In the fall of 1974, I was invited to attend a breakfast for high school athletes throughout San Diego County. I can’t remember who the keynote speaker was, but he played for the Chargers and he shared the same faith in God through Jesus Christ as I had. I was a very young Christian having accepted Christ as my savior a few years before. This breakfast and the monthly gatherings that followed started the FCA movement in San Diego, and began my decades-long connection to FCA.

Through FCA I realized that God had given me a love for sports that He would use for His glory, and that I wasn’t alone. FCA provided me the opportunity to share this journey with athletes from all over the world. I went on to attend Point Loma College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) in San Diego, and graduated with a degree in English and a California teaching credential. My success in basketball allowed me to be a part of all-star teams that traveled to Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. Playing against national and professional teams from these countries was incredible, but the most amazing opportunity was the stage we shared in showing thousands what Christ was doing in all our players and coaches.

For the next forty-one years FCA was there for me as a teacher, coach, and administrator in a number of high schools throughout California. My wife, Robin, and I were blessed with a daughter, Corey, who attended FCA camps in California and became involved with FCA in high school. She continues to carry on the ideals she learned at FCA in her after school programs in Northern California and with our three grandchildren.

Robin and I came back to her birthplace, Vermont, in 2022. We felt that God had a purpose for us here and we’ve been blessed to find it at our farm in South Ryegate. God worked through a church member’s son to introduce me to our FCA director, Glenn Olson. My meeting with Glenn brought it full circle for me to join the FCA Vermont team as a board member. It’s been a great ride as I’ve witnessed how God is moving throughout Vermont through FCA and many churches. As a “New” Vermonter I look forward to joining in the efforts God has begun here. I often shared Philippians 2:1 & 2 with my teams as a definition of what teamwork is. “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” (NIV). It’s great to be here, and to be back with FCA!