The Team Spirit

The word that pops up most often in the interview is "amazing." She calls it "the best thing I've had at Harvard so far." And she's not the only one.

For J.V. field hockey player Amy Spalding. Harvard's Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has changed the way she plays field hockey.

"I had just gone through a time of wondering whether I should stay on the team," she says. "Somehow having that fellowship just gives me the energy to keep going and try all the time. For some reason it gives a strength or force to just go out and do it," she adds.

Between 15 and 20 people meet every Sunday night in the Feer Room at Winthrop House for prayer, singing and, most important of all, discussion of the specific problems faced by Christians playing sports at Harvard.

Two students started FCA three years ago, officially as a branch of the Harvard Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF). FCA emphasizes open discussion more than the larger, structured HRCF, because the athletes say they need close interaction to grow as Christians. "Who wants to sit in a group of 12 people and listen to someone talk? It would be as bad as tutorial." Elaine Holpuch, who plays center on the women's basketball team, says.

FCA members describe their shared attitudes about sports much the way a coach would characterize the ideal team spirit. They say they play to win, but winning isn't the most important thing in their lives. They say they want to do well individually, but only because it will help the team as a whole. And they emphasize they want to emulate Christ in their athletics.

Christ in a football helmet?

"I think our emphasis is that we will be Jesus Christ's representatives even--or especially--on the football field," wide receiver Rich Horner says. "It's strange for me to think of Christ as a businessman or in a lot of other contexts as well. We're not all called to be ministers."

But acting Christ-like isn't easy, Holpuch, a second-year member of FCA, says. "In general, to be an athlete you have to have almost a conceited belief in your own abilities, so it's hard for people to recognize they need God." she says. Recognizing that her athletic prowess came from God makes her confident but humble at the same time.

Defensive halfback and group leader John Casto says FCA is an easy first step for looking for Christian support at Harvard. "I relate more easily to athletes: they're more my type of people," he says, adding. "You notice a lot of athletes have friends who are athletes."

As many as 15 football players or about 20 per cent of the team, attend Sunday night meetings and pray before the games--up from only two players last year.

Casto explains. "Other people on the team see us praying and they come up and ask about it. I've really been surprised at the people that have come of the woodwork."

Laxwoman Charlotte Worsley says the FCA's prominent football players are the group's big drawing card for men. Women, who find it easier to acknowledge their Christianity, would come to meetings anyway, she adds.

"John, Tony (Cimmarrusti) and Rich are all really respected on the football team. It enhances guests' impressions to have them involved in the group," she says. "The way FCA is structured I would never see a woman as head of it."

Someone who is prominent is more likely to be listened to by people." Horner says. "And I don't see that as wrong. If you don't really listen, it's hard to make an intelligent decision whether it's true or not."

Horner attributes a lot of his confidence on the field to before-game prayer meetings. He says the quiet time helps him concentrate on the team nature of the sport, so he doesn't get carried away with his individual performance. "Part of being a Christian is that that particular game is not that important in the larger scheme of things," he says.

Casto, an Alabama native, says many men who join the FCA have belonged to the group in high school. That may be one reason why it has taken until this year for the male/female ratio to equalize. Fifty students signed up at registration this year, and members often bring teammates to meetings.

This year the group's meetings have changed slightly, since Casto has added more study of fundamental Christian precepts. Many FCA members are new Christians and hence have little grounding in Scripture.

As part of its outreach, the FCA plans to distribute fliers in conjunction with a UPenn Christian group at tomorrow's football game. Casto also coordinates fellowship meetings at local high schools and churches to explain the purpose of the group.

But the FCA does not suit every Christian athlete. Worsley says a couple people who attended one meeting this fall did not come back. "It's very open and very personal. Some people don't like it, or it's just not what they needed at that time," she adds.

Three other people help Casto plan the meetings. They discuss the topics beforehand to anticipate the group's questions.

"There are lots of things even mature Christians get confused about," Holpuch says. "We don't talk about trans-substantiation or pre-tribulation and post-tribulation rapture or anything like that," she adds.

Holpuch says the group talks about practical problems like how to react "when a coach doesn't play you and you feel you're better than the person in the game." If God wanted her to be playing, she'd be on the court, she adds, admitting "There's a lot to be learned about pride from sitting on the bench."

In a predominantly non-Christian university, FCA members value the support the FCA gives them. But they also agree that elitism--a holier-than-thou attitude toward their teammates--is a potential problem.

"My teammates and I are aware that differences exist in our lifestyles, but that doesn't constitute a barrier on or off the field," Horner says.

Holpuch says her behavior differs little from her teammates' because "everybody on the team is so nice anyway. I may as well be Buddhist," she adds.

Worsley says her teammates care enough about her to care about what she's doing. "Nobody on the team would turn around and call me a weirdo," she says.