FCA Power Camp offers sports, spiritual training to local children
Jun. 16—NEW ALBANY — Under a warm blanket of sun Wednesday, a cluster of kids in blue T-shirts darted around the soccer field at Silver Street Park in New Albany, short legs wrestling for control of the soccer ball. Tiny triumphant voices shouted in celebration — and some in playful frustration — as they succeeded, or not, in grabbing the ball from another player.
Across the park, boys with furrowed brows and clenched jaws grunted as they attacked yellow tackling dummies, sending coaches stumbling backward as the boys proved their strength.
The mini sports teams were participating in Fellowship of Christian Athletes' annual Power Camp, held at Silver Street Park June 12-15. The day camp, which hosts children going into grades 3-6 in the upcoming school year, provides multi-sport instruction, giving campers the chance to try out a variety of activities.
The camp is also faith-based, featuring worship sessions each day along with devotionals and speakers from local churches. This year's theme was "Greater," based on Bible verse John 3:30 which reads "He must become greater; I must become less." The theme was meant to inspire campers to reach toward their greatest potential.
This year, 133 children participated in Power Camp — a significant increase from the 49 who signed up for the camp's first year in 2021 and the 54 who participated in 2022.
Tyler Pavey, area director for FCA's Southeast Indiana chapter, started with FCA in 2018 as an area representative. He said parent involvement has helped the program grow steadily over the years.
"I think that's helped out a lot, having a lot of parents who are not only involved in getting their kids there, but then encouraging their friends and other families they know," he said.
Each day, campers rotated through basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, softball, volleyball and football for an hour each. This gave them the opportunity to explore and figure out what they enjoy most. As a parent, Pavey said, he knows the struggle of wanting your child to get involved but being hesitant to commit a full year to a sport they could end up disliking.
"This is a really good opportunity for them," Pavey said. "They're able to see if they're actually good at [the sport], if they enjoy it, if they have one sport they truly love. We love that we get to add sports that you don't really think about as much, like volleyball or tennis."
Tate Adams, a rising freshman at the University of Alabama, has been participating in FCA activities since 2016 when he was a student at Charlestown Middle School.
Adams stepped into leadership roles as he got older, and joined Power Camp this year as a huddle leader, where he led a group of seven boys in devotional activities and assisted coaches in teaching sports.
"Honestly, I can't think of a kid that had a bad time," he said. "Every kid had an awesome experience. It was a really positive, uplifting environment."
Stepping into a leadership role, Adams said, gave him the chance to change others' lives the way FCA changed his.
"The camps have been life-changing for me personally as a camper, and now getting to work as a leader and getting that opportunity to help change some kids' lives for the better... it's really special to know what it meant to me and to be able to be in that position to make that impact on another kid," he said.
Lily Ross, a rising sixth-grader at Silver Creek Middle School, was part of the soccer team Wednesday. Ross said her favorite part of camp is that even if a camper is struggling with a sport, the other kids still include them.
"I like that even if you're not good at a sport, everybody still encourages you," she said.
Ross, a self-identified Christian, said she also enjoyed learning more about Jesus through the camp.
"He's just always there with me," she said. "If I'm nervous about playing a sport or nervous about, say, kickball yesterday — I was kind of nervous about kicking the ball and missing it. But sometimes, you just got to believe."
