Why FCA Sports Camp?

He never even considered staying home from camp, but I told him he would likely be sitting on the bench as the coaches worked with the other baseball players. After the evening session on the first day of camp, I was standing outside with several other FCA staff members when I turned to another circle of people and saw a co-worker pointing me out to a coach. The coach, Jason Cartwright, had been sharing about his camper with a broken foot. I joined the conversation, and Coach Cartwright told me the plans he had for Ben.

I repeated to Cartwright what I had told Ben about sitting on the bench. He said, “No way. There are four coaches for baseball. We are going to work with him.” And though I had heard (and even written) dozens of stories about the impact of sports camp, that was the moment I knew that FCA Sports Camp is completely unlike any other camp out there. In my mind, it would have been perfectly acceptable for Ben to sit on the bench and just listen, but in the minds of his coaches and huddle leader, Josh, that was not an acceptable option. 

What’s Your Why?

When I asked Cartwright why he coaches at sports camp, he said, “I want to make an impact on the youth. My passion for ministry is how to incorporate who we are every day as believers and encourage the youth to walk it out – to not just play a sport and be a Christian after sports or go to church on Sunday and play baseball on Monday.”

When I asked him why he never hesitated to work Ben, he shared his own story. He was born two weeks late, and to induce labor, his mom’s doctor had prescribed a double dose of Pitocin. This resulted in the crushing of his brain and a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. When he was two years old, he was miraculously healed in all ways but one: one hand was smaller than the other. Later he asked God, “Why didn’t you heal my hand?” The Lord showed him that it was a reminder that everyone has limitations, but they don’t have to be a hindrance. 

Jason said, “I was unwilling to let Ben sit there. Though he has a limitation, there are ways to be training up and encouraging him even with limitations. Ben was there to be at camp and have an impact on his life, and I wanted to have an impact on him. It was one of the main reasons I came - to be able to share knowledge with him and encourage him and to help him understand that any one of us could be limited. It was because of that background and what God has done in my life that I looked at him for how we could make him a better baseball player.”

His huddle leader, Josh (who has clearly learned some leadership skills from his dad, Coach Cartwright) had the same spirit. He said, “I really just tried to keep Ben included in everything and make sure he was heard because we all have something important to say. We are all at a different point in life. Some of us are dealing with struggles, but it’s at the point of when you say, ‘No, even though I do have struggles, I’m not going to give up.’ Ben really encouraged me to keep going even when it’s hard.” 

That speaks to the caliber of just one coach and a huddle leader, and we had dozens of them at sports camp doing similar work with 368 campers. 

The third day Ben joined the rest of the baseball players in a contest for how many home runs they could hit (they modified it for Ben, and this photo was apparently to mess with his mother who had told him a hundred times not to put weight on his foot). 

Ben participated at every stage. He was never an afterthought. His coaches walked right beside him (as he wheeled along 😊). They invested in him and genuinely cared for him. I have rarely experienced that level of commitment, and I was blown away by how this group went above and beyond in a way they didn’t have to.

And on the last day as I was walking down the sidewalk to attend the final session, the coach met me on the sidewalk and thanked US for coming to camp. This mom’s heart was and still is overflowing with gratitude for how God uses FCA camps to share His love with the campers.