FCA Flag Football in Rochester

Shelley Pearson • October 27, 2021

Fall temperatures are always changing. We soak up every warm day as if it will be our last and add layers upon layers on the cooler days as our bodies acclimate to a new season. Even though Fall is a steady state of change and transition, one thing that has remained constant over the past 13 Falls is Rochester’s flag football program run by local FCA staff. Whether it’s 80 degrees and sunny or 30 and blowing and snowing, James Bolin (Southeast MN FCA Area Director) and his team are out there with athletes from first through eighth grades.

For eight Mondays and Tuesdays, youth come together from all over Rochester to grow in their football skills, build relationships with their peers, and learn more about what it means to follow Jesus. James said, “FCA’s mission is to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church…our Flag Football league this year is helping lead 48 coaches and 230 athletes into a growing relationship with Jesus through staff interactions and weekly encouragement, as well as the weekly team devotional time.”

On Mondays, the first group to arrive on the fields is the youngest. These first and second graders run onto the field ready to expend all their extra energy. During the first thirty minutes, parent and volunteer coaches practice skill building with their teams. Then they break for a devotional time, followed by a game. As they walk off the field after a win or loss, the sixth through eighth graders are ready to take their turn on the field, following the same schedule. It all repeats Tuesday with different ages and different coaches but with the same great experience.

One Beautiful September Evening

Parents lined the field, ready to support their sons and daughters (yes, some girls play too!). One excited parent even had a cowbell that she rang every time her son’s team scored. The coaches displayed a tremendous amount of patience as they taught a group of enthusiastic 6- and 7-year-olds how to deepen their football skills (and listening abilities!). There were too many smiles to count, and the enthusiasm was contagious.

As the sixth through eighth grade athletes walked onto the field, the contrast was obvious, yet they were all there for the same thing: to play a game they love in a positive atmosphere. Many of these older kids have been playing for years, some since first grade, and it’s evident in the way they play. There were still plenty of smiles, but the intensity and level of competition was greater.

Receiving Life-Giving Words

When the teams broke for devotions, their coaches led them through a devotion from FCA’s Heart of an Athlete Playbook called “In His Eyes.” The kids first heard the following verses:

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

After they listened to these words of truth, they went on to read the devotion that reminded them to look at themselves through Christ’s eyes, not their own or anyone else’s. It says, “No matter the mistake, the loss, the pain or the regret, in God’s eyes we shine brightly.”

What a powerful message for young people who have so much coming at them from the world! This short devotion they hear in just a few minutes in the middle of flag football practice affirms God’s love for each of them. It reminds them that they are loved and that someone so much greater than themselves loves them despite however they may fall short. Imagine these life-giving words being spoken into the hearts of 230 young people every week.

God at Work

James has kept the program going for so many years because of the difference it makes and the relationships that are built. He says, “I see God working through the league just in all the relationships that are formed out of it - relationships between staff and coaches, staff and athletes, staff and parents, parents and kids, coaches and athletes, etc.” The growth in relationships is clear, and God is using this flag football program to meet a need in the community, both for a flag football program but also for the foundation of faith it provides.

All the hours put into this camp are worth it when they get notes like the one they received from a second-grade student last year. He shared his thankfulness for flag football and his desire to see others be able to play too. He even included $27 in cash so that a kid who may not be able to afford the camp could still come. What a cool testimony to God’s word in the heart of this and other young people at flag football camp! Put simply, this flag football program brings faith and sport together for young people in a tangible way.