Positive organizations for students

Schools have also adopted the idea of hiring outside organizations to help bring in another element of religion to help educate athletes on how to apply religion within their sport.  Two major examples of these outside entities  are FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and Athletes in Action.  These Christian groups "promote spiritual growth, recruit new members and promote religious beliefs and organizations, and promote fundamentalist beliefs and evangelical orientations", (Coakley,2009). 

These groups all have mission statements depicting their views on religion through sport.  FCA was started in 1954 and their mission statement is, " to present to athletes and coaches and all whom they influence the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church".  FCA also holds their values, Integrity, Serving, Teamwork, and Excellence as very important tools in serving the Lord through sport.

The impact that these programs have had are very great on college athletes across the nation. FCA's numbers have been very positive in the last year from Jan. 1, 2009 - Dec 31, 2009:
Total Reached in Eight Months: 1,834,875Faith Commitments: 35,159One Way 2 Play - Drug Free! Decisions: 34,712TeamFCA Commitments: 3,694
(FCA, 2010)
With numbers like these, it has made a positive impact on college campuses. The spread of religion in sport will continue to increase with the dedication and help of others outside of the university walls. The hope is to help college athletes, not only better themselves but to better the students around them, in hopes of creating a more positive, and unified team.

FCA Official Presentation Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnq-jFXmVzY

The NCCAA ( National Christian College Athletic Association) was incorporated to provide a Christian-based organization that functions uniquely as a national and international agency for the promotion of outreach and ministry, and for the maintenance, enhancement, and promotion of intercollegiate athletic competition in a Christian perspective (NCCAA, 2010).  The NCCAA focuses on not only assisting the student-athletes in sports but also in life in general through their "game plan" consisting of dedicated and caring leadership, national competition, international outreach and ministry with athletic teams, discipleship programs and materials for student-athletes and coaches, and conferences on current key issues. The link below shows NCCAA's statement of belief: http://www.thenccaa.org/statement.html



Coakley, J.  (2009). Sports in society. New York, NY:
     The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About athletes in action.  (2009). Retrieved from
     http://www.athletesinaction.org/about/
About the nccaa.  (2010). Retrieved from
     http://www.thenccaa.org/about.html#Mission%20Statement
FCA. (2010). Annual impact report. Retrieved from
      http://www.fca.org/AboutFCA/AnnualImpactReport.lsp