Jesuit soccer has always dominated state competition both in TCIL and in UIL. Hundreds of Jesuit soccer players have come and gone, some talented enough to play in college, and a few even turning pro.
However, one former Jesuit soccer player excelled not only as a player, but also as a student at Jesuit and Stanford, a lawyer, a father, and a Man for Others. This year, Chris Helling ’86 has been inducted into the 2013 Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame.
Helling found his passion for soccer when he was just 5 years old. According to Helling, his first coach, “one of [his] best friend’s fathers,” helped introduce him to the game. “I remember vividly that [our team] would pile into the back of his old pickup truck that he painted blue and gold 
because they were our colors and we would ride to the games.” Helling joked and said, “I don’t think we’ll ever see that happen again today, but it was pretty cool back then.”
In addition to playing, Helling enjoyed watching professional soccer, especially the Dallas Tornado. Oddly enough, Coach Charlie DeLong, Jesuit’s head soccer coach, played for the Tornado during this time. However, Helling had no clue that DeLong would one day be his coach at Jesuit.
Born on May 23, 1968, in Wichita, Kansas, Chris Helling was Con and Molly Helling’s first child. Little did they know that their first-born son would possess such superb soccer skills, because after all, “Neither of [them] played soccer.“ Just 5 weeks after his birth, the Helling family moved to Dallas where Chris would spend the rest of his childhood. His brother, Troy, was later born in 1970.
Helling attended James Bowie Elementary School and then Westwood Junior High in the Richardson ISD. In addition to playing club soccer around the Metroplex, Helling played baseball until 8th grade, and he also played football in 4th and 8th grades. Once enrolled at Jesuit in 1982, Helling decided to focus on soccer, especially playing goalie, which he would play for the rest of his career. Helling decided to apply to Jesuit, versus attending a Richardson ISD high school, because his father attended Jesuit Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, so “Jesuit had history” in his family.
While at Jesuit, Helling and the Rangers won three consecutive state championships under Coach DeLong, a rare feat. In addition, Helling served as the team co-captain his senior year. When asked what it was like to win state three different times, Helling said, “Well, it was a long time ago, but we had a great program and a great coach. We had a ton of great players, too, so it was just a ton of fun. To make it to state and then to win that many times was a huge achievement for us.” Not only was Helling a 3-time state champion, but he was also named a 1st team All-State player.
When asked if he had a favorite memory or story about Jesuit, Helling recalled, “It’s not a specific story, but it’s a story about one of my fellow classmates, Sam Bloom ’86. He and I were both goalies playing fairly competitively in and around Dallas at the same time for our club teams, and it just so happens that he came to Jesuit [his] sophomore year. We became very fast, supportive friends, although we were fierce competitors. It served as a great testament to what Jesuit is all about because we were incredible competitors; both of us wanted to play and be the starter, but we became very close friends and great supporters of each other’s soccer career.”
Although players are the ones on the field winning the games, the coaches must be given credit, too. Coach DeLong, who is still at Jesuit today, has brought Jesuit many, many state championships. Helling believes that Coach DeLong “is the best coach I’ve ever had and he really is a very special man. He really shines as an incredible coach: the school’s first UIL championship, how involved he is; it’s incredible. He was a great role model, a great mentor, and a great coach. Jesuit soccer is an elite program, especially today. The program really helped me enhance my skills.”
Helling also played for the North Texas state team, a team that consisted of the top high school players in North Texas. In addition, he was “one run away from making the U. S. national team.” Helling elaborated, “The state team would train all summer long, and then we would play against Southwest teams, like Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, South Texas, and others. The purpose of these games was to select an even more elite group to play for a regional team, which would ultimately travel each year to Colorado to try out for the national team.”
“The summer after my junior year at Jesuit,” he continued, “I was selected for the regional team. I trained with the team through my senior year with guys from all over. The summer after graduation, the head coach of the U.S. national team contacted me and asked if I would consider trying out for one additional goal-keeper spot. I flew out to California that summer, but unfortunately, I was injured on the very first day of the tryouts. I then had to have knee surgery back in Dallas to repair torn cartilage, so that ended my chances of playing for the national team. I don’t know what would have come of it had I made the team, but I’m just happy to have had that experience.”
Although an injury kept him away from the national team, Helling was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship his senior year to play goalie at Stanford University. While at Stanford, Helling was a 4-year letterman, and he was also honored as an “All-Tournament” player in various tournaments.
“The overall experience was incredible, not only athletically, but academically,” Helling recalls. “The people there are great and I have life-long friends there, similar to Jesuit. Athletically, it was neat. We traveled quite a lot all over the nation. We had a competitive schedule, and it was great to play in. Stanford was the ‘next level’ for my playing career, so it was very memorable. Jesuit was very instrumental in helping me prepare for that next level.
Helling believes that Jesuit prepared him for the rest of his life, “not only athletically, but academically. I have to attribute all the hard work that the teachers, coaches, and administrators put in at Jesuit to model the programs and athletics for the students and it really is a great segue way to not only Stanford but any college.”
After earning his B.A. in economics at Stanford, Helling moved back to Dallas where he would later earn his J.D. at SMU Law School. While studying at SMU, Helling coached goalies of all ages around Dallas for various club teams. Eleven years after earning his law degree, Helling married Ann-Marie Munin ’87, an Ursuline graduate whose brothers also attended Jesuit. Together, Chris and Ann-Marie have two children: a daughter, Audrey age 6, and a son, Charlie, almost 4. Helling joked and added that he has used his soccer skills to coach Audrey’s pre-K soccer team to victory.
Today, Helling lives in Austin and enjoys spending time with his family, working out (even though “old age prevents [him] from running too much”), playing golf, and being outside. He has “a few other partners” in the Lancaster-Helling law firm which has offices in Austin and Dallas. Helling also serves as president of the Austin Humane Society, a community resource that promotes compassion toward animals as they help find them homes and educate others on how to take care of pets.
When Helling found out about his induction into the 2013 Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame, he was truly stunned. “I got the call when I was in Austin when I was running from client to client, and I saw I had a voicemail on my phone. I immediately called back, didn’t get a hold of the caller, and then he called me back. I was flabbergasted and humbled and honored and floored, and I got to tell you, it was one of the be
st days of my life.”
One final noteworthy fact about Helling is that he was a part of the group that introduced the idea of having a homecoming concert at Jesuit. “I was on the alumni board back when I lived in Dallas. We came up with a crazy idea and said, ‘Let’s see if we can turn this alumni homecoming party into a really big event and maybe even triple the size.’ We convinced the school to allow us to do it and then we put on the first concert with Jerry Jeff Walker in the gym. I’m proud to see that the folks after us have expanded it and grown it and it’s just an incredible event now. It’s professional now!”
Helling has experienced a life that many cannot say they have. From excelling on the field and getting so very close to making the US national team to running a successful law firm and raising a beautiful family, he has represented Jesuit in some of the best ways possible. Chris Helling truly is a Man for Others and a great addition to the Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame.
