The world of sports has become a way of life for me here at the Academy. I eat, sleep, breathe, pray about and yes, even fret sports. Here are some things whirling through my mind at any given moment: playing time, coaching decisions, enough games spread about amongst the teams, girls vs. boys and making sure they both feel important, gym space, uniforms, good officials so my coaches and parents are happy…etc, etc, etc.

It just dawned on me what this pile of “worries” adds up to, so here is a glimpse into the brain of your AD. The reason for my fretting is mainly because I pray that I am a good steward to the job that God has placed me in. I want every single child from age 7 to age 18 that puts on a Golden Eagle uniform to know they are wearing it by no accident. That they are a part of TPCA athletics and that it should mean something. We are not always the strongest, biggest or fastest, but I want us to always be the most gracious. Whether we win or lose, succeed or fail, I want us to look different than our opponents. My coaching staff and I have a long way to go in developing our character and the character of each of our athletes, but I know our hearts and they beat for your kids. From having to make some very tough decisions on discipline, to talking for hours to a hurting teenager, to carrying off a crying player from the field, my coaches would do just about anything in their power to help your son or daughter grow and develop.

We are put on each other’s paths for such a short period of time and I pray the period of time a person is an athlete here would be one they look back on with fondness one day. You see, it dawned on me…it’s really NOT about playing time, gym space, new uniforms, or dare I even say it, good officials. J It’s about your son or daughter and growing their relationship with Christ and others through competition. It’s working with them through the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”, growing their character to look more like His. It’s learning the things like grace, humility and forgiveness by being on a team with someone you’d rather not be, sitting the bench when you think you should be playing, losing a game by a point because of a bad call, and the list goes on. Sports can bring out the best and worst of us and has the ability to make us learn things we didn’t know we needed to learn, it can be character transforming.

Looking back, I see that God has been preparing me my entire life for this role. I’ve been at the pinnacle of success on a few teams and a part of some really lousy ones too, but all the while I took snippets of life that have helped make me who I am today (the good and the bad J). If your son or daughter is one of my athletes, I pray that they will take a piece of TPCA sports with them wherever they go and will be a bit better for it in the long run.

Amy Berens
Athletic Director
Traders Point Christian Academy