Published: October 07, 2006 09:54 pm            

Christian athletes

\BLUEFIELD — There isn’t a more dominant high school football program in West Virginia than that of the Bluefield Beavers.

Fred Simon has been an integral part of that success for more than two decades. His guiding force through it all has been his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

“There have been several times in my life when I have asked Him to guide me with decisions in a lot of the things I have done and He’s always been with me,” said Simon, Bluefield’s head coach since 1986.

Since 1954, so has the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the largest Christian sports organization in America. The FCA provides an outlet for coaches and athletes at all levels to deliver the message of Jesus Christ to those around them, either through words or their actions.

“We can help Christian athletes stand up in the schools for positive values, for not using drugs and alcohol and trying to be the best you can be by living a life that is morally sound,” said Mike White, the FCA director in South Central West Virginia. “If they’re willing to stand up for that, other kids will look at that and say, ‘Wow, he or she is an athlete, they have a lot of influence and maybe it’s cool to be a Christian, maybe I can do that.’

“We help those kinds of kids stand up and it draws other kids to them. It’s peer pressure in reverse, it’s positive peer pressure.”

And, to Simon, it means more than the eight state championships that the Beavers have won.

“Having God and Christ in your life means everything in the world,” Simon said.

White recently helped start an FCA chapter at Bluefield High School, which has been meeting on Thursday evenings at the Wade Center. Brian Cheecio, the executive director of the reinvigorated facility and chaplain for the Beavers’ football team, thinks it’s a natural fit.

“The kids come where kids are and FCA kind of gives you some instant credibility,” Cheecio said. “We’ve been very successful in getting elementary school kids plugged into our programs and we’re just starting with high school kids so this is going to be a big boost for us.

“Plus, we want the facility to be used by anybody and everybody that matches up with our goals and objectives and the fact that FCA is an organization that is a force, we want them here.”

The FCA wants to be there, and anywhere else they can be used to reach others to Christ. White, who has been in his current position for nearly a decades, oversees 45 ‘huddles’ — or chapters — at local schools in 17 counties, and has seen plenty of changed lives.

“We’re coming up on our 10th year and we’ve had, that we know of, almost 4,500 professions of faith, “said White, a Beckley resident who is also organizing huddles at Graham and Tazewell high schools. “As many as 50,000 kids a year come through out programs...”

Everyone has a role model. For young athletes, it’s often older athletes. Cheecio sees the influence athletes have every time he has the team prayer before a game.

“I’ve been taking a few neighhorhood kids to the games and I will take one or two of them into the locker room before the game when I do the team prayer,” said Cheecio, whose foster son, Shaun Brooks, is a one of the Beavers’ top players. “They just stare up at these guys and it’s just so awesome.

“My hope too is these guys coming here is going to help me reach out to other kids and be role models for the children of the community. A lot of teenagers want to do that, but they don’t have the vehicle to do that through and I think the FCA can be that vehicle.”

So does Simon, who can be tough on his players, but he also lets it be know where his heart lies.

“I think you lead by example and they know how I feel. Sometimes I voice my opinion that I believe in Jesus Christ and that I know He guides us and guides me in whatever I do,” Simon said. “I know it’s very important and I don’t mind letting the players know how I feel about it.

“They’ve never really asked me, but again actions speak louder than words and I know they know where I stand on it. It’s up to them from there to make their decisions in life and hopefully they make the right ones.”

White’s decision to leave the trucking business years ago to become an FCA coordinator was made while praying continually about it on his drive from Beckley to his job in Green Valley. He had already been a volunteer, but slowly began to feel God pushing him in a new direction.

“It was one of those crossroads in my life because it grew my faith in God by seeing that God never calls you to do something he doesn’t empower you to do,” said White, who added, “We’re a non-denominational ministry focused on the gospel. We leave the other stuff up to the church. I like to think of us as we are the church in action in the community.”

A student-run organization in the schools, White said the FCA provides the resources and training needed for students to conduct Huddle sessions, prayer meetings, Bible studies and other activities that can bring others to Christ. The FCA offers coaches, campus, camps and community ministries.

“This is my 16th year as a Christian and I love being able to share how God changed my life, how we can have somebody bigger than us to step into our lives,” said White, whose father, Junior White, was one of the first Mr. Basketball’s in Kentucky. “The FCA has a good model, I love the model.

“I’ve never seen one that was as effective and that’s why I have stuck with it for the last 10 years, I believe in it.”

White’s life has changed in many ways. Last summer he traveled to the West Bank as part of the FCA, and was the team chaplain the first two years of Rich Rodriguez’ tenure as West Virginia football coach. Today, the FCA at the Morgantown school has a staff of three, including former WVU star Danny Buggs.

“God has really provided a great open door for us to be able to encourage coaches like that because they’re the ones with the influence,” said White, who has had Tony Dungy, Tommy Bowden and six-time kickboxing champion Denny Holzbauer speak at FCA functions in Beckley. “Coach Rodriguez, he’s a passionate guy.

“We’re doing a coaches Bible study up there and he is probably the most outspoken participating coach in the study.”

White was able to witness much — on the field and off — during his time with the ‘Eers, but nothing beats making a difference in someone’s life. For example, James Woodruff, a walk-on, who started on special teams as a senior, and who became the spiritual leader of the team from 2001-03 after hearing a presentation from White.

“I said I really believe there is at least one leader on this team that is supposed to step up and be the spiritual leader of this team and it ended up being James,” White said. “I didn’t know it at the time, but he was ready to quit the team because he felt like he didn’t have a place.

“He said when I said that, ‘I knew my place.’ Before that we would always have the team prayer and they would say ‘prayer in the shower’. After that meeting, the first game of that year, we started go in the shower and we couldn’t go in the shower. The whole team was with us

“They called him Rev. Woody — so he did it right there in the room. He would come around and have the prayer and I was able to watch how that changed his attitude.”

More than 30 athletes and coaches from Bluefield High School attended last Thursday’s FCA introductory meeting at the Wade Center. Simon was one of those, and he, no doubt, will be back for more.

“Is it worth it, yes it is, and I’m glad to see having an FCA chapter that is working hard to get our young athletes involved,” Simon said. “They need to find to Jesus any way it takes and if it’s through athletics, then that’s a great way to do it.

“For every person they have a way and this may be very well the way for some of them.”

bwoodson@

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