Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a nonprofit Christian sports ministry based in middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the world. FCA is a group of young athletes who come together to praise God, learn about God, and grow their faith. Conifer High School has added the club at the school with help from students and parents.

“Having this club where people can come and just grow their bond with each other and with the Lord, is just something that every school should be able to have,” sophomore Penelope Dickinson said.

Conifer used to have an FCA club, but after seniors graduated, the club never started again. This year, the Shroeder family worked to get the club started again.

“I think it’s good that a bunch of Christian athletes can come together, we didn’t have anything like this before. My family has been trying to get this club started at Conifer. It’s been a year in the making, and it’s finally happening,” sophomore Taylor Shroeder said. 

1. Shroeder is the scheduler and one of Conifer’s FCA founding members. 

FCA is currently in 115 countries and has had 20,297 certified huddles. The FCA organization began after the publication of a group’s bible study titled, “The Huddle”. Shortly after, the name caught on, and their meetings were called “huddles”.  After the publication of this article, the term “huddle” began to catch on and became the organization’s niche. 

“I think it’s gonna be a really cool opportunity for us all just to come together as a community,” sophomore Avery Shroeder said.

1. Shroeder is in charge of the club’s finances and is one of Conifer’s FCA founding members. 

The organization was founded by Don McClanen in 1954. He claimed to see the potential in athletes and coaches to share the gospel with the world. He was an athlete and coach in the 1940s and 1950s and wanted professional athletes to endorse a Christian lifestyle with their platform. This idea became the foundation for FCA, one of the world’s largest sports ministries. 

“For some time, I have had the idea of forming an organization of athletes and coaches in this hero-worshiping nation of ours. If athletes can endorse shaving cream, razor blades, and cigarettes, surely they can endorse the Lord, too. So my idea is to form an organization that would project you as Christian men before the youth and athletes of our nation, (fca.org)” McClanen said.

Conifer High School had its first FCA meeting on October 8th, where student leadership led their Conifer mission and informed members on what FCA was. After this, the members went down to Conifer’s softball field and played kickball. 

“I think it’s cool that the one thing we all have in common is that we are athletes so making activities where everyone is as competitive as one another is always really fun,” Dickinson said.

The Shroeder family first began by getting a small group of athletes at Conifer to get the word out to students. Then they all began contacting the FCA organization. Dustin Wanner, an Area Representative for Central Jefferson County, came out to Conifer for their first leadership meeting. At their first meeting, they did a small training for leadership staff and went over the mission statement for Conifer. 

“We want to have an open, inclusive environment for everyone to come and to be able to grow in our faith together and also accomplish projects across the community and help that way as well,” A. Shroeder said.  

On October 15, FCA hosted their second meeting during lunch. Charlize Hargrove, a junior and captain of FCA, created and presented a slideshow on the Bible. She focused on what the Bible was, how to read it, and how to use the Bible to expand your faith. After their lesson, Dickinson and Emily Bunchman began activities with the members. 

“We will start going through little lessons, something small and easy that is good for both long-term and newer Christians. Then we do a fun activity and relate it to what we learned that day,” Dickinson said.

During December, the leadership team has begun making plans to do a fundraising event for the community to provide Christmas gifts to those in need.

“I really want to accomplish something not just in the school community, but in our whole Conifer community and be able to do projects and just grow together this year,” A. Shroeder said.

FCA is planning on starting a meeting every Tuesday during lunch. They will also be providing activities to expand on those topics and connect as a club. Soon, they plan on inviting speakers and pastors to come in during meetings as well. 

“FCA is honestly for anyone who wants to go. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for your entire life, or you decided to become a Christian two days ago, or if you just want to learn more. FCA is a place for everyone. Everyone is welcome and we would love to have more people show up,” Dickinson said.