Sports Spectrum Magazine - Summer 2020 by Sports Spectrum

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10 1

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COMPASSION

IS GREATER THAN COVID-19 Nate Solder (NY Giants)

#TeamUp with pro athletes to help children in poverty through this crisis.

to these desperate children and families — often door to door. They need our help.

We’re all feeling the weight of COVID-19, but for those living in extreme poverty, this pandemic has been devastating. COVID-19 has interrupted care for nearly 70,000 children around the world. That’s the capacity of the average NFL stadium!

Pro athletes have teamed up to respond to this challenge. With your help, together we can get urgent support to a stadium’s worth of children in crisis.

As the world is in the grips of COVID-19, it has led to more than sickness. Parents can’t work. Food is scarce. But Frontline Church Partners around the world are courageously delivering essential items

Join football legends Nate Solder, Matthew Slater, Nick Foles and many more.

This is one stadium that can’t remain empty. Join the movement. Donate today at compassion.com/TeamUp

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CONTENTS

13 — When Sports Stood Still Stories of faith from an unprecedented time.

14 — Athletes Meeting Needs

Pros stepping up to serve communities.

16 — Shaped By The Savior

Steven Souza spent 2019 rehabbing a brutal knee injury from spring training, one year after missing half a season due to another spring-training injury. So 2020 was supposed to be a fresh start on a new team — until this spring was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

20 — Prime Time To Refocus

Twelve-year NBA veteran Anthony Tolliver has spent many nights away from his family during his career, so he’s been relishing his unexpected time at home during the NBA shutdown. And he’s leading his family to trust in a God that is bigger than anything.

24 — For Such A Time As This

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen (AP Photo/Mark Black)

UCLA’s Natalie Chou is speaking out on behalf of the Asian American community and finding strength in Christ during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Heart of a Coach” and “Heart of an Athlete” are registered trademarks of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and used with permission.

28 — Faithful To Purpose

COVER • PHOTO CREDITS:

PUBLISHER Sports Spectrum Media PRESIDENT Steve Stenstrom

VP OF MINISTRY OPERATIONS Howard Haworth DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Rick Wright MANAGING EDITOR Jon Ackerman, jon@sportsspectrum.com ART DIRECTOR Aaron Dean Sauer, aaron@sportsspectrum.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Becky York PODCAST HOST/PRODUCER Jason Romano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cole Claybourn, Joshua Doering, Kevin Mercer, Jimmy Page, Joshua Pease, Reza Zadeh BUSINESS OPERATIONS Jacob House, Tricia Hudson COPY EDITOR Lori Stenstrom

Sports Spectrum Global is a multimedia ministry with the purpose to impact people by connecting faith and sports in a relevant way, ultimately directing people, with resources for discipleship, toward a personal, loving God who demands Christ-centered lives. Printed in USA. Copyright © 2020 by Sports Spectrum Media. Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SPORTS SPECTRUM, 640 Plaza Dr., Ste 110, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129

Olympic gold medalist David Boudia experienced ultimate success at a young age and could have succumbed to fame. But a Christ-following coach helped keep him on the narrow path, on which Boudia remains while seeking his fourth Olympics and fifth Olympic medal.

32 — Christlike & Competitive

One of the world’s premier volleyball players, Micah Christenson plays professionally in Italy, which he had to flee due to the coronavirus. Back home in Hawaii, he now waits to reunite with the U.S. national team aiming for gold in 2021.

36 — Back In The Game, With Purpose

Cat Osterman starred on two Olympic medal-winning softball teams and retired in 2015. But the legend returned for another shot at the Olympics (now a year later than expected) and a chance to grow in her faith alongside some bold Christ-following teammates.

40 — Running With An Anchor

Bouncing around foster homes instilled a fight and determination in Carlin Isles, now known as the “fastest man in rugby.” He’s followed God’s lead to the height of his sport, and continues to trust in Him as he waits longer than expected for another shot at an Olympic medal.

45 — The Increase Devotionals Messages from professional athletes, chaplains and leaders.

62 — The Pursuit: The Champion’s Mindset

By Jimmy Page

63 — Victory Beyond Competition: Identity Without Sport By Reza Zadeh + PLUS Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for current news and updates!

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2 - By the Numbers | 4 - Around the Spectrum | 6 - SportsSpectrum.com | 8 - Heart of an Athlete & Coach | 64 - Gospel Message

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BY THE NUMBERS

Number of players selected from Southeastern Conference, including record 15 first-round picks.

Amount donated by QB Drew Brees to aid state of Louisiana in coronavirus prevention (see more on page 14).

Amount raised through NFL Draft-A-Thon for COVID-19 relief efforts.

NFL via AP, AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, Vasha Hunt, Jim Mone

Viewers for 2020 NFL Draft, most-watched ever and 35 percent more than 2019 draft.

5MIL 6.8MIL 63 14

55MIL

Number of LSU players selected in NFL Draft, tying mark set by Ohio State in 2004.

BY THE NUMBERS 2

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BY THE NUMBERS

AP Photo/Roger Steinman, Nati Harnik, Beth A. Keiser, Matt Slocum

6,500 11K+

6.1MIL

72% 118.75MIL Percentage of NCAA’s annual revenue that comes from its TV deal for March Madness, which was canceled this year.

Viewers for Episodes 1 & 2 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries on Michael Jordan and 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, most-viewed ESPN documentary ever.

Number of athletes expected to compete in 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Approximate number of athletes who already earned berths in Tokyo Games, and will keep spots for 2021.

Estimated revenue per home game for Dallas Cowboys, which they stand to lose if any games are canceled (per GOBankingRates).

BY THE NUMBERS www.sportsspectrum.com

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AROUND AROUND THE SPECTRUM

PRO BASEBALL RETURNS TOKYO 2020 IN 2021

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed until 2021, marking the first time the Olympics were delayed instead of canceled, as they were in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World Wars I & II. The Games will officially keep the name “Tokyo 2020” for marketing and branding. When they do take place, they will make Tokyo the first Asian city to host the Summer Games twice, after first hosting in 1964. The Tokyo Games will see the introduction of four new sports — karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding — and the return of baseball/softball.

After experiencing the first April without MLB games since 1883, baseball fans were treated to the return of professional baseball in May — from South Korea. The Korea Baseball Organization began its season May 5, one of the first major sports leagues to return to action during the coronavirus pandemic. Coaches and players wear masks often, masks and sanitary gloves are mandatory for umpires, and rules now prohibit spitting and high-fives. If any team member tests positive for COVID-19 at any point in the season, the league will be suspended for at least three weeks.

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Lee Jin-man

MLBERS IN OLYMPICS?

“The 2021 Olympics are next year because of the coronavirus. Why not shock the world and put all your big leaguers back into the Olympics?” That’s the stance from Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper, who points out that baseball is as popular in Japan as anywhere else in the world. One of the biggest stars could be Japan’s Shohei Ohtani, who plays for the L.A. Angels with American Mike Trout, widely considered the best player in baseball. Harper imagines those two facing off in an Olympic showdown: “It fires me up sitting here,” he told Barstool Sports.

