You Are Here > Resources / Article
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.”
“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.
This was not good.
Training camp was less than a month away, and Reed Doughty’s right hand resembled one of those oversized “We’re No. 1” foam fingers.
Last June, the Washington Redskins’ safety arrived as the keynote speaker at the Metro Maryland FCA Power Camp in Gaithersburg, Md., with a heavily bandaged hand that kept his index finger perpetually extended. A day earlier while weightlifting, he had pinched his finger between two dumbbells.
“You tell it. You’re so much better at telling it than me. I always leave out too many details.” Landry Jones scoots back deeper into the couch in the middle of FCA Area Representative Kent Bowles’ sports room. He’s surrounded by everything a college athlete could find comforting: a ping pong table, framed college football jerseys, a gumball machine and his girlfriend: OU shooting guard Whitney Hand.
He’s the man who replaced the man. And that’s really all most people know about him. It’s an old axiom in coaching that you should never replace a popular coach because it will be difficult if not impossible to live up to their standard. Indianapolis Colts’ Head Coach Jim Caldwell stepped directly into that situation when his predecessor, Tony Dungy—possibly the most recognizable Christian coach of this era—removed his headset for the final time after the 2008 season.
My story actually began in the projects of Brooklyn, N.Y., where I lived with my mother, older brother and younger sister until we were placed into foster care when I was 6. We lived with several different families, the three of us always together, until our mother died of AIDS when I was 9.
In August, Sports Illustrated tabbed 16 athletes as their “Stars of Tomorrow.” One of those talented, young competitors was 17-year-old Rocco Grimaldi, who has accumulated a long list of athletic achievements even though he’s still in high school. This month, we discovered that there’s more to this young hockey phenom than great puck-handling skills. One thing? His desire to bring Christ to the world of hockey one teammate at a time.
Kristin Drabyn is no stranger to the Division-I college basketball scene. But now, the former UMBC guard is leading from the sideline rather than the floor as a first-year assistant coach at Holy Cross. In her new role, Drabyn is learning to make friends with the bench—something that can be difficult for a former player. Despite the change of scenery, though, Coach Drabyn is remaining constant in the most important thing: her personal witness for Jesus Christ.
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7
I can’t remember the last time I had a definite end time to my daily responsibilities. You know, like when the whistle blows and you grab your lunch box, clock out, go home, eat dinner and just hang out? More often than not, things that I need to get done stretch far beyond a normal 24-hour day.
One of the first things Kylie Miraldi learned as a student at San Jose State University was the meaning of dehydration. Miraldi the nutrition major had studied it in class. Miraldi the athlete had experienced the physical symptoms. But it was Miraldi the Christian who faced it in a spiritual showdown.
Ministry
Sport
Book of the Bible
FCA Bible Topic