“I Got This”
When Kendall told her father Chad what had happened, his initial reaction was probably familiar to many parents.
“I was like, ‘I don’t think they can say that,’ ” Chad recalls.
His instinct was to immediately challenge the school. Instead, he contacted someone he trusted at Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Chad had developed a relationship with FCA staff member through his own work with SafeTeam, a communications platform designed to protect young athletes by bringing parents into coach-to-player communication.
Chad texted the staffer and explained what had happened.
The FCA staffer's response was to take a moment and assess the situation first. The staffer then connected with FCA resources, helped the family understand Kendall’s rights as a student-athlete and provided guidance about how she could approach the school.
Perhaps most importantly, the staffer encouraged Chad and his wife Kelly to let Kendall speak for herself.
“He encouraged us to give her the voice in that,” Kelly recalls.
Rather than a frustrated parent sending an angry email, Kendall sent a thoughtful message to the athletic director herself.
She explained what the players had been doing and asked for clarification.
The next morning, Kendall was pulled from class. She knew immediately where she was going. Waiting for her were the athletic director, principal and assistant principal. Three administrators. One freshman.
Chad had told Kendall to call him if the school wanted to meet with her. She didn’t.
“I was confident enough in what I had to say,” Kendall says. “I was like, ‘I got this.’”
She admits the room was intimidating, at first. But Kendall calmly explained that the prayers had always been led by students, never coaches. Nobody was required to participate. Teammates who didn’t want to pray simply didn’t, and Kendall didn’t view them any differently because of it. The school administrators listened.
As they talked, it became clear there had been some misunderstanding about whether the prayer was mandatory and whether coaches were involved.
By the end of the meeting, Kendall and the administrators had reached an understanding.
The prayers could continue as long as they remained student-led, voluntary and non-disruptive. Kendall could also continue telling opposing teams that Osseo players would be praying and that anyone who wanted to join was welcome.
“Check all those boxes,” Kendall remembers telling them. “That’s what we’ll do.”
Courage Without Conflict
For Chad, it matters significantly that the matter ended without conflict.
It would be easy to frame what happened as a confrontation between a Christian student and a public school.
That isn’t how the Capp family sees it.
“I think Osseo should be commended on the way they handled it,” Chad says. “Maybe the way it was enforced initially was a little harsh. Maybe they should’ve had that conversation before all of a sudden saying, ‘You can’t pray.’ But all things considered, I thought the administrators handled it very well.”
One administrator even shared with Kendall that she also followed Christ and encouraged Kendall to explain more clearly to teammates why prayer mattered to her.
The athletic director complimented Kendall on the way she handled the conversation. “You’re really good with your words for your age,” he told her.
What could have turned into an angry confrontation instead became an example of respectful dialogue.
For Chad, knowing that his family had access to FCA staff members, information and legal resources changed the way the family approached the situation.
“My first instinct was, ‘I’m going to send them this nasty email,’ ” Chad says.
But instead, the FCA helped them gather information, understood Kendall’s rights, ask questions and, most importantly, empower Kendall to advocate for herself.
“It allowed her to make very clear what she expected from administration,” Chad says. “And just knowing FCA was there, knowing there was a support system there, was huge.”
More Than a Prayer
The prayers continued through the end of Osseo’s softball season.
The same teammates who wanted to participate did. The same teammates who didn’t want to participate didn’t. And everyone kept playing softball together.
Near the end of the season, one teammate approached Kendall. The two girls had very different beliefs. But the teammate told Kendall something she didn’t expect.
“Kendall, I really respect the way that you have this much faith in something,” she told her. Then she gave Kendall a small holder for pens that could attach to her Bible.
“I hope you can use this in your faith journey,” the teammate told her. “I don’t agree with it, but I can respect that you do, and you can do it in such a kind way.”
For Kendall, the gesture confirmed something much bigger than whether she could pray before or after a softball game.
Chad marveled at the lessons Kendall learned from the experience, which helped her lean into her faith, and showcase her courage and conviction.
“It would’ve been really easy, especially as a freshman in her first year on the varsity softball team, to just say, ‘Okay,’ and let it go,” he says. “But she knew that wasn’t right. And she knew it wasn’t okay just to sit and watch.”
He hopes Kendall’s story encourages other students to understand that they can respectfully live out their faith as well.
“If more kids understand what they’re capable of, what their rights are and what happens when they stand up for those rights,” Chad says, “it can empower a generation.”
For Kendall, it started much more simply. One eighth-grade hockey player walked alone to center ice and prayed. Then a teammate joined her. Then another. And another.
A year later, sitting across from three school administrators, Kendall discovered something else: She wasn’t standing alone there, either.
