In today’s culture few things are more relevant than sport. This reality has not been lost in the Christian community where an incredible emphasis on intercollege athletics is visible in faith-based colleges and universities. The increasing emphasis has exposed tension between sport, which has been described as narcissistic, hedonistic, coarse, and materialistic, and the Christian values of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV). In a recent Relevant Magazine article Cj Stephens stated that he believes the challenge is not that faith and sport cannot coexist but that “faith is used to justify sport accomplishments rather than faith transforming the way that sport is played.”
I became aware of the alignment challenges as a freshman baseball player at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Baptist school in West Palm Beach, Florida. One of the primary attractions for me in attending PBA was the belief that I would experience holistic growth as a student-athlete within the athletic department. Sadly, for me there was little-to-no interest in the development of any spirituality during my time at PBA. Worse, I witnessed one assistant coach purchase alcohol for minors and even provide his apartment for players to “entertain” their girlfriends. The closest memory I have of any spirituality was our head coach asking a few of the athletes from time to time to lead the team in prayer.
As you can only imagine the perception of the baseball program on our small campus rivaled the cast from Animal House. I found out that many of my teammates did not even know PBA was a Christian school. They would make that deduction during the first week of the semester when they were informed about required chapel attendance. I was never disappointed by the lack of spiritual interest from my teammates; after all I had attended public school from elementary to high school. However, what was surprising to me was that I received more spiritual encouragement from my high school coaches than those at the Christian university.
For reasons other than baseball I would eventually decide to transfer, but to this day I remain grateful for my two years at PBA. Those years served as the foundational catalyst for my fourteen years working in Christian higher education. It was during my time at PBA that the blinders came off. As a freshman in college I was rather naïve in my thinking. I believed that faith-based institutions were convicted by their spiritual mission and would seek to build programs which were equally committed to developing champions on and off the field. What I learned is that faith-based institutions struggle just as much as state universities in fighting against the ‘win-at-all-cost’ culture of athletics.
Through a path that can only be described as God ordinated, ten years after my experience at PBA I would be leading an intercollegiate athletic department at Southeastern University, a faith-based institution in Lakeland, Florida. Coming into the role I was determined that no student-athlete would share my experience from PBA. I believed with everything in me that we could establish an athletic department that was excellent in athletics and honored our spiritual mission. At the time I was filled with passion and conviction, however, I was walking into the role with no real blueprint and found few resources available for leading an athletic department at a Christian university.
Early in my career I believe the greatest lessons I learned occurred through interacting with other athletic administrators. Conversations at national conventions and conference meetings provided inspiration as we shared strategies and unpacked our scars.
In all I would serve as the AD at Southeastern University for ten years. During that time we implemented athletic chapels, Christian service projects, global mission trips, a leadership institute, and many other programs designed to disciple student-athletes in their faith. We defiantly walked through our share of hardships and challenges but we never compromised in developing an athletic department which we believed honored our spiritual mission.
Interestingly enough, one of the individuals I leaned on for inspiration was Bob White, an athletic director at a faith-based university within the state where I was also serving in the same role. Bob grew to be a great friend and mentor in the industry. I would learn how he inherited an athletic department that lacked any traits of a Christian institution and how he unapologetically transformed the athletic culture back to its spiritual mission. The school where this transformation took place? Palm Beach Atlantic University, the very school I attended that failed in meeting my expectations. Bob White’s transformational leadership once again proved John Maxwell’s belief that ‘everything rises and falls on leadership.’
Eventually I made the transition from intercollegiate administration to the life of academics. I now serve as a Professor of Sport Management at Pfeiffer University and live in Concord, NC. My research interest has remained in sport and spirituality. In fact, my dissertation centered on exploring the strategies of nationally ranked athletic programs that remain committed to developing champions for Christ on and off the fields of competition. Throughout my dissertation journey I was fortunate to travel to many campuses and interact with incredible administrators and coaches. I have looked forward to the day, this day, to be a storyteller in sharing the strategies these institutions developed as they wrestled with the challenges of leading an athletic department with spiritual conviction.
Over the next several weeks this series will examine the organizational strategies of multiple athletic departments that are deeply committed to their dynamic spiritual mission. My hope is that this series will serve as a dialogue for improving the ministry to our student-athletes. I invite feedback, in fact I would love to hear from you on the successful strategies you’ve implemented, or the challenges you’ve faced in ministering to student-athletes on high school or college campuses.
Here is a list of themes and focus for the upcoming articles:
#2: The Role of the Athletic Director: Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership.
#3: Athletic Success & Spirituality: Uncovering the #1 Myth in Christian Athletics.
#4: The Intercollegiate Hiring Process: How To Get the Right People.
#5: Spiritual Leadership: The Ministry of Coaches.
#6: We are Family: The Power of Developing a Close-Knit Atmosphere.
#7: Recruiting: The Process of Finding Mission-Fit Athletes.
#8: Fish out of Water? The Relationships with Non-believers at Christian Universities.
#9: Leadership Development: If Everything is Leadership Then Nothing is Leadership.