By Marlene Rashidi
On November 9th & 10th students from all over Nebraska gathered together for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Weekend of Champions. The purpose behind Weekend of Champions is to, “introduce or affirm a person’s faith and how it applies to athletics and relationships with others,” LHS FCA sponsor and coach Rodney Droud said. The other purpose is to just bring high school and college athletes “closer to God” through preaching sessions, music, and athletic activities.
This year’s annual Weekend of Champions met at Grand Island Senior High School in Grand Island, Nebraska. I asked Elijah Stewart a sophomore from Lincoln Christian School who attended Weekend of Champions, how FCA has changed his life. “FCA has been a huge impact in my life! Our huddle groups at Lincoln Christian meets every Friday and Friday is also game day usually for me as a football player. It is awesome to have a reminder on game day to know who you are playing for and FCA always remind me that I am not playing for the victory or to please the coaches or the audience. But the goal as a Christian athlete is to praise God with everything you do on and off the field.” LHS business teacher Dan Beckman, Coach Droud, and math teacher Michelle Sjuts are the FCA huddle leaders who helps gather together the student athletes that are willing to do sports “God’s way.”
Abby Mathewson a sophomore at Pawnee City High School who also attended Weekend of Champions said, “FCA changed the way I looked at God. It encourages me to reach out God more, and do everything I can in his name.” Weekend of Champions is a great investment to those who want to achieve more on sports and just in their daily lives. Keiteyana Parks a senior here at Lincoln and a dedicated athlete said, “FCA has helped me to play for God; a bigger reason and also my team and not myself. At Weekend Of Champions I got to meet a group of girls, and we are still in touch. It’s cool to meet a group of girls that are from the various parts of Nebraska.”
I got a chance to talk to Trevor Pace a senior and athlete here at Lincoln High who also attended Weekend of Champions and is usually at the Lincoln High School Fellowship of Christian Athlete huddles. I asked Pace, “How did Weekend of Champions impact your athletic life and your personal life?”
Pace said, “Weekend of Champions impacted my personal life in a very positive way. Some of the things the speaker Pastor Dustin Rogers talked about revamping my faith walk by constantly giving hope that no matter how perfect we try to be, our deeds don’t build a ladder to heaven, but accepting Christ as our savior does. Athletically it motivated me to never lose sight of who I compete for and even though it may seem like you’ll lose giving the full effort will always pay off.”
