“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.” – Psalm 13:5-6 (NLT)

In her first experience as an FCA Camp Huddle Leader, Seattle Pacific University junior Emily Oslie experienced a transformation of faith as she learned how to bring Christ into her game. The lessons she learned that summer quickly spilled over into the rest of her life as well. Now the Salem, Ore., native is taking her Christ-centered perspective and allowing it to guide her in the role of upperclassman on the court and Christian leader in the locker room.

Every Saturday in the fall, young men don their helmets and pads and suit up for their days of glory on the gridiron. They play with unyielding determination, heart and passion. They are RELENTLESS!
This fall, we interviewed college football players around the country who are passionately pursuing more than just worldly trophies and treasures. Beginning with Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, each answered the question, “Considering your relationship with Christ, what does it mean to relentlessly pursue Him?”

As a young girl, William and Mary lacrosse player Stephanie Steinweg looked up to female athletes. She loved watching them on the field and tried to learn what she could through observing their skills. Years later, the senior midfielder is returning the favor from the opposite end, inspiring young girls—specifically at FCA Camp—to give all they have on the field, not for their glory, but for God’s.

If you want to perform better on the field—and in life—sleep might just be your secret weapon.

I recently came across a study conducted by sleep expert Dr. Bill Dement from Stanford University in which he evaluated 11 players from the university’s men’s basketball team. For the study, the athletes were asked to sleep normally according to their habits for two to four weeks and then spend the next five to seven weeks sleeping 10 hours per night. While most of the athletes still slept fewer than nine hours per night, the results were eye-opening.

Edwin Etienne has a favorite phrase: God Over Everything. That “everything” includes fear and nerves, which—for a kid of Etienne’s stature—you wouldn’t think would be much of a problem.
But sure enough, when the football star and state champion wrestler was asked to speak at Riverdale (Fla.) High School’s Fields of Faith event last year, the butterflies were in his stomach.

Mike DeVito pursues the NFL’s top quarterbacks to earn a living, but it’s his pursuit of Christ—and Christ’s pursuit of him through a college team-mate—that has forever changed his life and the lives of many others.

Atlanta Dream guard Shalee Lehning has a favorite example of teamwork from the Bible. It’s found in Mark 2, and it tells the story of a group of men who were dead-set on bringing their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing.

Below are a couple of email responses I sent recently to a college baseball coach when he asked me, “Does the Bible have anything to say about failure?”

Coach,

I’ve been thinking through the issue of failure and the Biblical examples of it, they’re all over the place.

Selected struggle: Doubt

Dictionary definition: “To be uncertain, consider questionable or unlikely. To fear, distrust or be apprehensive about.”

My definition: “Being unsure and afraid of the unknown.”

Hang around the Syracuse campus long enough, and you’ll likely run into a young lady in Orange athletic gear hanging up fliers, chatting it up with fellow athletes and, if around a big crowd, letting out an occasional shout. “FCA tonight!” A year earlier, Jenna Rickan would have cringed at the thought of sharing her faith so visibly. Back then, the Syracuse soccer player was living out the beginning stages of her Christian walk.

As a dynamite athlete growing up in Lake City, Fla., Pat Summerall would glance at the Bible from time to time, but it was really more of an afterthought than a priority. Other options were much more appealing.

Years later, at the Betty Ford Center in 1992, as a struggling alcoholic whose drinking problems had damaged his relationships with his family and friends, the Bible was Summerall's only choice.

In the state of Oklahoma, being the starting quarterback at Tulsa’s Jenks High School is like wearing a crown of royalty. Just ask actor/filmmaker Brian Presley, who held the position for three years as a teenager. But, as part of a Christian home, Presley knew his role was about more than football, so he maximized his platform by standing for his faith, even being named the state’s FCA Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1996. Even then he knew he was called to make a difference in the world for Christ.