FCA

Fellowship of Christian Athletes:The Heart and Soul in Sports
by Jeff Hendrix

Like most men, Rusty Tichenor has little interest in scrapbooking. But on August 2, he was busy on the
campus of KWC with more than 40 women who were busy cutting and pasting all their favorite memories.
Although Rusty didn’t actually complete any scrapbooking, he was heavily involved in the planning of the First
Annual FCA Crop-a-thon. The crop-a- thon was a fundraiser for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a
sports ministry working with student athletes and coaches.

According to Tichenor, who has led the local FCA chapter for 5 years, “Our mission is to use athletes and
coaches to make their lives better.”

The official mission, according to www.fca.org, 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 focuses on building relationships between athletes and
coaches, along with other students, with the aim to demonstrate a commitment to Christ through the core
values of integrity, service, teamwork, and excellence.

FCA works on college campuses and high school locations through coaches or other staff members who are
Christians that can reach out to the student athlete. “Huddles” are formed and usually meet a few times each
month. These meetings are student led and usually occur on school grounds. There are also numerous
sports camps conducted each summer and sponsored by FCA.

FCA also provides resources for coaches to aid them in reaching out to students. This is where Tichenor
plays a huge role.

“My number one job is to reach coaches and to help those coaches reach students to make them better
student athletes,” says Tichenor.

FCA ministers to coaches through Bible studies, staff contacts, prayer support, discipleship and mentoring,
Behind the Bench (a program for coaches’ wives), resources, outreach events, national and local
conventions, conferences and retreats.

A group of Pittsburgh businessman who saw the value of athletes and coaches reaching out to the world to
spread the teachings of Jesus founded the FCA nationally in 1954. The ministry quickly grew and has now
become the largest student-athlete outreach program for junior high, high school, and college campuses.
Nationwide, approximately 350,000 students are involved with FCA every year.

Locally, the FCA has active huddles in about 35 schools across 9 counties. Tichenor says he sees about 100
students active every week in FCA at the large schools in his designated territory, which includes Daviess,
Hancock, Ohio, Muhlenberg, Henderson, Union, McLean, Webster, and Hopkins counties. He also states he
is lucky to have a large amount of Christian coaches working with him.

“I am very lucky here in Western Kentucky because each of the high schools I work with has a Christian head
football coach. This allows me to focus on other areas of the ministry because these coaches can be self-
sufficient.”

Events such as the crop-a-thon are just a small example of one of the areas on which Tichenor must focus.
He is in charge of the fundraising effort for the local chapter and sponsors several events each year to raise
money for the FCA. There is a 32-team golf tournament for which Tichenor claims he has no trouble lining up
players. In November, the FCA holds its Victory Banquet, which features noteworthy speakers. This year, the
featured speaker is Pat Day, the jockey with the most all-time riding victories.

Other events the FCA organizes for students and local athletes include a 3-on-3 basketball tournament in
April, a pre-season church league softball tournament, and Holiday Hoops, an all-night basketball event.

When asked what Tichenor wants the community to know about FCA, he states that there is one common
misconception. “The community thinks because we are a large national organization, we don’t necessarily
need as much support or involvement as local organizations. The truth is, we are involved with local students
in local schools, and what we are doing is important on a local level. It is important because we are securing
lives.” JH