UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES

My name is Courtney and I was given the opportunity to intern with University of Maryland FCA this past semester! Before starting, I was excited to see a passion for sports and Jesus combined. It was a concept I didn’t think of much. God was God and was involved in my life as a whole, but sports was a separate, competitive aspect of life. I never quite thought of God being associated with athletics. I would pray and ask God to help me hit a cheerleading routine or win in a swim race, but I never thought about honoring God through my sport. It is much more than just wanting to win.

During my intern experience, I would attend the coaches huddle where the coaches and FCA staff members would read a devotional, scriptures, pray for each other, and catch up on how their teams were doing. It was interesting to see how they faced life’s trials and blessings and always leaned on God in every circumstance.

I was also involved in the Student Leader meetings Patricia would have with different leaders from each team. We would see how they were doing and how their team was doing both athletically and spiritually. Then, we would pray for them and do different activities such as devotionals or watch videos and discuss. It was exciting to see how the leader was inviting Jesus to be a part of their team through huddles they led themselves.

I also was given different projects to work on throughout the semester like posting for the Instagram and helping coordinate different events. After reflecting on my experience, I feel that I gained a lot. I learned that whether you are an athlete or coach, you are able to honor God through the sport. God cares about everything we’re involved in and has given things like sports as a desire in our hearts. There is nothing He doesn’t care about in our lives. Athletics is an important platform Christians can use to spread the good news of the Lord. There is also a lot of behind-the-scene work in FCA. Student athletes will attend huddles, but there is plenty of planning, interpersonal relationship connections, prayer, and more that the FCA Staff does so that athletes can connect with God.

If you are interested in interning with FCA, it would be a great experience. Interning will allow you to serve and see things from different perspectives. You’ll be able to shadow an FCA Staff member and apply everything you learn to your own spiritual life as well.