KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Each July, more than 1,000 high school football players head to a college field in the heat of a Carolina summer, expecting to learn skills that will translate to the gridiron. But these players, and their coaches, end up taking away so much more.
Every summer, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA, www.fca.org) Camps reach tens of thousands of coaches and athletes, and a very targeted type of camp aims to impact the team as a whole.
Team Camps are designed to impact coaches and athletes for Christ and equip them with spiritual principles through competition. Coaches enroll their players to attend this Camp as a team. Team Camps are a wonderful outreach opportunity, and coaches benefit greatly by evaluating their team’s talent. Team Camps also serve coaches by building team unity, as players experience FCA Camp in ways different than other sports camps.
In North and South Carolina, Reid Bowyer, FCA’s director of ministry advancement for the Carolinas region, has seen that team unity come to life firsthand.
On staff with FCA for five years, Bowyer was heavily involved with FCA in high school and college. Prior to working with FCA, Bowyer was a youth minister and volunteered with FCA in the Carolinas. In fact, FCA President and CEO Shane Williamson served as Vice President of Field Ministry for the Carolinas from 2011-2014 and the Area Director for Upstate South Carolina from 2002-2005, with a stint in Atlanta in between. He and Bowyer worked closely together to impact coaches and athletes in that region.
For the past four years, Bowyer has co-directed the area’s largest Team Camp—a two-session event in July that welcomes more than 1,400 football players and coaches to the University of South Carolina Upstate. In all, the Carolinas region offers 12 Team Camps covering four sports. The July event is one of FCA’s largest football Team Camps in the nation. Also leading the Camp with Bowyer is Frank Hester, along with more than 25 FCA staff for the week.
But, Bowyer says, the Camp is much bigger than football.
This year, from July 17-22, two sessions will welcome 800 and 650 attendees, respectively, from 30 teams across the region. It’s the 14th year for this particular Camp, and the University of South Carolina Upstate has hosted for the past eight years.
Bowyer and his staff work hard to ensure that the Camp is run with excellence year after year, match up teams according to their competition level, and keep player safety at the top of mind. Each team in attendance is guaranteed 14 20-minute games, with all instruction coming from their own coaching staffs.
But to begin and close each day, FCA provides devotionals for players during chapel time, as well as motivating speakers for coaches. In the evenings, an all-Camp Huddle with worship time and teaching from God’s Word reminds coaches and athletes there’s more to life than football.
As an example, Team Camps help athletes grow into the campus leaders they are expected to be.