As Kent and other coaches walk together through the challenges of coaching, life, and faith, they are better equipped to serve their students. Every coach who has been empowered by FCA to lead well impacts hundreds or even thousands of students in a lifetime, but it goes so far beyond even those students. Kent said, “FCA has had connection to all of the sports groups whether at state tournaments or during camps. It’s a unique and special deal. We need to continue to keep involving people in continuing this ministry.”
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Coach VanOverschelde - Presence
A story on the impact of a coach in Mitchell, South Dakota
Presence.
For Coach Kent VanOverschelde, a social studies teacher and football coach at Mitchell High School in South Dakota, the presence of others has had a significant impact on his faith, coaching, and family life. It has been so powerful that he strives daily to be a presence in the lives of other coaches across the state of South Dakota, as well as the athletes and staff at Mitchell High School and throughout his community.
Presence of Others
FCA has played a large role in Kent’s faith journey. He said, “The Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the relationships I’ve built with Brian Hansen [FCA Area Rep], Coach Young, and others just go on and on, and I’ve benefited greatly. Where I’m at today is a lot due to the mentorship of coaches who have helped and guided me in that process. They were and are people that I spent time with who saw that I needed additional teaching in coaching and living my life.”
These coaches and FCA staff have had a steady presence in Kent’s life and have often showed up just when Kent needed them. For example, when he arrived in Mitchell after several years of teaching in Minnesota, he was considering where he wanted to take the football program. At the very time he was struggling through that process, he ran into FCA volunteer and retired University of Sioux Falls football coach Ron Young in the hallway. Kent said, “He came into my life at a time when I really needed someone to lean on and provide that support.”
Coach Young’s simple presence – just being there in the hallway and starting a conversation at the precise moment Kent needed - had tremendous impact that Kent remembers years later. The same has been true of other volunteers and FCA staff. Kent said, “Brian Hansen and Coach Young have always been consistent and timely. Brian will often bring me new resources, and other times he will just visit. It’s always valuable, helpful, and supportive to be able to call them friends and to know we have a group in the state that through thick or thin, they’re supporting coaches.”
Presence to other Coaches
As Kent has been engaged and equipped through FCA, he is now empowered to bring what he’s learned to others. Today, Kent serves as the president of both the South Dakota High School Coaches Association and the South Dakota Football Coaches Association. This gives him tremendous opportunity to support coaches throughout the state and be that presence in their lives, both in challenging times and great times. As he walks alongside these coaches, opportunities to share the ministry of FCA are abundant. Kent said, “It’s such a natural relationship between athletics/sports, our faith, the mission of FCA, and helping coaches lead and have a support system.”
FCA has had access to numerous coaches clinics, and through 3D coaches training have taught many coaches about the importance of mind, body, and spirit in coaching. That last component often leads to sharing the Gospel and introducing the importance of the faith component in coaching. Kent said, “When we’re intentional in continuing to strive to advance our understanding and belief and it’s a consistent part of our lives, that ability to go from transactional to transformational is an important piece.”
Besides speaking at coaches clinics and providing 3D coaches training, Kent and others started a coaches study over Zoom when Covid started, and a core group continues to meet today. “They are unbelievable men and women that lead and direct as teachers and coaches in the state of South Dakota,” Kent said. “We’ve formed a tightly knit group where we are intentional about sharing in the faith. It’s inspiring and a time I really cherish because we go through the same challenges and want to be at our best as teachers and coaches, and more importantly as parents and spouses. The mentorship of our FCA group makes me more intentional in the classroom and at home.”
Presence Reaching Further
God’s Presence through People
Presence makes a huge impact on the lives of others, and God is revealing His presence to coaches and athletes around South Dakota through FCA staff, retired coaches who serve in FCA coaches ministry, and coaches like Kent who desire to come alongside coaches and athletes in a meaningful way. He is drawing people to Himself in the simple way of leading people to do life together, to walk together when considering what a football program should look like, or the more difficult things of life, like losing a student to suicide or facing community pressure in sports.
