Coach Humbert has been successful on the court and in the field, but those accomplishments only set the stage for his biggest impact on campus. Every day, he creates a culture that opens the door to the Gospel. His teams have prayed before games for most of his career at Rainy River. Team members initiate praying together, but they invite Coach Humbert to join them, which he usually does. He has seen this simple act draw unbelievers to God as they join the team in prayer. He remembered one girl in particular: “At the beginning of the season, she was skeptical. One time, we were running late and were going out on the court after our pre-game talk when she said, ‘Coach, we can’t go out. We haven’t prayed yet.’”
Coach Humbert - Praying & Multiplying
A story on the impact of a coach in Rainy River, Minnesota
Rainy River Community College is a small college in International Falls on the border between Minnesota in the United States and Ontario, Canada. It is set in the beautiful scenery and fresh air of the Minnesota Northwoods. It may seem like just another small college in rural America, but it captured the heart of Dieter Humbert many years ago as a college student and still captures him today.
Humbert grew up on a small farm in Minnesota several hours from International Falls. He played basketball through high school, for two years at Rainy River Community College and another two years at Minnesota State University – Moorhead where he received a degree in Marketing.
Returning to Rainy River
Humbert pursued a marketing career in St. Cloud before God drew him back to Rainy River 35 years ago as a coach. He spent his first three years there as assistant men’s basketball coach before assuming the role of women’s basketball head coach. He then added softball several years later. During his tenure as head coach, his teams have gone to multiple regional, state, and national championships in both basketball and softball. He has been selected as the MCAC Northern Division Coach of the Year and the NJCAA Division III Region 13B Coach of the Year in both women’s basketball and softball (twice) and the NJCAA Division III National Coach of the Year when his women’s basketball team won the national championship.
That prayer time has made a significant impact on the teams, but that’s not all.
The Start of the FCA Huddle
Humbert knew nothing of FCA in high school or college and wasn’t on board with starting a huddle when initially approached about it. Humbert said, “Cal Barr [FCA Area Director] came to one of the Rainy River games I was coaching and saw how I wrestled with the competitiveness of the game. He talked to me after the game about how God could transform that competitiveness to more joy, peace, and love. He didn’t pressure me but let it permeate in my soul.”
Humbert and his wife, Laurie, later attended an FCA coaches’ retreat at Cal’s invitation, and Humbert liked what he saw. He said, “I saw a bunch of people who loved Christ and wanted to share their faith with their teams.” So when Bill Adamson (FCA Area Representative) approached him about starting an FCA huddle on campus last year, he was ready.
Coach Humbert invited a friend with a strong Christian faith to attend one meeting last year to check it out. Humbert said, “He thought it was amazing that we had people of all different denominations but meet around what unites us and not what divides us. Some of the things that separate us are more of man than of God.” What a great picture of the Kingdom and how necessary for our world today when Christians focus on the Gospel!
Standing through Opposition
Humbert, of course, faces opposition because he is carrying out God’s work. He has been challenged for living out his faith, but he said, “Each time the person who created the problem retired the next year.” He went on to address the opposition coaches sometimes face: “It’s a challenge, but there’s always been the test. Sometimes we fight the world. Sometimes we fight jealousy, accomplishment, or vanity. I know I need to be the best example, yet the devil challenges me all the time. Sometimes I think he’s got it out for me more than other people because I am a threat to him. Every day you need to realize he will try to intervene, divide and conquer, but you can’t let him win.”
Coach Humbert is living out Ephesians 6 where Paul talks about the armor of God. He has learned that “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (6:12) and to “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (6:10). In doing this, he reflects Christ’s love to dozens of athletes each year.
Empowered coaches like Humbert are bringing Christ’s love to high school and college campuses all around the Northland Region, and it is the prayer and goal of the region to see at least one coach like Coach Humbert on every campus in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The difference one multiplying coach can make on a single campus is immense.
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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.
