01
A Deeper Walk With Christ
Nothing pushes you back to Jesus like trying to point others to Him. Volunteers consistently report a richer prayer life and a hungrier Bible within a single season.
A Call to Volunteers
The most
meaningful season
of your life.
You don’t have to be a pastor, a former pro, or a Bible scholar. FCA needs ordinary adults willing to show up for athletes and coaches — and almost everyone who does says the same thing: they came to give, and ended up receiving more.
- Who It’s For
- Parents, former athletes, business professionals, retirees, college students — anyone willing to be present in a student-athlete’s life.
- What You Do
- Join a local sports ministry team — as a coach mentor, character coach, prayer captain, church or campus connector, or event and support volunteer.
- What You Get
- A deeper walk with Christ, greater insight into the youth's spiritual lives, measurable impact, real relationships, and a front-row seat to lives changing in our community.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Engaging coaches and athletes since 1954.
Prepared for the next generation of FCA volunteers — and for the person quietly wondering, “Could God use me?”
The Field Is White
The harvest is plentiful.
The workers are few.
Sports gather more people than almost any other space in American life — and Jesus said the workers are the bottleneck, not the harvest.
FCA serves coaches and athletes on thousands of campuses across all 50 states and in dozens of over 100 countries — and still, every area has more open huddles, teams without Character Coaches, and camps short on staff than it has people to fill them. The mission isn’t held back by need. It’s held back by the number of ordinary believers willing to say yes.
Coaches walking through hard seasons aloneLocker rooms with no spiritual mentorAthletes asking real questionsHuddles leaders waiting for a mentorCamps short on staffSchools no pastor will ever enterParents who don’t know how to discipleCommunities sports already gather
70+
Years of FCA ministry
50
States served
12K+
Active huddles
2M+
Coaches & athletes engaged annually
Source: fca.org · figures are approximate, reflective of recent reporting.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.”
Matthew 9:37–38
The Personal Call
God isn’t looking for experts.
He’s looking for the available.
FCA is a movement of ordinary people God is using to reach the sports world right here in Massachusetts and throughout New England. The volunteer coach who changed a kid’s life last season was almost certainly a normal adult with a job, a family, and a calendar that was already full.
Parents
You’re already in the stands. Step one row closer and offer a weekly huddle to kids, coaches, and families.
Former athletes
Hand down what someone once handed to you. Nobody relates to an athlete like another athlete. Use your influence to encourage the youth.
Business professionals
Your skills, network, and integrity are gifts to a local huddle. There are practical life skills our youth need.
Retirees
Your time and presence are the rarest currency a teenager will ever receive. FCA affords you an incredible opportunity to live a life of significance over success.
College students
Lead a huddle on your campus. Few things will form you faster than stepping up and stepping out in faith.
Coaches’ spouses
Do you have a heart for marriage ministry? Walk alongside the women and men who just need someone to meet them where they are.
Church members
Bring discipleship out of the building and onto the field, court, yard, or campus.
The quietly willing
It is about humbly serving God with the heart of Christ for those who are lost, seeking and hurting ...through sports.
“Here I am. Send me.”
Isaiah 6:8
What Volunteers Receive
YOU CAME TO GIVE. YOU LEAVE CHANGED.
Almost every FCA volunteer testifies to the same paradox: they walked in hoping to help athletes, and walked out years later with a stronger marriage, a deeper faith, and friendships that outlast every season.
02
GREATER COMPASSION
You gain greater understanding and compassion for the pressures and struggles our youth battle daily. As a result, the Word stops being theoretical and becomes daily bread for you and your athletes.
03
A Renewed Sense of Purpose
Many adults drift into a slow comfort. Volunteering reintroduces holy inconvenience — the kind that makes your faith feel alive again.
04
Real Friendships
Co-leaders, chaplains, parents, and area staff become some of the most honest, prayerful relationships in your life.
05
Leadership Formation
Leading a huddle is leadership school: listening, shepherding, navigating hard moments, and trusting the Holy Spirit in real time.
06
A Story Worth Telling
Decades from now, the seasons you spent with FCA will be among the stories your kids and grandkids ask you to tell again.
“I started leading a huddle to bless kids. God used it to rebuild me.”
“VOLUNTEERING WITH FCA WAS THE RICHEST, DEEPEST DISCIPLESHIP I’VE EVER WALKED THROUGH — FOR THE STUDENTS, AND FOR ME.”
Eternal Stakes
One yes.
A generation reached.
Volunteering with FCA isn’t a side hobby. It’s frontline ministry in the spaces where the Church often has no presence: the locker room, the bus, the bleachers, the post-game text thread. One adult who shows up faithfully changes math the world can’t see.
1
Volunteer says yes
12
Athletes in the huddle
100s
Teammates & friends watching
1
Coach encouraged
Next
Student leader raised up
Future
Disciples who make disciples
Discipleship
You teach Scripture by living it in front of athletes who are watching every move.
Multiplication
Today’s huddle member is tomorrow’s captain, coach, parent, and pastor.
Eternity
Some of the athletes in your huddle will meet Jesus this season because you said yes.