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BASKETBALL | BASEBALL | FOOTBALL | SOCCER | HOCKEY

HE SPECTRUM AROUND THE SPECTRUM

AUDIENCE OF ONE

AP Photo/Chris Pietsch, AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki; Twitter.com/tua

Drafted by Miami with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Tua Tagovailoa chose No. 1 for his jersey number. Hailed as the most anticipated Dolphins quarterback since Hall of Famer Dan Marino, Tagovailoa couldn’t wear the No. 13 he sported in college because that was Marino’s number, which the franchise has retired. So Tagovailoa will be the first Dolphins quarterback to wear No. 1, and it bears significant meaning. In revealing his number, Tagovailoa posted a picture of him in a No. 1 jersey on social media, with a caption reading, “For the Audience of 1.”

CHARGERS STUD

In January 2017, Kenneth Murray tweeted, “3 years from now I will be a 1st round draft pick as a OLB....JUST WAIT.” In April, with the 23rd pick in the NFL draft, the L.A. Chargers made Murray a prophet. He’s the son of a pastor, was an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Oklahoma, has twice saved people by administering CPR, and says his first concern with his NFL income is to set up funds for his siblings to receive long-term care. Murray has three adopted siblings who have special needs. www.sportsspectrum.com

DUCKS DOMINATE DRAFT

Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, as expected, was selected at No. 1 by the New York Liberty in the WNBA Draft on April 21, and the virtual event became the most-watched WNBA Draft in 16 years. It averaged 387,000 viewers on ESPN, up 123 percent over the 2019 draft. Ionescu became the first Oregon women’s player to be selected No. 1, and her Liberty jersey sold out from the WNBA website within an hour. College teammates Satou Sabally (No. 2 to Dallas) and Ruthy Hebard (No. 8 to Chicago) were also selected; Oregon previously had never even had a WNBA first-round pick.

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GOLF | SOFTBALL | OLYMPICS | TENNIS | RACING

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.COM

MYRON ROLLE,

FORMER NFL SAFETY, BATTLING CORONAVIRUS AS NEUROSURGERY RESIDENT, CHRIST’S By Riley Zayas by SERVANT JON ACKERMAN

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He eventually turned to Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews for help. “Andrews talked about the Bible,” wrote ESPN’s Wright Thompson, “and he told Rolle that he had an uncontrollable love, and that God wanted him to see this woman and feel her pain and be inspired to do something. God, his coach told him, wants you to help her. … [Rolle] didn’t need to know someone to love them, to want to serve them. Feeling the link between two souls who walked different lives, and had different backgrounds, changed him.” Rolle often speaks about his faith, describing himself as a “believer” and “brother in Christ” on social media. After getting married recently, he posted, “God’s good.” In college, Rolle often struggled with which career he should pursue — an athletic one or medical one. And he would talk about how each pursuit made him feel. In 2017, he described to the Washington Post the first time he was able to assist in a surgery that removed a tumor from a child’s brain. “I obviously felt adrenaline rushes playing football, and I felt big when I made a big play and the crowd is going wild,” he said. “But there was never anything like that, where the feeling just completely took over my whole body. It was like, this is it. This is the calling. “Maybe football happened because I’m big, fast, tall, whatever. Maybe God put that in me because these are my physical attributes, and I had a mind for the game. But I don’t know if everyone finds that thing where just their whole body becomes so charged up.” Rolle found that playing football was a season in his life, and practicing medicine became his career. But serving and helping others is his calling.

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Tennessee Titans safety Myron Rolle in 2011. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

TEN YEARS ago, the Tennessee Titans used one of their sixth-round picks (No. 207 overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft on Myron Rolle, a standout defensive back from Florida State. He was a standout because of his football talent — third-team All-American in 2008 — but also because of his academics. Many thought he could be a first-round draft pick, and that was his goal. But in 2008, Rolle was named a Rhodes Scholar, the United States’ highest academic honor. He skipped his senior season of football at Florida State to pursue post-grad work at Oxford University in England, ultimately earning a Master of Science in medical anthropology. When he returned and entered the NFL Draft, teams were concerned about his commitment to football. Thus, he slid to the sixth round. Rolle spent three years in the NFL, though he never appeared in a regular-season game. He later returned to Florida State to earn his medical degree, and went on to study neurosurgery at Harvard. Rolle is now a third-year neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He’s one of the many medical workers on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19, and he recently detailed a day in his life with ESPN. “Football has never left me,” Rolle said in the video. “I still wake up in the morning and think of the operating room like a game. Like it’s showtime, let’s perform. I gotta do what I go to do, because people are counting on us right now. This is our time to help very sick people. So that motivation continues to drive me every single day.” Rolle has long had a heart to help others. He detailed one poignant moment in his life to ESPN in a story years ago, describing a time when he began crying upon seeing a waitress full of “suffering and sadness.” “Why am I feeling this way? I’ve never felt this way about a stranger,” Rolle wondered. “Why am I hurting? Why is my soul hurting?”

NFL Veteran Benjamin Watson, along with his wife Kirsten Watson, have been leaders on Team Freedom for International Justice Mission (IJM) for many years. International Justice Mission works to rescue children and families from slavery, trafﬁcking and other forms of violence, and then walks with them through healing and restoration. “It’s a humbling and holy experience to meet young girls and boys who were once exploited and abused and see that they are now healing—and through that healing and restoration, they are able to embrace the wholeness of life that God intended for them. We have joined IJM’s Team Freedom with other pro athlete families to use our time, platform, and gifts on behalf of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. I hope you will join us in this important fight. Until all are free.” -Benjamin and Kirsten Watson

Join the Watsons in the fight to end slavery: IJM.org/TF

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HEART OF AN ATHLETE

HEART ATHLETE

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” — Proverbs 21:31

OF AN

HIGH SCHOOL

RILEY ZAYAS

HOW HAS YOUR FAITH IMPACTED THE WAY YOU PLAY YOUR SPORT? My faith impacts the way I play my sport in two areas the most: attitude and action. When you have a positive Christ-like attitude, whether or not your game is going well, you are able to keep both yourself and your team focused. Throughout the Bible, almost all of God’s leaders, from the prophets to His New Testament followers, had good attitudes. No matter what they went through, they continued to go back out there. Actions speak louder than words. When you’re a leader on a team, people look to you. When you’re showing Christ-like qualities and not getting frustrated or losing your temper, that can spill over to the rest of your team. HOW HAS YOUR FAITH BEEN CHALLENGED WHILE COMPETING? Sometimes kids can lose their temper quickly, but I try my best not to fall into that category. If a referee makes a bad call and the bench is all up in arms, I try to maintain a quiet attitude and set an example for others. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE AND WHY? Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” To me, this verse solidifies what Christian athletes should be striving for as they work, play and train with the gifts and talents God has given them. Then, whether they experience victory or defeat, all the glory belongs to God. Our praise should always be vertical, knowing this isn’t done by us, but through us by God.

