Why?
Because there is nothing else like it, and it might sound cliché, but camp changes lives.
Just ask Matt Lundeen, FCA huddle coach at Redwood Valley High School, who loads up his family every summer and heads to sports camp where he coaches football. He’s served as a coach now for more than a decade, and he loves it. In fact, his whole family loves it. There are only two things they plan their summer around, and the first is always sports camp.
But again, we ask the question, “Why?”
Matt says, “I really can’t describe in words the impact sports camp and FCA has had on my life. It’s where I really found my connection to dig into the Word and make it applicable and to sincerely have a relationship with God through Jesus. It has provided an amazing platform for me as a coach and as a teacher, and it gives me the opportunity to share the Gospel in school . . . It’s an awesome platform to go to summer camps where my own kids get to see what I want them to see: the awesome speakers and praise and worship . . . Not only for my kids but for the kids of Redwood Falls that come to camp.”
Matt’s camp experience started much like that of his own kids. He first went to sports camp with his family before he was old enough to be a camper. What he remembers most about those early years is the people. They were sincere. They loved Jesus. They modeled how to balance faith, family, and sport. They showed him what it looked like to be a Christian athlete.
Before he was old enough to be a camper himself, he watched the high school campers follow Christ while playing hard at a sport. As a high school camper, he watched the huddle leaders pursue Christ as college students. As a huddle leader, he watched the coaches serve Christ and coach with integrity.
Even now, there are always more seasoned coaches who serve as mentors and role models to him. Matt says, “FCA camp is a huge time to refresh, recharge, and reenergize. At my stage as a coach, it refuels me. Refocuses me.”
But it isn’t only Matt who gets to experience that.
His wife and kids love it just as much as he does. Matt shared that for his family, “The speakers are outstanding, and the huddle leaders are outstanding. They surround the kids down there with role models and positive examples to show them how to really live for Christ in a public school and as a Christian athlete. For my wife and me, it’s a way to surround our kids with those positive influences.”
Every summer for the past several decades, God has radically transformed the lives of thousands of athletes and coaches, like Matt and his family, who have attended Sports Camp. Sports camp leadership is intentional about bringing God into sport and showing campers how to live for Christ as athletes in their sports.
Campers choose from baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, swimming, tennis, and volleyball and spend the four days of camp alternating between skill development, time with their huddles, meals, main sessions, and random fun. Coaches, huddle leaders, and speakers address the physical, emotional, and spiritual lives of each athlete. Matt has seen growth in himself in each of these areas over his years at camp.
But don’t just take it from Matt.
His kids have loved every camp they’ve been to for the past ten years. They love the entire camp experience, but when asked to consider a highlight, they each had something different to say:
Drew - Age 17 - Junior in High School
“I love going to camp because of all the people you get to meet. You get to develop some very special Godly relationships.”
Kenzie - Age 15 - Freshman in High School
“The chapels are outstanding. The music and speakers are always encouraging.”
Zack - Age 11 - 6th Grader
“I love playing games with all of the kids at camp. Riding on the scooters at Luther College is always a highlight!
There is something so special about bringing athletes and coaches together for four days to lean into serious skill building in their sports while also leaning deeply into their relationships with Christ. It has made such a difference in the lives of so many, just like Matt and his family.
That is why we love camp so much.
That is what warms us on a cold, dreary January day. We know. We see. We have experienced. God does something amazing in the hearts of athletes and coaches every year at sports camp.
Mark your calendars for June 28 – July 1, 2021, for
Sports Camp in Iowa.
Registration opens in February.
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