FCA combines athletics & God in profound way
Athletics
and God-is it really possible to combine the two? The Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, FCA, screams a prominent “Yes!”
Don
McClanen a high school coach founded the national Fellowship of Christian
Athletes organization in 1954.
According to Miss Kathy Janata, moderator of FCA and school counselor,
McClanen founded the organization because, “he loved athletics and loved the
Lord.”
“He
thought athletics was a great way to know about God,” said Janata.
Fellowship
of Christian Athletes tries to meet twice a month, once on Friday mornings in
the chapel and, hopefully, in the future at a member’s house. There are currently 22 members. However, don’t be mistaken because you do
not have to be an athlete to be part of FCA.
“Everyone’s been on a team [in some sort of way]. You understand what everyone goes through,”
said Janata.
FCA
meetings are “similar to the retreats we have here [at Marian],” said
Janata. Discussions are held about the
demands of being a team player. Prayer
and scripture is used as an introduction to the meetings. “Use your relationship with God to make you
a better athlete,” said Janata, or just a better team player.
First
year FCA member, sophomore Amy Gamm joined because, “I love sports and I want
to grow in my faith.” Gamm said FCA
gives a “time for us to come together to talk about sports, but also focus on a
relationship with God.”
Members
will be volunteering their time and energy to help with the Omaha Special
Olympics held on May 19-23.
In
the future, the club members hope to hold clinics for inner city school
children after school. Members would
teach the children how to play volleyball and basketball for three to fours,
but Janata said, “the more hours, the more costly.”
FCA
would also like for both sides of opposition to pray after school-sponsored
games, known as prayer huddles which college football team already participate
in. The prayer “would be open to anyone
who wanted to join in,” said Janata.
However, she said, “I don’t know who to clear it with,” and
communication with the other teams “has to be organized ahead of time. The hard part is to get it
pre-organized.”