Winning Gold For God

 

For me Christianity is not just for Sundays. As do most, I try to apply my morals and beliefs into everyday life and for me a lot of this is taken up with sport!  God has given me an amazing gift, something I love to utilise. It has given me so many opportunities for outreach and to talk to people about Christ. Although I found it hard to believe at first, there are many people out there who have never come across a Christian before. I recall talking to a friend whilst at a regional hockey camp about how the only Christian she had met was at school, was a bit mad and had threatened people with eternal damnation most days! So she was surprised when I, a 'normal' person, as she later described me (!) turned round and started talking about God. She was interested in what I believed and why; and it was great that this opportunity had arisen. Hopefully now she associates Christianity with good news not bad!

 

Usually my faith and sport have gone hand in hand. However there have been occasions when there have been clashes. Last Mothering Sunday I had a county match however I wanted to be with my family on this day and thus decided to decline my place. The coach was far from happy. I had to explain that my faith was very important to me and it was a day for family. It certainly is very hard to keep to one's morals all the time especially on the pitch with so many emotions spinning in your head. At times when players push you I must admit I push back; but before each match I say a little prayer just to remind me who I am playing for and why. And the answer is always God. Hockey will come and go but God is constant and without God there is no hockey. I wear my WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) wrist band every time I play hockey to remind me I'm playing for God and to act in the way that Jesus would. This has prompted many questions usually, 'would God have scored that goal I just missed?!' however some more deep about my faith. I started this tradition ever since I was in a serious hockey accident, last February. When laying on the pitch it helped me know that I was gong to be OK because God was with me and this kept me surprisingly calm.

 

This Easter I have been away representing England u18 in the European Invitational Tournament, where we beat Holland, Germany and Spain to be crowned champions! Some people may question if playing hockey on Easter Sunday is right. Well….the first year this issue occurred, I myself worried that it should be a day dedicated to worship and thanking God for dying for us. But after praying about it I concluded that what better way of celebrating and praising God than to use the talent He had given me. This year I was lucky enough to be asked to captain England on Easter Sunday which I was very proud of, because not only was I representing England, but also God on His special day.

 

The tournament was a roller coaster of emotions. There were many times when I had to ask for the strength of God to aid me through the day. Going away with a group of sixteen girls in such a competitive environment can, as you may imagine, become very bitchy and there was an occasion when I had to pray for a long time to try and forgive a couple of them. I also found aspects of the captain's role challenging and had to pray for help to be a good leader. This didn’t mean those who shouted the loudest were given what they wanted all the time, but in some cases representing those who felt they had no voice i.e. newer, shyer members of the team. Sometimes I wondered why the coaches had asked me to be captain, I kept thinking why me, why me? I'm not the best player and by no means the loudest! But things happen for a reason and in hindsight I can see that maybe I was the person for the job. In my first year in the England team I felt very intimidated by the older girls. They were very extrovert on and off the pitch and I found it hard to be friendly to the people who would be nice to your face and not behind it. Because of this I felt my role this year, as one of the older respected members, was to make sure everyone was included and able to contribute to the team at ease. I talked to many people on a one to one basis about how they were feeling and encouraged them to be themselves. I felt that my experience enabled me to understand and help the new players.

 

The sporting world has been opened up to me and it's given me opportunities that I am forever thankful for. It's been great to meet up with fellow Christians and pray together and talk to those who have not heard of Jesus before. This year I had to make T-shirts for the team and on the back there has to be a traditional motivational phrase. After agonising hours trying to find a suitable motto (I'm a bit of a perfectionist) I remembered something I had heard at Soul Survivor. 'I can't but WE can'. In a team one person cannot succeed by themselves, however together gold can be won! I believe this is the same with God, without him nothing is possible, with him anything is.

 

 Wiz Hunt