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RILEY ZAYAS - ROUND ROCK, TX

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN INFLUENCED BY YOUR COACHES? I’ve had a few great coaches, specifically Master Young and Master Higgins — my taekwondo coaches. They don’t value winning over everything like a lot of coaches do. Whenever we’re at competitions, they focus on the team first. They’re always there to help all of us keep going, and if we have questions or doubts about how we’re doing, they are there for us. If I feel like I haven’t done well, they’re there to encourage me. Also, Mike Suits was my baseball coach for four seasons and he has really taught me a lot about baseball, as well as helped me always find a way to improve, which has helped me become the player I am today. TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

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Photos courtesy of Riley Zayas

Riley Zayas just finished his freshman year as a homeschooler in Round Rock, Texas. He competes in basketball, long-distance running, swimming, baseball and taekwondo (in which he’s a black belt). In two of the last three years, Riley’s team, of which he is a leader, has placed first in the Texas taekwondo tournament.

HOW HAS YOUR FAMILY BEEN AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOU? My family is a huge encouragement to me. They’re always there for me, supporting and encouraging me, whether I’m competing well or not. They also keep me humble, and if I achieve success, they keep me grounded. My family has always had a God-first, faith-first, and then family-first mindset. Also, my younger brother, who also competes in the sports I do, encourages and challenges me to be my best, as I do for him.

HEART OF A COACH

HEART COACH

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” — James 1:2-3

OF A

HIGH SCHOOL

MATT YEMM

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT COACHING? The relationships. The first year I started coaching, I thought I wanted to do it because I loved football, but I soon realized that relationships are what matter the most. These high schoolers are at such malleable points to gain wisdom from mentors. As coaches, we spend so much time with these kids, sometimes more time than their own parents. We can role model and mentor in ways that many of these kids need and might not have at home. There are so many young men we can impact by how we live our lives! HOW DOES YOUR FAITH IMPACT HOW YOU COACH? My faith is everything. If we want to be the role models we’re supposed to be — a positive influence in their lives — we first have to model our lives after Jesus. It’s impossible to be perfect, but we can model what Jesus did and His love for others. Whenever I’m in the Word, that’s what strikes me most about Jesus — He did everything with love. HOW DO YOU SHARE YOUR FAITH IN JESUS WITH THOSE YOU COACH? Prior to being the head coach, I came to the school once a week during the kids’ lunch break to do a Bible study with them. Being in a public school, there are limitations as to what I can share, but I’ve found that if I live my life modeling Christ the best I can, it can lead to conversations about faith. Kids want to know why I’m different and what I believe. At that point, I feel comfortable sharing.

Coach Matt Yemm grew up playing football in Colorado. Graduating from high school and college in his hometown of Fort Collins, Coach Yemm returned to Fort Collins High School to coach. After being an assistant football coach for seven years, he took over as head coach in 2019, in addition to his role as a physical education and weight-training teacher. www.sportsspectrum.com

please email us at heart@sportsspectrum.com.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN IMPACTED BY YOUR PLAYERS? Every single day I learn from my players. Many may not consider Fort Collins the most diverse town in the world, but on our football team we have kids from Africa, Mexico, Korea, players with Native American roots, as well as white kids and black kids. We have a really diverse set of kids on our team and they all work so well together. Their diversity isn’t noticed because it doesn’t matter. Even though they all come from different places, they all have the same goal. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE AND WHY? “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” — James 1:2-3 We are going to have struggles in life. We aren’t to dwell on them but instead view it as a gift that God puts us through difficult moments to help us grow closer to Him. SPORTS SPECTRUM

MATT YEMM - FORT COLLINS, CO

HEART OF AN ATHLETE

HEART ATHLETE

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7

OF AN

COLLEGE

OLIVIA NICHOLSON

HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW CHRIST? I grew up Lutheran, but I didn’t like church until I met the youth pastor at our church who showed me that worshipping God doesn’t have to be boring. It can be a joyful expression. This new revelation sparked my interest in Jesus. I accepted Jesus at an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) conference my junior year of high school, but being a science-minded person, I had a lot of doubts and struggled to understand much of faith. When I got to CSU, there was a girl who began discipling me and it was to her that I finally voiced some of my doubts. She told me it was normal to have questions about faith and helped walk me through that. It was at this time I finally opened my heart to begin a personal relationship with Jesus. HOW DO YOU WORSHIP GOD THROUGH YOUR SPORT? Having to undergo shoulder surgery and experience a breakup with my boyfriend after my freshman season, my world was rocked. Coming off my injury, I found myself playing four different positions on the team, and there were matches I didn’t get to play at all. During this time, as I cried and cried, the Lord spoke to me and showed me that volleyball was not who I was, it was what I did — a gift from Him. I soon discovered that it didn’t matter how well I played or what position I played, my identity was found in Jesus. I then experienced the joy and freedom of knowing I wasn’t at CSU for volleyball, I was there for Him. IN WHAT WAYS HAS YOUR COACH INFLUENCED YOU? We have a female assistant coach, Emily, who is amazing. She allows us to feel heard and valued, never making us feel small or lower than her. Because of the position I often play, I don’t usually get the stats or the interviews, but Emily often encourages me by saying that we wouldn’t be Mountain West champions if I didn’t play the role I did.

Nebraska-born Olivia Nicholson just finished her final season of collegiate volleyball at Colorado State, having helped lead her team to Mountain West Conference championships three years in a row. In her final season in 2019, the Rams went undefeated in conference play, only the third time this was accomplished in CSU’s history.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE AND WHY? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7 I wrote this verse on my shoes this year, so that I would remember the freedom I have to play for Christ and be in the moment.

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OLIVIA NICHOLSON - COLORADO STATE

Photo courtesy of Olivia Nicholson

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR TEAMMATES REMEMBER ABOUT YOU? I would hope they remember how intentional I was. Relationships are huge for me. I love getting coffee with girls and just talking with them about life. When people do this for me, it makes me feel known and valued, so I hope they feel that from me. At the end of the day, you’re not going to remember the scores, but what you will remember are the relationships built and how people made you feel.

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HEART OF A COACH

HEART COACH

OF A

COLLEGE

RHETT SOLIDAY

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST PART OF COACHING? It’s been really neat because my children have grown up in Vanguard’s gym. It’s fun to see not only the growth of the program, but also the growth of my family within this community. Coaching is a family affair; everyone’s involved. My kids know the players and look up to them as big brothers. Now it’s getting to the point where a lot of guys are out there with their own families. They now too are able to impact others as they step into the role of husbands, fathers and professionals in the workplace. WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF COACHING? I am continually learning the value or, more accurately, the necessity of submission. Many of the players who come to Vanguard have never experienced falling short. As their head coach, I want to be the guy who not only initiates the change I want to see, I want to try to create it as well. To do so, I need to submit to God myself and encourage the athletes to invite God’s Spirit to move within them. None of us have the ability to change others, or even ourselves. We can make choices that lead to change, but it’s ultimately God who makes the growth change in us. WHAT DO YOU TELL NEW RECRUITS? We focus on character first. The one thing we tell recruits is that at Vanguard, we are going to dive head first into each one of your lives, and if the idea of that makes you uncomfortable, you probably shouldn’t come. If you don’t have a hunger for discovering who God says you are and who He created you to be, then don’t come.

