Local FCA To Host Annual Victory Banquet Celebrating Sports And Faith

“Faith is not exclusive to religion. It’s sports, it’s the lottery. It’s everything we hope for in life and believe we’ll one day see.” ~ SayQuotable

by, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

On March 25, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will host its second annual Victory Dinner, also known as the “Night of Champions,” for the San Marcos Area.

Founded in 1954 by Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball coach, Don McClanen, the FCA has aimed to “lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and his church.”

“If athletes could endorse automobiles and cigarettes, why couldn’t they endorse this thing that was about life?” ~ McClanen, founder.

Now 64 years later, the non-profit organization spans 62 countries, has 17,783 huddles (clubs), and has an attendance at their sports and leadership clubs of 113,470 athletes of middle school, high school and college ages.

Pat Ford is the area director for the FCA and lives in San Marcos with his wife Kim; the couple has been involved with the FCA since they were both in high school. Pat and Kim moved to San Marcos 2 years ago from Amarillo and have been with the FCA for almost 25 years now.

“We had a desire to come closer to Kim’s family,” he said. “We were approached to come to the area as the area director.”

The local FCA ministry oversees four counties: Hays County, Bastrop County, Caldwell County and a little bit of Fayette County. He and his staff oversee roughly 35 middle schools and high schools; they also do a lot with the Texas State Athletic department through their ministry with the different teams on campus.

Kim said the ministry isn’t just with the students at Texas State but also the coaches and the coaches’ wives.

The banquet will include a panel of coaches and student-athletes from local high schools and colleges. Austin Sportscaster, Mike Barnes, will moderate. A male and female student from each campus in the area will be recognized for their leadership on their campus.

Pat said for many years, the FCA has used an annual marquee dinner, or banquet, event to highlight and celebrate the ministry that’s happened throughout the year. The event has also served as the organization’s key fundraiser event.

“This is just one of the many events we do throughout the year to help us reach our financial obligations,” he said.

The “Night of Champions” relies on hosts instead of sponsors; a host invites guests to fill his or her table. The celebration will cater close to 250 guests in total. Currently, the ministry is still looking for three to four underwriters to cover expenses.

“There is no charge for the event; it’s table hosts, invitation, so there’s no table fees or anything like that to get into the event,” Ford said.

The event will be held in the San Marcos Academy Dining Room, Sunday, March 25. It will begin with a meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Those interested in becoming a table host can contact Pat at pford@fca.org or call 806-681-6409 or Kim at kford@fca.org or 806-681-6785. Hosts must register their guest by March 19. For more information or volunteer opportunities, contact Pat.

“FCA was just a way for me to connect my faith with sports,” Pat said. “[It] changed my life. And we just felt led by the Lord to go back to the panhandle and to rekindle the FCA staff and ministry there. It’s just an opportunity to fulfill two passions that I have; one is sports, and one is telling people about the lord.”