Fellowship of Christian Athletes seeks to give students and athletes an opportunity to grow their faith

Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a student-led club which focuses on connecting student athletes and coaches to grow their faith in Jesus Christ. 

I, personally, attend FCA and love the welcoming environment of everyone there. Seeing FCA meet every week this school year, following inconsistent schedules and closures due to COVID-19, has been a blessing and has been a small glimpse of unity in a school of over 2,000 students. 

FCA at Fossil Ridge High School is a student-led club sponsored by Ms. Kueter and they meet every Wednesday, during lunch, in room N121. 

FCA attendees can often be found socializing, playing trivia, listening to guest speakers, such as coaches, and always celebrating their faith while learning more about the Bible and character of God. 

Georgia LaPlante, the Captain at Fossil, explains FCA is a “community of student athletes who also have a relationship with Christ who just want to celebrate that and deepen their relationship and unity with each other.” 

Lauryn Pilgrim, the Outreach Coordinator, is also a student leader for FCA at Fossil. Pilgrim states, “I love seeing the growth that happens in everyone’s lives and seeing the new people that are brought every week.”

There are FCA clubs around the nation at middle schools, high schools, and community youth groups. The first FCA club was founded in 1954 by Don McClanen, according to the official FCA website. Locally, there is a FCA Larimer County and one of their priorities is supporting all the local schools, like Fossil, which have their own clubs. 

One unique thing about FCA is that they put on what is called a Community Huddle. Community Huddles for the Fort Collins area occur the first Friday of every month at 7:30 a.m. at The Crossing Church right on the corner of Shields Street and Horsetooth Road. LaPlante loves these gatherings saying, “We get together with all the high schools in Fort Collins. With a bigger group like that, it’s a stronger community where we can all lean on each other and grow in our faith together.”

The next Community Huddle is this week on Friday, April 1. With donuts provided, the huddle will start at 7:30 a.m. and will end with plenty of time for every student to make it to school on time. If you do not have a strong belief in Jesus, have never been to church, or just want to learn more, you are welcome. 

LaPlante and Pilgrim both mention that FCA is for people who are not in a sport, people who have played a sport in the past, and people who have interest in a possible athletic future.

As an attender of FCA gatherings, I can say meeting on Wednesdays at lunch is a great midweek break to reset, talk to people I do not see everyday, and enjoy talking about someone greater than me, a God who gives us the strength to participate in sports, school, and all else.

If you want to get involved with FCA, you can contact Pilgrim or talk to anyone you might know in the group and they can help you or direct you to the right person. The Fossil FCA Instagram page is @frhsfca. You can message that account if you have any questions or want to learn more. 

We would love to see more new faces in room N121 on Wednesday at lunch.