“DISCIPLES DON’T COME FROM PROGRAMS. THEY COME FROM PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP.”
Pathways to Serve
THERE IS A ROLE SHAPED FOR YOU.
So how does one yes reach every campus, every coach, and every athlete? Through a team. You won’t serve alone. FCA ministry is organized into PODs — a cluster of three neighboring schools within a league or district — each served by a team of volunteers who play different positions. You get a real, named mission field: these schools, these coaches, these athletes.
How a POD Works
Three schools. One team. Six positions.
Together they serve every coach and athlete across the three schools. Engaged · Equipped · Empowered.
View Full POD Strategy & Structure →POD COACH
The “QB” — equips and disciples Huddle Leaders across all 3 schools
Character Coach
Serves a coach and builds character on an individual team
POD Prayer Captain
Organizes prayer covering across all 3 schools
Campus Connector
Parent, teacher, or alum whose relationships open doors
Church Connector
Links local churches for prayer, people, care, and resources
Event / Support
Hospitality, meals, logistics, and special events
FRONT-LINE MINISTRY — Relational, face-to-face discipleship with coaches and athletes.
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POD COACH
2-3 HR / WEEK · SCHOOL YEAR
FCA staff will train and equip you to serve a team of 3-6 high school student-athlete huddle leaders within a geographic area local to you. FCA provides the resources, training, a church partner, and a local team of volunteers who support you in your powerful student-athlete ministry.
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TEAM CHARACTER COACH
Season-long · varies by sport
Come alongside a coach and team as a consistent presence — pre-game prayer, post-game conversations, character development support. A word of caution ...you will fall in love with the team and kids.
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Coach Mentor
4-6 HRS / MONTH
Engage, Equip, and Empower one or more coaches in your community to keep them strengthened in the word of God allowing God to them into becoming the coach He has always wanted them to be through weekly touchpoints, interactions, and prayer covering.
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CAMP HUDDLE LEADER (for college athletes)
1–5 DAYS · PER CAMP/CLINIC
Lead a small group of athletes at an FCA camp — where many athletes first meet Jesus.
- 05
POD Prayer Captain
1-2 HRS / WEEK · SCHOOL YEAR
Organize named, ongoing prayer for every school, coach, and huddle in your POD — the spiritual covering the whole team stands on.
- 06
Campus Connector
1-2 HRS / MONTH
A parent, teacher, or alum whose school relationships open doors — introducing the POD team to coaches and administrators.
- 07
Church Connector
1-2 HRS / MONTH
Bridge local churches to the POD for prayer, people, care, and resources, and help new disciples find a church home.
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Event / Support Volunteer
A FEW HOURS · PER EVENT
Provide the meals, hospitality, and logistics that make the POD's ministry rhythm and events like Fields of Faith possible.
Immediate Need · Central & Western Mass
Raise Your HandPOD COACHES, BOARD MEMBERS, CHARACTER COACHES & A VOLUNTEER ADMIN ASSISTANT
Coaches and athletes are waiting for someone to say yes. Could it be you?
Your Runway to Serve
01
Connect & Coffee
A 30-minute vision conversation with your local FCA staff to find your fit.
02
Apply & Clear
Complete the Ministry Leader Application and safety clearances through the Volunteer Impact Portal (VIP).
03
Equip & Shadow
Complete the online training (E3, Huddle Training, Child Safety & Protection) and serve alongside an experienced leader before you ever go alone.
Honest Answers
THE REASONS YOU’RE HESITATING
ARE THE REASONS GOD USES PEOPLE.
Every adult who has ever served with FCA started exactly where you are — unsure, busy, unqualified, and quietly willing. Here’s what we’d say back.
“I’m not qualified.”
FCA trains every volunteer. You don’t need a seminary degree — you need a willingness to be present, to pray, and to point athletes to Jesus.
“I don’t have time.”
Most roles are one hour a week or one week a summer. The smallest commitment, made faithfully, multiplies in ways you can’t schedule.
“I’m not an athlete.”
Sports is the doorway, not the requirement. Athletes need adults who care about them, not adults who can outrun them.
“I’m not bold enough to share my faith.”
FCA is a relational ministry. Boldness grows as relationships grow. You won’t be thrown in alone — you’ll be sent with a team.
“What if I mess it up?”
You will. So did Peter. So did Paul. God’s pattern is to use available people, not flawless ones — and to grow you through the awkward seasons.
“I’m in a hard season.”
Sometimes serving in your weakness is exactly how God carries you. Many volunteers say their hardest year was also their richest spiritually — because they kept showing up.
“God doesn’t call the equipped.
HE EQUIPS THE CALLED.”
Three Next Steps
Somewhere, an athlete is waiting on A faithful adult.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. Take one small step today — FCA will meet you with training, a team, and a place to serve.
01 · Pray
Ask the Lord what season of serving He’s inviting you into. Bring your fears, your schedule, your family.
02 · Reach Out
Contact FCA. Tell them you’re open. They’ll help you find the right on-ramp.
03 · Show Up
Say yes and just show up. You will never be the same — and neither will the athletes you serve.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Engaging coaches and athletes to make disciples for Jesus Christ.
“To see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.”