Photo courtesy of Vanguard University Athletics

WHAT WOULD YOU HOPE YOUR PLAYERS SAY ABOUT YOU? I would hope that players would say that Coach loved me for more than just what I did, he loved me for who I am. We tell our guys that their production and value are two completely separate things. Whether they play 35 minutes a game or they don’t hit the floor at all, every player is loved because they have deep value, not because of what they produce.

Rhett Soliday recently finished his 10th season as the men’s head basketball coach at Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, Calif.). Soliday led the Lions to the 2014 NAIA Division I national championship, and that same year was named the 2013-2014 Rawlings-NAIA Division I National Coach of the Year.

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please email us at heart@sportsspectrum.com.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE AND WHY? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7 One of my challenges is competing from a place of peace, every day, not just when it’s game time. Every day that I wake up, my goal is to go 1-0 that day. Going 1-0 each day, whether it’s a game day, practice day or an off day, means competing with an absence of fear and anxiety. SPORTS SPECTRUM

RHETT SOLIDAY - VANGUARD UNIVERSITY

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WHEN SPORTS STOOD STILL “THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU; THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE ON YOU AND BE GRACIOUS TO YOU; THE LORD TURN HIS FACE TOWARD YOU AND GIVE YOU PEACE.” — NUMBERS 6:24-26

“HE SAYS, ‘BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD; I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE NATIONS, I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH.’” — PSALM 46:10

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This Summer 2020 issue was supposed to preview the Olympics. It was going to highlight Olympians’ tales of perseverance, determination and faith; stories of athletes who often live and compete in relative obscurity compared with some of their more-televised counterparts. The Summer Games every four years are when the sports world turns its eye toward these not-as-well-known elite athletes. But as we’ve all come to realize now more than ever, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21). As you’ll see, we still feature Olympians’ powerful stories in this issue (diving gold medalist David Boudia, volleyball star Micah Christenson, softball legend Cat Osterman, and rugby sensation Carlin Isles), touching on how the Olympic postponement impacts them personally. But we also sought out perspective from MLB (Chicago Cubs’ Steven Souza), the NBA (Memphis Grizzlies’ Anthony Tolliver) and the NCAA (UCLA’s Natalie Chou). We hope these stories bring you insight into how the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has impacted these athletes’ worlds, but also inspire you in how these athletes have relied on their faith in Christ during this unprecedented time. We may not understand why our “normal” day-to-day lives have been upended, or why some people are losing their jobs, or why this virus is severely impacting some regions of the world. But we can pray for all the people who have fallen ill with COVID-19, for the medical workers doing everything in their power to care for patients who need hospital care, for the families struggling to make ends meet, and for all the workers — volunteer or paid — who are serving their communities in one way or another. Sports will return at some point, and businesses will open up once again. The effects of this pandemic may be short-lived for some, or long-lasting for others. Whatever situation you find yourself in today, we pray that you listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and discern what the Lord may be trying to teach you during this time. We pray that you take the time — if you haven’t already — to love and appreciate those around you.

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AT H L E T E S

MEETING NEEDS Brittany donate Drew Brees, wife d Louisiana in ai $5 million to tion coronavirus preven

Jeremy Lin’s fo 1 million Chinesundation provides e yuan equipment in W for medical uhan

Russell 1 millionWilson, wife Ciara meals to Seattle fadonate milies

Bismack Biyombo Foundation delivers $1 million of medical equipment to Congo 14

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Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision for NFL/AP Images, Nick Wass, Frank Franklin II, Ted S. Warren, Nick Wass

Steven Matz’s TRU3 2 ogram donates $32,000 to NYC firpr st responders and hospitals

AT H L E T E S M E E T I N G N E E D S

, wife Jenny donate Adam Wainwrightlp minor leaguers $250,000 to he

Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby among players to donate 500,000 masks through CCM

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, Michael Ainsworth, Jeff Haynes, Stuart Ramson

Donovan Mitchel Utah students wl covers costs for ho need meals

MEETING NEEDS Steph, 1 millionAyesha Curry help meals to Oakland provide students

Nate Solder donates $1 million to help families in poverty through Compassion International

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STEVEN SOUZA

STEVEN SOUZA SPENT 2019 REHABBING A BRUTAL KNEE INJURY FROM SPRING TRAINING, ONE YEAR AFTER MISSING HALF A SEASON DUE TO ANOTHER SPRINGTRAINING INJURY. SO 2020 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FRESH START ON A NEW TEAM — UNTIL THIS SPRING WAS INTERRUPTED BY THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. by

SHAPED BY THE

KEVIN MERCER ARIZONA Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed won’t soon forget his first interaction with Steven Souza. The year was 2013, and both Ahmed and Souza were participants in the Arizona Fall League, an offseason league run by Major League Baseball that attracts many of the game’s top minor-league prospects. Ahmed’s Salt River Rafters were playing Souza’s Mesa Solar Sox. “The day I met him, he introduced himself to me on a baseball field,” Ahmed recalled to Sports Spectrum. “Never met him or seen him before. ‘Hey man, I heard you love Jesus!’ He just came up and gave me a big hug and then kind of ran off. He’s got a different boldness about him. His personality is engaging.” Fast forward nearly seven years, Souza is now on a one-year contract he signed in January with the Chicago Cubs. The 31-year-old outfielder is looking to bounce back from a major knee injury which kept him out all of 2019, which followed a 2018 season that saw him miss more than half the year due to a pectoral injury. The six-year MLB veteran’s new teammates were just getting familiar with a voice that commands the attention of a clubhouse when the coronavirus pandemic brought the 2020 season to a halt in mid-March.

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SHAPED BY THE SAVIOR

“JUST BECAUSE I’M A CHRISTIAN, IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT I’M GOING TO BE RICH, POWERFUL AND EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK THE REST OF MY LIFE. THAT’S NOT WHY YOU COMMIT YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST. YOU COMMIT YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST BECAUSE OF THE FORGIVING GRACE HE HAS FOR YOU.” — STEVEN SOUZA

“I stunk really bad my first four years in pro baseball, and not only did I stink, I just didn’t have a whole lot of genuine relationships that were more than just surfacelevel,” he said. Through the 2011 season, as Souza labored through Single-A baseball, his batting average never rose above .240. He struck out often. In 2010, he endured a 50-game suspension for use of a banned substance. Off the field, he treated people poorly. Midway through the 2011 season, his manager with the Potomac Nationals informed Souza that he wouldn’t be starting that day’s game due to a violation of team rules. “I called the GM and I said, ‘I quit. I’m done,’” Souza said, though he didn’t actually follow through. Deep down, Souza admits now, “when [baseball] was torn from me, I didn’t know who I was anymore.”

Souza returned to the Nationals’ organization in 2012, but the pride he felt from his glory days as a high-school hotshot and a high draft pick lingered.