God is doing the work, and He is moving through the influencers, like Kent, to bring His love to the coaches and athletes in South Dakota.
Northland FCA Blog
To and through the coach. This strategy brings the mission and vision of FCA to fruition: to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes and to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church. FCA has seen the incredible impact a single coach can have when engaged in a growing relationship with Christ, equipped to lead and serve fellow coaches and athletes, and empowered to do the work. To the Coach Brock Thompson attended the weekly FCA huddle at Blair High School in Nebraska. He grew in his faith, but it wasn’t until years later that God really grabbed hold of his life. He attended the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. In the fall of his senior year, he took a job coaching a high school girls soccer team. That was a major turning point in his life. He says, “At the end of that season I remember feeling called - like this is my path. I had changed my major four times thinking healthcare. That was the first time I felt called to go down a new path.” After graduating with a degree in Biology Education, he served as head coach of the women’s soccer team for three years at Mary (at the age of 22) and then at the University of North Dakota. Thompson admitted that his early years of coaching were more about his own achievements than the teams he coached. He says, “I wanted to coach at the highest level. My focus was on climbing the ladder of success and coaching the biggest and best place I could.”
“If not us, then who, if not me and you? Right now, it's time for us to do something. If not now, then when will we see an end to all this pain? It's not enough to do nothing. It's time for us to do something.” The sentiment of these words, sung by contemporary recording artist Matthew West, is what drives Coach Tom Milbrandt as a math teacher, football coach, and FCA huddle coach at Valley City High School in North Dakota. He doesn’t want to take life for granted for even one moment, and he knows God has him at Valley City to bring the light of Jesus to every student and athlete he meets. Five years ago, he made a transition from Maple Valley High School to Valley City. He says, “I never thought I’d end up in a bigger school. I was nervous about going from a smaller, class B school with two hallways to a bigger city and class A school, but it’s my opportunity to reach more kids.” Coach Milbrandt has a positive impact on 500 kids every day, from those he coaches in 7th grade football, to his math students, to every student he passes in the hall, and to the FCA huddle members. Coach Milbrandt is driven by what Christ has done for him. He says, “I serve because that’s what I feel led to do. I love the Lord and want people to see that. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect – I fail – but my sins are covered, and I want kids to know that. Knowing Christ, the world’s going to look different to you and you will look different to the world, and even your everyday language will look different. If I can model that to kids, what better place to do that than in a public school?” On the Field Coach Milbrandt has been coaching since he returned to his hometown of Hankinson, North Dakota, during the summers while he was in college. It was during that time that he was moved toward a career in education and coaching. He says, “You have much different relationships when you coach. It’s on a more personal level and makes a greater impact on your athletes’ lives.” He knew even then that he wanted to have an impact on as many people as possible, and he knew that coaching and teaching was a great way to do it.
It’s easy to underestimate the impact one person can have in a world with such great need, but the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has witnessed time and time again the influence one coach can have on an athlete, a team, and a school. God uses coaches to influence young people on and off the field every single day through their words and actions. One such coach is a young man named John Dewitt. Coach Dewitt is a native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. During high school, he played football, wrestling, baseball, and ran track and cross country. He grew in his love of running and found he was especially fond of the longest distances, like the two-mile run for track. When he attended UW-Oshkosh for secondary math education, he kept running, again gravitating toward the longest distance - the 10k. He regularly ran 80-110 miles per week in college (that’s 15-18 miles per day!). After college, he just kept running and extended up to the marathon, where he has qualified for two U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. He has no plans of stopping and feels he has great running years ahead of him. A Teacher and Coach for God Dewitt’s love of running made him a natural for coaching track and cross country at Nathan Hale High School in West Allis, Wisconsin, where he has taught upper-level math classes since 2014. While he trains athletes and prepares students for post-secondary education, he is at West Allis for so much more than that.
Contact Info
5217 Jansen Ave NE, St Michael, MN, 55376, United States
jconklin@fca.org