For the last several days I have been in Vilnius,
Lithuania and Moscow, Russia in support of our teammates of FCA Ukraine. While
here in Moscow, I had a great talk with a young man who is pursuing ministry in
ice hockey. He was an elite level young player and then a professional until
age twenty. As we discussed what he misses most about playing with a hockey
team he said, “My teammates. In the summers, when we would go to a summer camp to
train and compete, I would come home after the camp and cry in my room. My
mother would ask what was wrong with me and I would reply that I miss my
teammates.”
For this young ice hockey player, his team and
teammates provided community and purpose for his life. After he was passed over
for further advancement in professional hockey, he was suddenly thrust into the
real world of work and this world provided neither community nor purpose. He
was adrift. He descended into a life of alcohol and drug abuse, crime, and
eventually homelessness. In the midst of this downward spiral he connected with
people in the world of crime. They also welcomed him, without condition, and
gave him a community and purpose for living, nefarious as it was.
While homeless, a man approached him on the
street offering a way out of his plight through relationship with Jesus. At
first he said no. When the same man offered again, he asked what he had to
offer. The man gave him the phone number of a rehab clinic that could offer him
food, clothing, and shelter. When he made the call he was amazed that they
would receive him without condition. This new set of friends offered him community
and a purpose for life. He went through rehab, staying and working there for
four years.
Now well integrated into his local church, married
to a delightful young lady (a former professional volleyball player, now a
coach), he and his wife began to dream and to pray about ministry in sport. He
said, “How many ushers does a church need? Surely there is a way to serve God
outside the church walls.” They were both looking for a way to share community
and purpose for life with sportspeople. One day he received a call from a man
named, John McIntosh. John has a long history of serving the ice hockey
community. John said, “I hear you are a pretty good hockey player, and I hear
you are a believer. Can we get together?” They met and that launched their
journey toward ministry in sport. They are just beginning, but they already
understand the hearts, minds, and lifestyles of elite level sportspeople.
We, as sport chaplains, must be increasingly
aware of the loss experienced by sportspeople when they leave the organized,
regimented, community of their sport. Whether due to retirement, injury,
failure, or simply being released from their contracts, sportspeople experience
the same loss of community and purpose as did this ice hockey player. We must
find ways to bridge that gap. We must find ways to provide community. We must explore
ways to help them find purpose for their lives. Please join me in this most
important venture.
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