FCA gives forum for athletes
Coping athletes can turn to group for fellowship
By Marci King
Staff Reporter

Imagine practicing for three hours, lifting weights for two hours, traveling for days at a time and an endless barrage of meetings and community service responsibilities. Those are a few of the rigors athletes say they face on a daily basis.

To help athletes cope with those challenges, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes aims to provide a comfortable environment for athletes to experience fellowship and be around others who share the same day-to-day struggles, said football player and FCA president B.J. Roberts.

Roberts, a senior finance major, said FCA is a place where Christians and non-Christians, athletes and non-athletes can come together in a comfortable atmosphere.

Volleyball player Jennifer Cuca, an FCA member and junior advertising/public relations major, said it is nice to take time from whatever you are doing and be around people in the same situation as yourself.

“When I am at FCA I can really feel the fellowship between all the athletes,” she said. “It is nice to have something in common with those other athletes.”

Roberts said while the focus of FCA is on athletes, anyone is welcome to attend.

“Lately we have experienced a lot more non-athletes attending FCA,” he said. “It is great to know that we can appeal to such a large population.”

Roberts said FCA averages 30 to 50 participants each week. The members of FCA want people to come and feel comfortable so they can meet others, he said.

“Each person can be open, express their beliefs and opinions and learn more,” he said.

Cuca said being around students, who are also athletes, is comforting and the main draw of FCA.

“It is a place where people can understand what your day-to-day life is like,” she said. “We are all in the same boat.”

FCA meets 9 p.m. weekly in the John Justin Athletic Center.

“At meetings we sing, have speakers come in to share experiences and attend events together around Fort Worth, like Texas Rangers baseball games,” he said.

Roberts said one of the goals of FCA is being able to give back to the community in any way they can. The group participates in many community service projects and sponsor a TCU game day, he said.

“One of the projects I enjoy the most is helping local schools start their own chapters of FCA,” Roberts said. “It is very rewarding to be able to make a difference.”

Marci King
m.l.king@student.tcu.edu

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