O N S U N D AY

mornings as a kid in Everett, Washington, Souza begrudgingly went with his parents to church, although reading the Bible for himself was a foreign concept. Once Souza fell in love with sports and extra demands were placed on his time, any faith he had quickly shriveled up. As his star rose, there were reporters, colleges and eventually professional baseball teams clamoring for his attention. He thought he wanted more of what the world offered; he felt like he needed more. Yet after years in minor league baseball, he was closer to being out of the sport altogether

But once baseball hopefully returns this summer, the Cubs will fully get to experience a teammate who aims to make members of that clubhouse into better baseball players and men. “When he has something on his mind that’s important to say, he’s not going to shy away from that, whether that’s an easy conversation to have or a difficult one,” Ahmed said. Souza is known for his characteristic boldness, especially in his faith. Yet there was a time in his baseball career when God was the last thing on his mind.

SOUZA starred in both baseball and football during his time at Cascade High School near Seattle, Washington, and had even committed to play both sports at Washington State University. Yet when the Washington (D.C.) Nationals selected Souza in the third round of the 2007 MLB Draft, he jumped at the opportunity to be a professional baseball player and all that would come with it. “I tried to have money and fame be my god really quickly,” Souza said recently on the Sports Spectrum Podcast, “because everybody knew I was drafted really high, had a lot of money as an 18-year-old. And that can be really dangerous.” Upon his arrival in the minor leagues, Souza did not find things to be as straightforward as he may have imagined, on the field or off. www.sportsspectrum.com

SPORTS SPECTRUM

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Matt York

than he was to reaching the majors. The life he thought he was supposed to be living — the one he was sure would give him fulfillment — had done little to satisfy. It was through a conversation at the wedding of one of his friends that God began to reveal to Souza He re-aggravated it in late May, and the injury lingered that true and lasting satisfaction only comes through a throughout the season as Souza appeared in only 72 relationship with Christ. With his interest piqued, Souza games. His batting average dipped to .220 and he turned to the Bible for the first time to learn more managed only 53 hits and five home runs. about Jesus. The words he saw there, he said, spoke to Injury struck again the following spring, this time his heart. He found himself encountering God on each when Souza stepped and slipped on home plate in the page and in each prayer, and by God’s grace he came second-to-last exhibition game, just three days before the to believe and get baptized. regular season was to begin. “I knew [my baptism] was something that I could “What felt like an eternity sliding across home proclaim that I’m headed in a different direction,” plate with my leg happened in just seconds and it Souza said. “Like, I’m moving away from the world and changed the trajectory of my career,” he said. “It was I’m moving towards Jesus and I want everybody to hard. It was really hard at first. I think probably those know so they can hold me accountable. I did that and first two weeks my life was after were really just radically difficult for me.” changed.” Souza had Souza “I KNEW [MY BAPTISM] WAS torn a number was a new of ligaments in man in Christ. SOMETHING THAT I COULD PROCLAIM his left knee, As the lure THAT I’M HEADED IN A DIFFERENT including his of his past DIRECTION. LIKE, I’M MOVING AWAY ACL. His 2019 lifestyle season was over melted away, FROM THE WORLD AND I’M MOVING before it began. he resolved TOWARDS JESUS AND I WANT Ahmed to build a EVERYBODY TO KNOW SO THEY CAN had a frontbaseball row seat in the career that HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE.” Diamondbacks didn’t end clubhouse to in the minor — STEVEN SOUZA observe Souza’s leagues. response to the adversity of not one, but two injury-plagued seasons. SOUZA’S “Just to see him go through those injuries and stick the course spiritually and not give up on God or have renewed focus and determination on the field a bad attitude out there on a daily basis, but still be a resulted in a few consecutive good seasons and he good teammate, still help out in any way that he could, climbed the minor-league ladder. Finally, in April 2014, encouraging guys, and at the same time getting all Souza made his long-awaited major-league debut with his work in to recover as fast as he possibly could [was the Washington Nationals. He played 21 MLB games impressive],” Ahmed said. that year and recorded three hits (two of which were Buoyed by his faith in Christ and the instruction of home runs). Scripture, Souza set out to return in 2020 and make it his Souza landed with the Tampa Bay Rays after a best season yet. three-team trade in December 2014, and it was there “When it all settles down,” Souza said, “you get that Souza would establish himself as an everyday MLB to the point of seeing, ‘What is God trying to teach me right fielder. The Tampa teams he was on never made through this? What do I need to learn through this and the playoffs, but Souza was able to showcase his hitting how do I come out of this and say that I thrived in this prowess; he belted 63 home runs during his three scenario?’ Because God uses suffering and struggles years there. His best statistical season in the majors was to help mold us and shape us into the image of Jesus. 2017, when he collected 125 hits, 30 home runs and And when I concentrated on that through this rehab, it 78 RBIs. was easy.” Souza was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in February 2018, reuniting him with an old friend from the Arizona Fall League — Nick Ahmed. Souza was SOUZA hopeful to bring his burgeoning game to his new team, became a free agent in December, and a month but spring training did not go as hoped. later signed with a Chicago Cubs team that was on He strained his right pectoral muscle that March, the cusp of the National League playoffs last fall. As causing him to miss the first 30 games of the season. TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

STEVEN SOUZA

Steven Souza with the Diamondbacks in 2018

Souza and his new teammates were preparing for the 2020 season in spring training — during which Souza hit all the recovery checkpoints he needed to and declared himself 100 percent healthy — everything came screeching to a halt with the looming threat of the coronavirus pandemic. The league-wide shutdown sent Souza back home with his wife, Mikaela, and their two kids. Another spring, another delay in Souza finding his form. “My last three springs, they have not gone according to plan,” he said. But after two years of more rehab than real games, Souza fell right back into an at-home routine. And when the season picks back up, the veteran will be more than ready for opportunities to be bold in sharing his long, winding and often painful journey of baseball and faith with the entire Cubs clubhouse. “Just because I’m a Christian, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to be rich, powerful and everything is going to be OK the rest of my life,” Souza said. “That’s not why you commit your life to Christ. You commit your life to Christ because of the forgiving grace He has for you and because the perfect path He has for you is unlike and unmatched by anything out there. The hope that you can have through Him, that it’s not in this life but the one to come, it’s irreplaceable.” www.sportsspectrum.com

SPORTS SPECTRUM

TWELVE-YEAR NBA VETERAN ANTHONY TOLLIVER HAS SPENT MANY NIGHTS AWAY FROM HIS FAMILY DURING HIS CAREER, SO HE’S BEEN RELISHING HIS UNEXPECTED TIME AT HOME DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. AND HE’S LEADING HIS FAMILY TO TRUST IN A GOD THAT IS BIGGER THAN ANYTHING.

b y JASON ROMANO

ANTHONY TOLLIVER IS A FORWARD FOR THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES, HIS 11TH FRANCHISE IN 12 NBA SEASONS. HE ENTERED THE LEAGUE AS AN UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT OUT OF CREIGHTON AND SIGNED WITH THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS IN 2008. SINCE THEN, HE HAS PLAYED 711 CAREER NBA GAMES. IN 2019, HE SIGNED A DEAL WITH THE PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS BUT WAS TRADED TO SACRAMENTO IN JANUARY 2020. IN LATE FEBRUARY, SACRAMENTO WAIVED TOLLIVER, AND A FEW DAYS LATER HE SIGNED WITH THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES. NOW, HIS CAREER AND THE NBA SEASON ARE ON HOLD DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. WE TALKED TO TOLLIVER, 34, ABOUT WHAT THIS TIME HAS BEEN LIKE WITH THE NBA ON HOLD AND HOW HIS FAITH HAS HELPED HIM ALONG DURING HIS BASKETBALL JOURNEY.

