The answer is: Absolutely! And here’s why. Besides the obvious possibility of Devine Intervention, there’s the not-so-obvious benefit of a Catholic athlete “unloading” his or her issues prior to competing in a game. This unloading process, which is actually a form of psychotherapy, enhances the athlete’s feelings of self-worth thus enhancing performance. Withholding (keeping your feelings and issues bottled-up inside yourself) is a form of lying that demeans you and creates psychological baggage that negatively affects your ability to focus and process information. Also, if you check the research, I’m sure you’ll find there’s less drug abuse among Catholic teenagers who practice the confessional. Why? Because they have a higher sense of inner-self.