Last week, Athletes In Action was in town to host a soccer camp with a spiritual side.
The Christian program hosts sports camps all around the world that teach skills while also encouraging spiritual development. Over 70 kids took part in the Athabasca camp, which was held at Landing Trail Intermediate School and was sponsored by the Athabasca Ministerial Association.
AIA head coach Sean Hildebrand was happy to bring the camp to Athabasca.
“We focus on teaching basic biblical truths that apply to daily life. We want to see improvement both spiritually and with physical soccer skills,” he said.
That unique mix was accomplished by combining soccer instruction with a little bit of prayer at the end of each day as well as ‘coach’s corner’ segments during which the coaches shared some personal stories. Each day had a different theme, like accepting God’s love and preparing for difficult times.
The program is always successful, according to Hildebrand.
“It creates a more holistic player,” he said.
Two of the many players who enjoyed what the camp had to offer were brothers Sam and Max Elgert.
“It’s been really fun,” said Sam.
When asked what he enjoyed most about the camp, Max pointed to the ‘World Cup’ games as well as the coaches themselves.
“It’s fun to be in game situations,” he said. “(The coaches) are lots of fun. They’re really good coaches and soccer players.”
There was a similar camp in town last year that was also successful. Hildebrand said that all of the kids had shown encouraging signs of growth, and he was impressed to see how quickly they picked up the lessons, both physical and spiritual.
“It’s very encouraging to see a small town have such enthusiasm for a camp like this,” he said. “The kids have been quite good and they’ve learned a lot.”
Volunteers from the Athabasca Ministerial Association were on hand to help out at the camp, and all of them were pleased to see it unfold so successfully.
At the end of the week, the goals of both the local association and Athletes In Action had been met.
“We want them to go away with a deeper understanding of God’s love and their participation in God’s plan. The ultimate goal is for each of them to take a step towards having a personal relationship with Jesus.”