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ANTHONY TOLLIVER

AP Photo/John Amis, Kathy Willens

“THIS MAYBE SOUNDS A LITTLE CRAZY, BUT IT’S BEEN A LITTLE REFRESHING. FOR ME AS A FATHER, AS A HUSBAND, TO BE ABLE TO SPEND THIS MUCH TIME WITH MY FAMILY HAS BEEN A TREAT IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS.”

WHAT HAS THIS TIME DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC BEEN LIKE FOR YOU SINCE EVERYTHING CAME TO A HALT? This maybe sounds a little crazy, but it’s been a little refreshing. For me as a father, as a husband, to be able to spend this much time with my family has been a treat in a lot of different ways. We just have a new normal. We’ve gotten into a new routine and are actually having a lot of fun with it. We’re hoping for the best and praying for the best, of course, but we’re just trying to enjoy it. TAKE ME BACK TO MARCH. DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT THE GAME YOU PLAYED ON MARCH 10 WOULD BE YOUR LAST GAME FOR A VERY LONG TIME? No. Until March 12, when it all got postponed, I didn’t think it was even a possibility. I thought that the only possibility — and it was already talked about — was after that Thursday night’s game, the games would almost certainly be without fans. That was in my head as the worst-case scenario: We’re going to be in empty gyms, playing against each other and it’s going to be really weird. But then [the NBA] had multiple players test positive and they were like, ‘Nah, we’re not going to do this.’ It hit us like a ton of bricks. WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE TRYING TO STAY IN SHAPE, GET SHOTS UP? HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO ANYTHING BASKETBALL-RELATED DURING THIS TIME? I’m definitely blessed that the house that we built here (in Texas) has everything here. I have weights. I have a half-court indoor gym at my house, but once again, this is not normal. I’m definitely in a better position than a lot of guys right now because most every gym is closed off. HOW HAS YOUR WALK WITH CHRIST HELPED YOU DURING THIS CRAZY TIME OF BEING QUARANTINED? It’s given me a base. I try not to ingest too much CNN or any other news outlet. I do check in daily to see where it’s at or any new information that we need to know, but other than that, to me, having my relationship with God [is crucial]. Really being able to focus on my family and letting them know why they don’t see a different person heading up this family is because I have faith. I have faith in a God that is bigger than any of this stuff that could ever happen, whether it be a virus, a plague or anything. It’s scary stuff. No one is immune, everybody has the ability to get sick. But my faith has allowed me to get through this without really trudging at all.

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ANTHONY TOLLIVER

“WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED TO ME IS TO REFOCUS — REFOCUS ON WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. IF YOU COME OUT OF THIS SEASON THE SAME EXACT PERSON AS YOU WERE IN THE BEGINNING, YOU WASTED THIS OPPORTUNITY. THIS IS A PRIME TIME TO WORK ON WHATEVER GOD IS REVEALING TO YOU.”

HOW HAS YOUR FAITH HELPED YOU WITH THE UNCERTAINTY OF BEING A BASKETBALL PLAYER AND THE POTENTIAL THAT YOU MIGHT BE SOMEWHERE ELSE TOMORROW? The faith is the certainty. People who don’t have any faith, I don’t know how they get through this in this environment. It’s brutal. It really is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the absolute best job. I’d do it 100 out of 100 times again and again, but what most people see is the positive, they don’t ever see the negatives. There are a lot more negatives than you would ever suspect that goes with this [basketball] life. For me, having my faith base is everything. It keeps me grounded. It keeps me level-headed. CAN YOU SHARE WITH US YOUR TESTIMONY? I grew up in a home with a single mom — teacher, didn’t have much money but [we] still lived well. Since she was the only breadwinner in the house, she worked to death. Faith was always a part of our upbringing and always a part of our family. It was never our identity. I definitely didn’t understand the relationship part until I got older. When I got older, I would go to church with one of my buddies. He would invite me, I would go. Got some good-looking girls at this church, so I loved going and hanging out with them. This one Sunday, I was 12 years old, the pastor was talking about some things that were really relevant to me at that exact time. It really helped me to realize the relationship side, the individual decision side. That’s when it all changed for me, and I got saved, gave my life to Christ and just been rocking with Him ever since. HOW HAVE YOU AS A PLAYER VIEWED THE NBA AS YOUR MINISTRY IN LIFE? [My] mindset after the first few years was, “I have to take advantage of all these relationships that I’m building in all these locker rooms, and to affect people for change and show people Christ.” I started Bible studies on pretty much every team I’ve been on.

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IS IT HARD TO DO BIBLE STUDIES IN THE NBA WITH THE CRAZY LIFESTYLE OF AN NBA PLAYER? It’s definitely difficult. That’s the hardest part, finding the time. I understand in the past if guys tried to do it, it becomes work. You have to be smart about it. It is always kind of a moving target — you have to be flexible and manage time really well, and know what is going to work. The very first one I did in Charlotte, I thought it was going to be one or two guys, and it was nine. It was almost the entire team that showed up. You never know what God is going to do whenever we’re just trying to be obedient.

AP Photo/John Amis

WHAT IS GOD TEACHING YOU RIGHT NOW? WHAT’S THE GREAT LESSON HE’S SHOWING YOU? He’s teaching me to keep things in perspective. Especially with the COVID situation, He’s teaching me to keep in perspective what is really important. My family to me is the most important part of my life. I feel like God is showing me during this COVID season and what God has revealed to me is to refocus — refocus on what is really important. If you come out of this season the same exact person as you were in the beginning, you wasted this opportunity. This is a prime time to work on whatever God is revealing to you.

