During Winter 2024, Liberty High School announced a new club named, ‘Fellow Christian Athletes’. A club where every Wednesday in the Teachers Lounge, everybody is welcome to pursue their faith within Jesus Christ while also engaging in entertaining activities amongst their peers.
Considering the highly stressful lifestyle that is obtained within a student athlete, students continuously have a recurrence within their faith, slowly driving them away from a source that has once provided them comfort. Junior Daunte Johnson, President of FCA, proclaimed that, “Being an athlete is definitely hard because as an Christian athlete, it may be hard to find our identities since a lot of athlete’s emotions are affected by whether you’re doing good or basting in your sport. But when you’re always, you find your identity in God, then you’re always happy because God’s ever stays. God never changes. God’s love is always the same. God is always the same with everything he does. So when we put our identity in the right thing, God will not be affected by things changing in our sports because we don’t put our identity to sports” (Johnson). With both physical and mental challenges that athletes face, it can be extremely difficult for them to find a way to gain back a spark for a passion with a mindset that is constantly filled with overconsumption by their sport. This can lead certain athletes to feel isolated and lost within themselves knowing that they are not as capable of pursuing such an interest in a subject as they were before. By this club being in place, it can help provide a safe space for others to engage in with those who experience similar struggles, and help them regain a passion for a faith they believe was once lost within themselves.
Although with the title, ‘Fellow Christian Athletes’, may make the club perceived targeted to only one sect of people, it is set to be both open and welcoming for all students. Junior Leon Davis, Prayer Leader of FCA, states how, “You could definitely get introduced more into it because it’s faith Christian athletes. But like I said, you don’t have to be an athlete to join. You could just, you know, appreciate the word or you probably won’t even have to be a Christian to join. Regardless of your background, anybody can come” (Davis). Disregarding the name that is advertised, FCA is an extremely welcoming and diverse club. The drive that is taken within other individuals in the club, in order to help other students decide to pursue their faith to an endless extent is extremely beautiful. From providing food, to organizing various afterschool events, can help continuously build a stronger community within students, helping drive the faith and capacity of feeling welcome and open towards both their beliefs and struggles.
Overall, this club is perceived to be enforced with a positive intent. Having various students collaborate to come together and debrief and bond over their faith is such a wholesome experience, potentially helping other future Liberty athletes who are willing to pursue their faith in the future.
