“This is the end of me.”
That was the only thought that raced through the mind of Middle Tennessee State University jumper Sarah Nambawa when, on Dec. 31, 2009, she tore her posterior cruciate ligament while training for an upcoming meet.
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“This is the end of me.”
That was the only thought that raced through the mind of Middle Tennessee State University jumper Sarah Nambawa when, on Dec. 31, 2009, she tore her posterior cruciate ligament while training for an upcoming meet.
On August 30, 2006, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to experience a day with FCA’s rapidly expanding inner-city ministry there. The ministry, spearheaded by FCA Area Representative David Kiehn, seeks to bring restoration and prosperity to the city by touching the lives of athletes and coaches in some of D.C.’s roughest areas. During my visit I met with football coaches at Dunbar High School and Anacostia High School. What I found was that change within D.C.’s inner-city doesn’t occur overnight by passing a bill or amending a law, but by reaching the hearts of its youth with the gospel.
Anthony Henry remembers the 1.5-hour walks well.
Who knows how much of his childhood was spent accompanying his mother, Mae Robinson, on her treks to work? Sure, she could’ve tried the car; but it broke down all the time, so why bother? Besides, many weeks, this was the only significant time Anthony and Mae got to spend together, considering the long hours and multiple jobs she had to work to keep the creditors at bay.
The walks were good for reflecting, at least for Mae. There was plenty to think about: life as a single parent, the surrounding crime that threatened to snatch her youngest boy, and her older children who had already been ensnared.
My testimony begins in Webster City, Iowa, where I was born. My family of five—my parents, older brother, younger sister and I—lived there and in Missouri for a while until I was in third grade when we moved to Florida.
Our family was always involved in church, and I know how fortunate I was to be raised in a Christian home where I was loved and cared for. The only hang-up was that it always seemed like the churches we attended were never close to home. Because of the distance, my siblings and I had school friends and church friends, and they were always different groups. That made church and school very distinct segments in my life for a long time.
Every summer at FCA Camp, Marla Williams prays that God will reveal to her one or two Huddle Leaders He wants her to invest in during the week — athletes for whom she can be that sharpening iron of the Lord. This summer, her pre-camp prayers were answered with stunning clarity.
In the first staff meeting at FCA’s Black Mountain camp in North Carolina, Williams, an FCA staff member in Alabama, felt almost an immediate calling to two young women from the U.S. Naval Academy: Ali Currier, captain of the Navy’s basketball team, and Aubrey Manes, an outside hitter for the volleyball team.
One by one, the children came.
They came from ramshackle villages and tarp-covered homes, their gaunt frames running barefoot through unkempt fields of grass to a skinny dirt road on the outskirts of town. Temporarily leaving behind their hardscrabble reality of hunger, disease and death, they lined both sides of the path to marvel at a new sight.
Last month I had a conversation with FCA President Les Steckel, who posed the following hypothetical situation.
“Jimmy,” he said, “what if I handed you the keys to a brand new car when you turned 16? How would you feel? And what if I then told you that it was the only car you would ever own and that it would have to last your entire life? Would that change the way you treated it? I bet it would. I believe it would radically change the way you took care of that car.”
As an environmental biology major who once had no aspirations of coaching, Bill Blankenship is a living testament to God’s creativity. But given the journey he’s taken, it seems somewhat divine that he has landed in his current position as the head football coach at the University of Tulsa.
I have noticed an alarming trend in sports over the last several years. The leaders have disappeared. I see it when watching both high school and college teams. Many of the teams with which I’m familiar seem leaderless, and their coaches are pulling their hair out.
For decades the world of sports has been an incubator for leadership skills, and both players and coaches have used it for training and development. That seemed rather natural for a long time, but no more. No longer do the strongest competitors and most powerful personalities become a team’s leaders. Too often they simply blend into the background and defer leadership to the coaching staff.
They don't call it the Evil Empire for nothing. You either love 'em, or you hate 'em.
For nearly a century, the New York Yankees have been establishing their status as the dominant franchise in Major League Baseball. The club is rich in both tradition and dollars and has a track record of success that makes small-market teams both sigh in exasperation and raise their fists in what is usually described as righteous anger.