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N ATA L I E C H O U

“THE LORD TELLS US THAT HE’S GOT EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL. HE KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. JUST BE STILL AND JUST KNOW THAT HE’S ALL-POWERFUL AND KNOWS WHAT’S GOING ON.” — NATALIE CHOU

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AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

A TIME

UCLA’S NATALIE CHOU IS SPEAKING OUT ON BEHALF OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY AND FINDING STRENGTH IN CHRIST DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

N ATA L I E C H O U could sense it from the moment she walked onto the plane. She was used to people looking at her, aware that seeing a 6-foot-1 Asian American female basketball player isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence for most. But this felt different. It was March 16 — four days after the NCAA canceled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments — and Chou was flying from Los Angeles to Dallas. With her redshirt junior season at UCLA cut short due to the coronavirus, she was headed home to Plano,

Texas. She felt the stares as she wiped down her seat, armrests and tray. Chou knew about the discrimination Asian Americans were facing since the coronavirus outbreak. Now she was personally experiencing it. “When I hopped on the plane, I could sense a kind of shift in the vibes and the way people were looking at me and connecting with me,” Chou said recently on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. Chou soon thereafter decided she needed to use her platform and speak up — not a natural reaction for a selfdescribed people-pleaser who typically avoids conflict and drama at all costs. She sent a tweet explaining the impact that the racist sentiment related to the coronavirus was having on her and the Asian American community. That turned into a first-person piece for ESPN.com published on March 26, which Chou wrote with Charlotte Gibson. One of the points Chou emphasized in the article was the importance of calling the coronavirus by its technical names, and the racial connotations that come with failing to do so. “I don’t expect people to change how they think and feel,” she said of the impact she hoped the piece would have. “But I do want people to empathize and to understand and feel something for other people.” After the ESPN article was published, Chou tried to only focus on the positive feedback she received. She knew the people she cared about the most would be there for her. “I made a point to myself not to look at the negative responses,” Chou said. “That can just break people down easily, so I’m just really surrounded by my loving community and I just focus on what they say. But a big reason why I wanted to write the article was to further explain where I was coming from, so people could understand where I was coming from and where my community was coming from.” The UCLA women’s basketball program rallied around Chou. Messages of support flew into the team’s group chat from players and coaches. Once redshirt sophomore Lindsey Corsaro saw what her teammate was doing, she sent Chou an encouraging text telling her she was proud. The significance of someone who is naturally reserved making such a profound and public statement was not lost on Corsaro. “[Chou]’s always been a more quiet-natured person and she’s not always the one talking all the time or being loud,” Corsaro told Sports Spectrum. “She’s very quiet, so I thought it was really special that she had the courage to speak up and to share what was on her heart and kind of go outside her comfort zone, or go outside of how people normally perceive her.”

BASKETBALL

is in Chou’s DNA. Her mother, Quanli Li, played for the Chinese national team. Li is now a skills coach and has served as Chou’s personal trainer since she started playing basketball at age 5. Seventeen years later, Li still works with Chou whenever she is home. www.sportsspectrum.com

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FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

“I DON’T EXPECT PEOPLE TO CHANGE HOW THEY THINK AND FEEL. BUT I DO WANT PEOPLE TO EMPATHIZE AND TO UNDERSTAND AND FEEL SOMETHING FOR OTHER PEOPLE.” — NATALIE CHOU

Natalie Chou with Baylor in 2017 26

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Lindsey Corsaro

“SHE REALLY ENCOMPASSES HER FAITH BY JUST LOVING PEOPLE REALLY WELL, AND I THINK THAT’S WHAT WE’RE CALLED TO DO. I THINK THAT SHE JUST TOTALLY DOES THAT AND WHOEVER SHE’S WITH, WHEREVER SHE’S AT, SHE’S GONNA LOVE THEM WHERE THEY’RE AT AND LOVE THEM REALLY WELL AND TREAT PEOPLE THE WAY THAT JESUS TREATED PEOPLE.” — LINDSEY CORSARO

Chou’s walk with Christ also starts with Li, who became a Christian thanks to the work of a missionary in China she is now close friends with. Chou grew up going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays for one simple reason: That’s what her mom did. “She’s taught me everything that I know on and off the court, and she’s just an amazing woman,” Chou said. By the time Chou graduated from Plano West High School in 2016, she was a McDonald’s All-American and member of the 2014 U.S. U-17 team that won the FIBA World Championship. Chou had her choice of schools and decided to attend Baylor University, only a two-hour drive from Plano. She appeared in all 37 of Baylor’s games as a freshman in 2016-17, averaging 4.7 points and scoring in double figures seven times. Her 42.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc was the highest on the team and ranked sixth in the Big 12. Baylor claimed its seventh straight regular-season conference championship and reached the Elite Eight for the seventh time in eight years. Chou opened her sophomore season by scoring 22 points on 12 shots against Lamar. She started the Lady Bears’ first 21 games before suffering a wrist injury that required surgery and sidelined her until the final game of the regular season. Baylor went 18-0 in Big 12 play and entered the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a 31-1 overall record. The Lady Bears earned a No. 2 seed but were upset by Oregon State in the Sweet 16. It was during her time at Baylor that Chou began to strengthen her faith and commitment to the Lord. She started making her faith her own in high school, and the people she met in college helped her deepen her relationship with Christ. “I had some really great friends [at Baylor],” Chou said. “Sometimes, I’d be like, ‘No, I’m too tired, I just had practice, I have a game,’ but my roommates would always push me to go to these meetings and go to these worship nights. Through that, I really grew because of them and www.sportsspectrum.com

N ATA L I E C H O U because of their work and love for me.” After two years at Baylor, Chou opted for a fresh start and transferred to UCLA, where she sat out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA transfer rules. But that didn’t stop her and new teammate Lauren Miller from going on a mission trip last summer to Barcelona through Athletes in Action. Chou credits the “great people” she is surrounded by at UCLA with helping her continue to grow in her faith in the two years she’s been in L.A. The way Chou interacts with people is what stands out to Corsaro. “She really encompasses her faith by just loving people really well, and I think that’s what we’re called to do,” Corsaro said. “I think that she just totally does that and whoever she’s with, wherever she’s at, she’s gonna love them where they’re at and love them really well and treat people the way that Jesus treated people.” Chou made an immediate impact for the Bruins when she got to take the court this past season. The 22-year-old scored at least eight points in the first five games she played in a UCLA uniform. In the fourth game of the season, Chou recorded 19 points and three assists in 19 minutes against Northern Colorado. She finished the season fourth on the team in scoring (7.4 points) and second on the team in 3-pointers made (31) after starting 13 of 27 games. A loss in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament to Stanford put the Bruins’ record at 26-5. They came in at No. 10 in the AP poll released on March 9, the day after the tournament ended. There would not be another game.

