The ETSU chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is helping students become winners on and off the court.
The organization meets on Mondays at 7 p.m. in the Culp Center and features athletes from several different sports.
The president of FCA is Joe Whitson, a student trainer who is very active in FCA activities.
“FCA has been a big part of my life,” Whitson said. “The main focus of FCA is to present the coaches and athletes and all that they influence, the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as their personal savior. That’s one of our main goals – to reach not only athletes on campus, but also the non-athlete.”
Whitson has seen FCA participation increase through the past few years.
“Our numbers have probably tripled since my freshman year,” he said. “We come and have a good time. We open up in prayer and then we have some music. We also have a game called icebreaker, (in) which we get everybody involved. Then we either have a guest speaker or a student athlete come and give their testimony, or we have a meeting about some kind of biblical issue.”
The speaker on Nov. 27 was Andrea Roberts, a softball player from Kingsport who transferred from the University of Chattanooga when ETSU started up the sport. She was active in FCA there and has continued that here.
Roberts has seen strong dedication from her fellow athletes at both places. “Most of the people that were involved were really dedicated,” she said.
“Most of the people that came were there every week and that’s how it is here, too.”
Roberts thinks that the FCA holds her accountable for her actions.
“Definitely (you are held acc-ountable), because these people you see every week, you see on campus, you see out on the weekend,” she said. “It’s almost like thinking about what if Jesus was right there beside of you.”
Another student that FCA has had a strong impact on is Liz Smith, a soccer player here at ETSU. Smith got involved with the group through a conference called FCA Advanced.
“It really changed my life,” she said. “I decided this is where I need to be to start using God in my life and help other people learn about Jesus.”
Smith has seen some positive changes in FCA since she started attending the meetings.
“The FCA has really turned around and it has really been more upbeat,” Smith said. “I feel like God is really working to change lives through this FCA.”
FCA can also be a help to incoming freshman who are getting adjusted to new surroundings. One of those for which it has paid dividends is freshman basketball player Paul Reed.
“Being away from home for the first time and being out and being able to experience things you never could before, FCA has been a real help to keep you grounded,” he said, “. to remind you what’s most important in your life and what should be.”
The FCA has also been helped out recently by the addition of a guitar player, Josh Carroll, a member of the ETSU football team.
“I came here for the first meeting because I was really involved in FCA in high school,” Carroll said.
“I just went up to Joe (Whitson) afterwards and asked if they had somebody who played instruments. I told them I played the guitar and I said `if you need to me to play music for you I would be more than happy to.’
“He grabbed me and said `That’s great, we have been praying for a guitar player for over two years.’ I’m just really happy God’s been able to use me here.”
Whitson would like to see even more participation in the FCA chapter.
“We’ve got some coaches that are really involved and we have some that are totally opposite,” he said.
“They aren’t involved at all and don’t support FCA. We’re really trying to hit that hard.
“We have some coaches that let their kids out of study hall to come to FCA and let that count, while others don’t want any part of it,” Whitson said.

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