Influencing The Next Generation Through Sports

story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER

For the majority of Americans, young and old, nothing beats a good sports movie: Remember the Titans, The Sandlot, Facing the Giants, Coach Carter, The Mighty Ducks, Little Giants, Woodlawn. We love the story of the underdog, defeating the odds and rising to the top. We love the camaraderie we see as a team grows together, in the game, and in their relationships. More than anything, we love a good coach. We love a hard, “take no nonsense” coach, like Coach Carter. A family man who “defies racial differences” coach, like Coach Herman Boone. A man who “cares more about his players’ eternal destination than whether or not they win games” coach, like Coach Grant Taylor. A “makes everybody feels like somebody” coach, like Coach Danny O’Shea.
While these coaches are wildly different, they all have one major thing in common: influence.

Like coaches in films and on fields have been for decades, Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been working to influence teachers, coaches, and students for the last 60 years.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is a non-denominational Christian sports ministry that runs all over the United States and in 80 countries. The organization starts at middle school-aged kids and goes all the way through college. They use the platform of sports and the influencers in sports (coaches or athletes) to bring the gospel into our schools.

Back in 1954, Coach Don McClanen , one of the founding fathers of FCA, thought that if athletes can promote and sell cigarettes and cars, then they can be used to promote Christ. This doesn’t limit them to just reaching coaches and athletes. Every week FCA hosts campus huddles that are open to everyone. The ministry will have 15-100 kids show up at these meetings, and less than half of the kids who attend are athletes.

Our local area is known as South Coastal FCA. They reach kids in Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper, Ridgeland, and in Allendale public and private schools. They have eight full-time field staff to reach these areas, as well as part-time staff, and over 20 volunteers just in the north of the Broad. Wayne Quinlan is the area representative for our region, and Virgil Fripp is the part-time representative. Wayne and his wife Barbie are long-time Beaufortonians, and both attended Beaufort High School. When Wayne graduated, all he wanted to do was be a teacher and a coach. He did just that. While teaching and coaching at Dutch Fork High School in Lexington-Richland County he was asked to take over as the adult leader of a campus FCA huddle. He was going through a transformational process as a person and as a coach. He wanted to be coaching God’s way, not just his way. The FCA rep in his area stepped in and was there for him throughout that time. He played a significant role in equipping Wayne as a Christian who was also a coach.

Wayne’s first taste of FCA followed him to Hilton Head Island High, where he took over the campus huddle there and started up a Coaches Huddle. As his career was winding down, he felt himself being pulled into ministry. He was becoming more and more involved with FCA in many areas, and when he retired, he went on staff full-time. That was four years ago.

FCA is really focused on impacting coaches so that they can continue to impact their kids. The coach has one of the best chances to influence today’s youth. Most kids today are not going to church, many come from broken homes, or have other difficult circumstances that a coach can step in and be an influence. “Coach says” will get kids everywhere to stop and listen. They have a massive impact.

FCA focuses on one-on-one and one-on-some relationships with their coaches. “A coach will impact more people in one season than most of us will in a lifetime,” is a Billy Graham quote that rings true. FCA comes alongside these coaches to help equip them to best use their influence and make a significant difference in the generations to come.

FCA also has team huddles, often led by team character coaches. This past year, Wayne spent every Thursday morning with the Beaufort High football team during their morning practices before school. He would bring Chick-fil-A and do a 15-20 minute devotional series with the boys. Virgil Fripp is a character coach for the now well-known Whale Branch High School boys basketball team.

 

Along with these campus ministries, FCA also has a camp ministry. They will spend $50-60k on sending teams and individuals to camps over the summer. This also includes coaches and their families. Getting away from home and distractions can really provide an opportunity for change in the lives of these kids. These camps are times of inspiration, perspiration, and transformation. Kids are making decisions to follow Christ even more so at these camps. Last summer, Wayne saw 600 young men praising God fearlessly, and 10 percent of those young men made decisions to follow Christ the very first night of camp.

Without volunteers, FCA wouldn’t get anything done. North of the Broad, FCA is in 11 schools. Wayne can’t be on all of those campuses all the time. Many of the character coaches are volunteers. They also have churches that volunteer their members and staff. If you have a heart for Jesus and athletes, FCA has a place for you, and they need you. They cannot continue to grow and make an impact without the help of the community. To exist on campus, they also need a teacher on campus who sponsors the program.

A lot of people say, “We need more Jesus in our schools.” Wayne says that Jesus is already there. “FCA has been a great asset to our team this year. It really brought many of our players together, and it has been an awesome thing to see so many of our young people growing in Christ. We feel like FCA is an invaluable part of our program,” said Beaufort High football Coach Bryce Lybrand. Former Battery Creek High Coach Walt Wilson said: “FCA has meant so much to my team because it gives them an idea of what life is about. It’s not all about the sport. It’s about who you are playing it for, and about who gave you the opportunity to play in the first place. When your kids are praying on the sidelines, and you didn’t have to orchestrate it, you know they see the big picture.”

The vision of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is to see the world impacted by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. Their mission is to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Christ and His church. In volunteers, they are looking for those who want to disciple others, so that those people can go out and become disciple-makers. If they do it the way that Jesus did it, and the ministry continues to multiply by equipping and sending, the world will be impacted for generations to come.

FCA can work on campuses because the Campus Huddles are student-led, and the Team and Coach Huddles are optional. The ministry is fueled solely through donations and supported by local board members. There are currently no board members from Northern Beaufort. If you feel a calling to partner in any way, whether it be to disciple, serve on the board, leadership, or to give, please contact Wayne at wquinlan@fca.org.