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Eagles for Christ aims to break the division between student and athlete through spiritual, social and athletic opportunities.
Founded three years ago, Eagles for Christ is a student-led organization that focuses on giving athletes a chance to have a spiritual relationship with one another through monthly events and bimonthly meetings.
“Most everyone has a sports background, even if you don’t play in college but you played in high school, you know what it’s like to be an athlete, you have that perspective on things,” Jordan Chism, sophomore and president of Eagles for Christ, said. “This is your chance to share that with other students like you.”
Chism, believes that the program is beneficial to more students than just athletes.
“It’s athlete-led, but anyone that is interested in sports can come to Eagles for Christ,” Chism Said. “Anyone who can relate to sports in general can come enjoy it, and it counts for kudos.”
Eagles for Christ has made changes to the program in order to open it to a wider range of the student body.
“I feel like we never really got it out that it is for every one, not just athletes, “Chism said. “And last year we had it in a classroom, and it was a coach that would speak or a professor, and so it was a lot like chapel. No one wanted to go to that, so this year it is athlete testimonies.
Golf representative for Eagles for Christ, Alyssa Schneider, said the program’s new setup gives students a more enjoyable experience.
“We make the activities we do athletic, like a relay, and then have a speaker afterwards,” Schneider said. “So that way it’s like we have an active event then we have fellowship with everyone. We always have a great time, and I look forward to seeing what happens in this upcoming year.”
Schneider admits that she has not been as involved in the past, but plans to attend all meeting and events in the future because of the new reconstruction of the program.
“Even I personally need to work on showing up more often.” Schneider said. “Last year I was even on the board and I didn’t come to everything. I would love if athletes and non-athletes could be more involved. If the whole entire school showed up, I would be happy.”
Students’ spiritual life will blossom through this program, according to Curtis Janz, director of athletics.
“If there [are] 15 young men and woman in there or if there is 150, it really doesn’t matter,” Janz said. “It is more about the growth in the person more than it is about the growth of the numbers.”
Janz recognizes the student leaders’ efforts at accomplishing the goal of reaching more students.
“The posters are great for information, but I don’t think that people look at them and think that is some thing that [they] want to go to,” Janz said. “I think it is more about word of mouth that people talking about things saying, ‘hey you got to go to this,’ impacts a lot more. I could do a better job of doing that also.”
Eagles for Christ focuses on bringing speakers who have informative and useful messages for all audiences.
“Chris [Haroun] is a former NBA player who recently had an ESPN 30 by 30 movie made about his life.” Janz said. “He spoke to the students about drug and alcohol abuse and addiction. It was incredibly powerful. And I think it goes hand in hand with the whole spiritual and social development side of things.”
The group relies on special connections made through working as a team to translate from the field to faith-centered conversations between students, athletes and faculty alike.
“You get to be competitive and you get to know everyone on a spiritual level by worshiping and having fun as a school,” Chism said. “You will have spiritual conversations with other people to really get to know who every one is. This Eagles for Christ FCA [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] makes those conversations happen.”
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