone . In life, as in rugby, moving forward together is the only sustainable way to overcome difficulties. For Ignacio, the game of life is played as a team, or it's not played at all.
Rugby and the spiritual path: values ​​that are strengthened
The thread that connects these three stories has a name: the virtues of the game. Dedication, discipline, resilience, humility to learn, and shared leadership . Rugby demands a cool head, a passionate heart, and willing strength—qualities that, when applied to the spiritual life, become habits of service, attentive listening, and perseverance.
Alfonso, Verde, and Ignacio learned early on that a game isn't won alone. Belonging matters more than individual brilliance . Vocation, understood as a shared vision, takes root in community: with teammates, with supportive families, with parishes and schools where the common good guides decisions.
They also share a pedagogy of failure and fragility. An injury, a feeling of emptiness, or a difficult diagnosis puts expectations in perspective. Finitude, far from being an enemy, can be a teacher . Knowing how to lose teaches you to win better; knowing how to stop teaches you to start again.
The specific missions vary: accompanying vocations in Spain, working with refugees in Mexico, educating and comforting in classrooms and parishes in Latin America , or spending a year in the countryside with young people from humble families. But the core remains the same: to put one's gifts at the service of others so that they may find meaning and lasting joy.
Vocation as a gift and a task: ideas that land
There are certain principles that help you stay on track. The first: a vocation is a gift that, at the same time, requires nurturing. It's not enough to say yes once; you have to always take care of it . Perseverance and training aren't highfalutin words, but rather daily practices that solidify what you once chose.
Second: the vocations crisis cannot be solved by counting heads. The challenge is to rediscover life as a response to a calling that gives meaning. This requires processes, time, witnesses, and communities that accompany. And it also requires that the proclamation of the Gospel include the personal question of meaning, without fear of disrupting internal structures.
Third: the language of sport is an ally. It speaks of effort and fair play, of teamwork and shared goals . A priest as coach or a priest as coach are not strange figures, but natural bridges that help translate faith into the language of real life.
Fourth: True happiness cannot be bought. It is born when one surrenders to something greater than oneself . It is not escapism or fleeting success; it is hard-won peace, with bright days and gray days, where the compass never ceases to point North.
Data, places and faces specific to each story
Proper names anchor stories to reality. Alfonso Alonso-Lasheras, with his glorious period at Salvador de Valladolid, his state titles in youth categories, and his record in the División de Honor , could have debuted with the senior national team in his youth. Instead, he chose to explore new fields in Brazil and Africa, and to lend a hand to those who fled their countries and arrived in Mexico seeking refuge.
Within the context of the Church in Spain, his commitment will be realized at the National Congress of Vocations in Madrid, from February 7th to 9th, where he will serve as master of ceremonies alongside Ana Samboal and as a speaker at the opening session. His conviction: without a vocational dimension, evangelization loses its momentum . The encounter with Christ is not a nice idea; it is a transformative experience.
The journey of Juan Andrés MarÃa Verde takes place in Uruguay and the Salesian community of Paiva. There, in the heart of the countryside, the power of the small completely reoriented him . His time as a priest is today an expression of concrete gratitude: God spoke to him in his own language, and he responded with his whole life.
Ignacio Palma's biography includes the Opus Dei experience, Rome as his school, a doctorate in Philosophy with Saint Thomas Aquinas as a fellow student , and a special devotion to John Paul II, whose death he witnessed in 2005 amidst the crowds. Back in Argentina, Salta, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Córdoba became places of personal and personal service.
Not even illness stole his humor or his spirit. Faced with Parkinson's, Ignacio chose to remain strong and united with his team. And when sports became difficult, the night sky opened another door , thanks to a telescope gifted by his family and a home studio from which to rediscover wonder. A modest luxury that perfectly reflects his way of expressing gratitude.
What can those who today hesitate between two paths learn?
Anyone considering a radical change or grappling with a difficult decision can find several clues here. The first: don't be afraid to stop when life asks you to . An injury, profound exhaustion, or persistent doubt can be an opportunity to honestly ask yourself what you truly want and whom you want to serve.
Second clue: seek companionship. No one discerns alone. Surrounding yourself with sensible, experienced, and faithful people saves you from heartache . In these stories, priests, friends, communities, and families appear who advise without imposing, who allow room for freedom to mature unhurriedly.
Third: look at the good that can be gained, not just what you leave behind. Renunciation is fruitful when it opens itself to a greater "yes ." Changing course is not desertion; it's adjusting the rudder to avoid running aground in small harbors. The journeys of Alfonso, Verde, and Ignacio show that service multiplies joy, even though it demands daily struggle.
Fourth: exercise the muscle of perseverance. Without perseverance, no game can be won and no vocation can endure . Formation, habit, and care of the inner life are the gym where freedom learns to sustain the important "yeses."
Fifth: Embrace vulnerability. Weakness doesn't invalidate; it humanizes . It can become a bridge to those who suffer and a source of practical wisdom. This is how these protagonists express it, each with their own story and accent, their struggles and triumphs.
These stories of faith and conversion born in rugby are not inspirational relics, but open paths. They speak of decisions made wholeheartedly, with the serenity of those who know that life is a gift . When sport teaches about "us," vocation finds fertile ground: the mission becomes a team, and happiness, a shared endeavor.