It all started with one girl with one dream. I’m that girl and FCA is my dream. I grew up with two strong forces in my life: lacrosse and my faith. I attended all-girls Catholic school and played lacrosse up until my senior year, then I decided to walk away from the game I used to love. Lacrosse was no longer fun. The girls were cliquey and exclusive and that’s not how it should be. I didn’t want to surround myself with people like that. And so I walked away from the game that I loved, with my head held high.
I now play club lacrosse at Saint Joseph’s University and have found a renewed passion for lacrosse and my faith.
It all started during the fall semester of my freshman year of college. A couple of days into the fall semester I was overcome with severe anxiety and depression. I was so sick, I was not myself and could not function. I was too sick to stay. Because I hit such a low point, I found God through my suffering. I took a semester off to discover my passion for my faith, resulting in declaring a theology major in hopes of pursuing campus ministry. By the grace of God I discovered FCA, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes… a sports ministry organization I didn’t even know existed. I first attended an FCA lacrosse camp in the summer of 2015 as a “huddle leader,” meaning I coached lacrosse and led a Bible study.
Immediately upon arriving at my first FCA camp, I felt that FCA was my calling and purpose in life. God kept putting it on my heart to start an FCA at SJU and I just kept pushing it off, putting it on the backburner, while people encouraged me to start it. So I started all by myself, meeting with Student Life and got a petition signed and the behind the scenes work to start FCA.
Campus ministry has been a large part of my St. Joe’s experience. There are many awesome campus ministry groups on campus. However, I think that FCA can reach a specific group of students who are not being reached. Athletes on college campuses are a really special breed. With sports, you’re often defined as an athlete. For example, you’re a “Division 1 basketball player”, or a “student athlete.” We are defined by the labels society gives us. Say you get injured and lose everything, you lose your dream. Then, what do you have left? You have your identity in Christ, and that’s something I want FCA to focus on.
Thanks be to God, this past summer a few guys on the SJU baseball team reached out to me to help get FCA started. The baseball players: Deon Stafford, Taylor Boyd, and Darren Weidman, expressed to me that they had done a bible study on their own and would love to help me run FCA.
FCA is special because you actually aren’t required to be an athlete or religious, despite the name…because faith can apply to everyone. I want FCA to be a welcoming, safe community, where all are welcome. Whether you’re a division 1 athlete, a club athlete, used to play a sport, never played a sport, religious, not religious….
Meetings will be held Monday nights from 8-9pm in the President’s Lounge (upstairs Campion.) The first interest meeting will be Monday, October 3rd, from 8-9pm in the President’s Lounge. ALL are welcome. I’m also willing to hold a separate alternate meeting for those who cannot attend Monday night meetings due to night class or other obligations.
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Contact FCA President Gabby Southworth at 703-946-4660 or gs616797@sju.edu
