After football practice, it’s a normal thing for the players to go their separate ways. But for the Bakersfield College football team, that’s a different story.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, or FCA, has become popular among high school and college athletic teams.
It’s a time for the team to get together and talk about God, life lessons and incorporate their sport into worship time.
Gerrit Otten, defensive back for the Renegades, leads the football team every Thursday after practice. He felt that he should take over this year after talking to BC alum Seth Damron who led the FCA Bible studies last year.
Damron asked Otten to lead the group after he left to pursue school in Colorado.
“I grew in my faith as a person and in FCA,” Otten explained. He tries to incorporate scripture, everyday life lessons, and things he has learned from other people to make a connection with the other guys.
“When we get together, it’s the setting. Openly talking about God without people talking bad or looking down on us. We become brothers, closer,” Otten says.
Bryce Chudy, another defensive back, goes to the FCA meetings and helps Otten with the group. Chudy, Otten and a group of the players recently went to Romania to see children in orphanages.
There, they played football with the kids and led a fellowship each day. Before FCA, Chudy said he would have never done anything like this.
“It’s a great opportunity. There’s no way I would’ve gone to Romania if I wasn’t in FCA,” he said.
It’s not just the football team leading FCA each week. Last year, cheerleader Danae Damron was introduced to the group by her brother, Seth, and decided to start one for the BC cheer team.
Damron explains how she tries to lead the group.
“In FCA, we talk about how to love and forgive, especially when we work together. Understanding people is important, as well as not getting frustrated, and being able to forgive them.”
All leaders agree that people look up to them being Christian college athletes.
“It helped me become accountable for more things. As a shephard you watch the things you do and say a lot more,” Damron said.
Chudy said, “Sometimes people look at us to see how we react, on and off the field.” Damron added that people look to her for certain things such as judgment calls or for a relationship that they aspire to have.
Each member has been able to pursue more opportunities with the youth groups, whether it is renewing a relationship with Christ or being able to know more about the Christian religion.
Chudy has grown individually and developed in his faith by going to FCA. “You realize that there are more important things than just football,” he said.