Fellowship of Christian Athletes values the impact of coaches both on and off the field

October 24, 2022

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Coaches have the power to make or break a sports team. A good coach can inspire players to play stronger, harder, or faster. A bad coach, however, can negatively impact not just an entire season, but a player’s future both on and off the field.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA, www.fca.org) believes in the powerful influence of coaches, especially coaches on a mission for Christ. Since 1954, FCA has been challenging coaches and athletes on the professional, college, high school, junior high and youth levels to use the powerful platform of sport to reach every coach and every athlete with the transforming power of Jesus Christ. FCA focuses on serving local communities around the globe by engaging, equipping and empowering coaches and athletes to unite, inspire and change the world through the Gospel.

“What an incredible opportunity we have through FCA to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. We believe coaches are one of the keys to steward our vision with excellence,” said FCA Chief Field Officer Dan Britton.

Aimee and Jeff Gerber began their careers and impact in youth ministry on staff at a church in Flint, Michigan. When a local Christian school learned of the former college athletes’ desires to coach and minister to youth through sport, they were quickly recruited to coaching positions. Aimee started coaching volleyball and Jeff joined the basketball staff.

After moving to Colorado, the Gerber’s were forced to reevaluate the role of ministry while coaching. Having exclusively coached in private Christian schools, coaching in a public school was a whole new experience. Despite their initial trepidation, the decision was clear, according to Aimee.

“My college volleyball coach taught me that you could love a sport and still have a passion for impacting the lives of kids,” said Aimee. “I realized that Christ and athletics didn’t have to be separate, that you could love a sport and show them Christ through the sport. That was a big change and defining time for me.”

Looking for a way to combine sports and ministry, the Gerber’s discovered FCA and found a perfect fit. The small Huddle of 15 athletes from 10 years ago has now grown to 70 student-athletes looking to learn more about God. 

That experience has helped Aimee develop her coaching philosophy that builds young women of integrity, moral courage and mutual respect. Despite being in a public school, Aimee continued to share the light of Christ to her athletes, combining Christ and sports.

“Almost half of our athletes are now coming to FCA,” she said. “This allows us to connect on a different level. And because they hear these character talks in our FCA Huddle, they understand the concepts at a greater depth.”

To learn more about the Gerber’s and their impact on student-athletes, click here.

FCA’s theme for 2022 is Every, based on Ephesians 1:3: “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” FCA reminds Christian coaches and athletes that they already have everything they need in Christ and encourages them to seek Him both on and off the field.

Read more about Fellowship of Christian Athletes here, visit FCA’s website at www.fca.org, its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheFCATeam or its Twitter feed https://twitter.com/TheFCATeam.