The Conner High School band strikes up the fight song and the Cougars take the field. You can’t put your finger on it immediately, but something looks a bit out of the ordinary for a Friday night game in Kentucky.
Next time you are outside, take a moment to reflect on the wind. Consider how the contrasting currents of air can either wrench homes from the ground or gently spin the hairs on your arm. Consider that in one location there may be a powerful tornado and in another a gentle breeze. Both are distinct, but not separate. They are streams of air—winds that have been stirred up in different ways. The result of each is determined by the many factors that contribute to their development. And in many respects, our human condition is no different.
When it comes to food, I’m amazed at how many times I’ll think I’ll be eating the right thing, only to find out I’m wrong. Eggs are bad—no, eggs are good. Butter is bad—no, butter is better. Fat is bad—no, the right fats are good. And on and on it goes.
Sometimes we can get by with this and not suffer any major consequences, but often not getting it right can have serious side-effects.
When Keisha and Kara Cornelius were growing up in the dusty West Texas town of Denver City, all Kara wanted was to be with the sister who was four years her senior.
For many years, Keisha didn’t understand the depth of Kara’s desire. She’d go out to ride her bicycle with her friends, and Kara — who still hadn’t learned how to ride — would run as fast as her feet could propel her in a futile bid to catch up.
Growing up just outside of Pittsburgh, I was blessed to be part of a family that went to church every Sunday. As the oldest of three kids, I embraced every opportunity I had to show my younger brother and sister the ropes in everything from church youth group to school and, of course, sports. We were a very close group, and, even as we have gotten older and relocated to different parts of the country, we are still as close as we were back then.
Although she’s been coaching for more than 30 years, Olivet Nazarene Volleyball Coach Brenda Williams says her approach to the game and her athletes is always a work in progress. Another thing under continual development? Her walk with Christ, who, as she explains, has transformed her from a young coach just hungry for wins into a veteran coach also hungry for spiritual impact.
Define irony:
1. A dead end sign is placed in front of a cemetery.
2. Donald Trump wins the lottery.
3. A Christian gets arrested on his way to a mission trip.
San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy is quite familiar with irony. In fact, he’s the living example of #3. But before you pass judgment, let him explain.
Champ Bailey didn’t see it coming. Nobody did — except maybe Ken Watson. “Where is Benjamin?” Ken asked his wife as the two-inch Bailey sprinted across their television screen and down the length of INVESCO Field. It was the third quarter of the 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos; Bailey had just picked off New England quarterback Tom Brady’s pass in the end zone — a throw meant for Troy Brown — and he was now sprinting the 100 yards toward the Pats’ end zone. “I know he’s going to be there!”
It was 54 years ago this month. A young, small-college basketball coach in Oklahoma realized his dream of providing major sports stars the opportunity to influence their fans to follow the only true Hero we can ever know—Jesus Christ. It marked the official beginning of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
That coach, Don McClanen, was overjoyed.
There was a powerful calm in the air as Barton College Head Coach Ron Lievense prepared for the start of the 2007-08 men’s basketball season.
Alone in the Bulldogs’ locker room in rural Wilson, N.C., Lievense moved quietly from locker to locker, praying. He prayed not for a return of the international fame that accompanied Barton’s national championship victory a season ago, but for each of his players, that they would look to the Lord for guidance and give Him the glory in all things.
Major League Baseball teams have games every Sunday from April through September. For those of you flipping through a calendar, that’s 26-straight Sundays spent on the diamond. With that kind of weekend schedule, Christian athletes often find it difficult to attend church services and stay involved with in a local body of believers.
Her elementary school classmates used to mock her for her skinny “chicken legs” when she ran. But that all changed when she joined the track team in ninth grade.
Allyson Felix is still listed at only 5-foot-6 and 125 pounds, but she isn’t teased by those who watch her run anymore. Not since she became the fastest woman in the world.
I was recently walking through my favorite sporting goods store when I saw a huge Adidas banner that said, “Impossible is Nothing.” I actually had to reread it to let its simple message sink in.
This statement really refers to a mindset. It is a way of thinking. It is an approach to training, competition and life that requires a different way of looking at the challenges we will face: the unbeatable opponents, the unreachable heights, the unattainable records.
I believe that the single biggest obstacle we must overcome in life is a lack of belief.
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