LESS THAN a week after UCLA’s defeat, the sports world shut down. A team meeting was called when word got out that there would not be an NCAA Tournament. “In that moment, I didn’t really feel like my whole season, this whole year, had been taken away from me. I just really felt for my seniors,” Chou said. “We all gathered together in the film room and in that moment I realized, ‘This is the last time that I’ll be sitting here with these specific people.’” Stuck at home like everyone else, Chou is finding comfort in God’s power. She keeps coming back to Psalm 46, which says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” “Of course I don’t want to just sit and not do anything, but the Lord tells us that He’s got everything under control,” Chou said. “He knew this was going to happen. Just be still and just know that He’s all-powerful and knows what’s going on.” And while standing up for Asian Americans, Chou has gone to the Bible story of Esther as a source of inspiration. She feels called to defend her people the same way Esther did. “It’s not as dangerous for me, but I feel like that story really helps give me courage and give me determination to do what I’ve been doing,” Chou said. “One thing that I can take away is if I ever see this kind of thing happen to me or to any of my friends ever again, I won’t hesitate to stand up for myself and for the people that I love.” She’s evolved from a quiet, non-confrontational person to someone willing to speak out on behalf of an entire ethnic group during a global pandemic. “It’s really fun to be alongside her and to just see her continue to grow and continue to impact people,” Corsaro said, “and continue to become more of who she was created to be.” SPORTS SPECTRUM

DAVID BOUDIA

FAITHFUL by

JOSHUA PEASE

PURPOSE

AP Photo/Victoria Will

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST DAVID BOUDIA EXPERIENCED ULTIMATE SUCCESS AT A YOUNG AGE AND COULD HAVE SUCCUMBED TO FAME. BUT A CHRISTFOLLOWING COACH HELPED KEEP HIM ON THE NARROW PATH, ON WHICH BOUDIA REMAINS WHILE SEEKING HIS FOURTH OLYMPICS AND FIFTH OLYMPIC MEDAL. THERE ARE

a lot of things in life Olympic diver David Boudia can’t control. He can’t, for instance, control the performances of the divers he’s competing against. He also can’t control the judges who rate his dives. All sports have an element of subjectivity, but Boudia’s entire career rests on the opinions of judges, in a split second, handing out a score. Boudia can perform his six best dives in a competition and still come in last place. “I think it was John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA 28

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“THE FOCUS ISN’T ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL AROUND YOU, BUT [BEING] FAITHFUL TO WHAT YOUR PURPOSE IS, AND LOVING THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU.” AP Photo/Michael Conroy

— DAVID BOUDIA

... who said, ‘If you focus on the things that you can’t control, it adversely affects the things that you can control,’” Boudia said recently on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “And so I think that’s absolutely crucial for perspective when you’re walking through a trial [in life] or you’re walking through a competition. The focus isn’t on what you can control around you, but [being] faithful to what your purpose is, and loving the people around you.” That’s a hard perspective for anyone to hold onto, but especially for Boudia, who has experienced the highest levels of success possible in his sport. He won gold in the 10-meter platform event at the 2012 London Olympics, and a bronze in the same event at the 2016 Rio Games. He also won a bronze medal with Nick McCrory in the men’s synchronized 10m platform at the 2012 Games, and a silver medal in the same event with Steele Johnson at the 2016 Olympics. Boudia made his Olympic debut as a 19-year-old in 2008 (fifth in 10m synchro, 10th in 10m individual), and is aiming for his fourth Olympics in 2021, when he’ll be 32. But a lot has happened since the Rio Olympics. He stopped competing internationally in 2017 as he briefly contemplated retirement, and in 2018 he suffered a concussion from hitting his head on a platform during a training dive. That led Boudia to switch to the springboard; he placed fifth in the 3m springboard event at the 2019 World Championships. He remains one of the most accomplished divers in the world, but is no lock to win another Olympic medal. The one-year delay of the Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, gives Boudia more time to master the finer points of his new event. You can be certain he’ll do everything in his power to earn another Olympic medal. Yet he knows he can’t control everything. Boudia has always been immensely gifted, and with his blend of drive and athleticism can be a belief in the ability to control outcomes. But since discovering his true purpose, Boudia learned he can’t be the god of his own life. “When I think of David in the early days, I think of Solomon,” says Boudia’s coach, Adam Soldati. “He had this unbelievable talent that was God-given, but he was using it for himself. Gifts and talents, when not used for God’s design ... lead you to a dark and lonely place.”

WHEN BOUDIA was 12 years old, a legendary Olympic coach came to his pool. David found out later that the coach had said he would never be good enough to compete at the highest level due to his having a “banana back.” Boudia remembers this as the moment that triggered his “turbo self,” a hypercompetitive drive to excel. “I went home and tried to sleep [doing] splits, so I could be more flexible,” Boudia says. “At a young age, if someone says I can’t do it, I was influenced by that to prove them wrong. ... It was probably that moment when I started to progress quickly and www.sportsspectrum.com

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devote myself to achieving this lifelong dream of mine.” Boudia trained tirelessly to master the tiniest details of his body, and arrived at Purdue University as one of the most highly-ranked diving athletes in the world. But the more Boudia achieved and the more fame he gained, the more he partied, the more he lived what would be many college students’ dream, the darker his life became. In 2009, as a sophomore, Boudia remembers feeling a sense of purposelessness in his life. “I remember one specific night actually just thinking, ‘What’s the purpose of all this? Why am I here? What is life? Why?’ I [fell into] a deep depression, drinking a lot and contemplating suicide. If there’s no purpose in life, what’s the point of it?” he said. A teammate told Boudia that Soldati had helped her through a challenging time in life, so Boudia reached out to him. The coach invited him over to his house, where he shared the Gospel. Boudia had grown up around church, but had never grabbed hold of Christianity as something more than a quick fix. As he listened to Soldati, however, Boudia realized there was a whole new level of faith he’d never experienced. “The hope that I was putting my life in was like a broken cistern,” Boudia says. “And so that was my life, putting my hope in all these things that we’re not supposed to be putting our hope in. And that’s when [Soldati] shared with me about the Gospel of Jesus and the sacrifice He had for my life. I started to realize I actually can’t do this life by myself. And so when I became weak and helpless is when I looked up and accepted Christ, probably a month after investigating God’s Word.”

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AP Photo/Wong Maye-E

Boudia at the 2016 Olympics

a lot of things in life Soldati can’t control. He can’t control his athletes’ work ethic, for instance. Or their ability to handle distractions and fame. Today, Soldati is known as even-tempered, rarely angry, and kind to his athletes. It didn’t used to be that way. In 2001, Soldati began his own journey of letting Jesus transform his life, and one of the things he quickly realized was that his coaching perspective had to change. “I look back 20 years ago when I started coaching, and it was focused all on me,” Soldati says. “From the outside, I looked like a great coach, but really I just wanted to be successful. My identity was wrapped up in ‘look how successful I am, and look at me, and recognize me.’ If our purpose is for ourselves, we’ll see everybody as a means to get what we want. So if a player is listening and working hard, then I love them, because they’re making me look good. But if they aren’t, then I’ll respond in a way that isn’t helpful. I’ll get angry.” Soldati believes defining characteristics of a coach should be patience, surrendering control and loving athletes where they’re at, as they are. This patience stems from realizing how infinitely patient God is with him. “Jesus has continued to love me and extend mercy into my life, and be longsuffering in walking with me,” Soldati says. “There are countless examples of athletes struggling with being on time, or working hard, and it’s made me patient.” Soldati will often spend 4-5 hours a day with athletes he is training, building a close camaraderie with them, and fighting the temptation to control their lives, decisions or futures. Instead, Soldati says he wakes up every day attempting to tell God, “The glory is Yours.” He focuses on keeping his relationship with his wife, kids and God at the center of who he is. It’s not easy, but there’s peace in the releasing of control. Soldati says there’s this great quote about control from the famous coach, John Wooden. I mention that I just heard that quote recently.

DAVID BOUDIA

WHEN BOUDIA won the gold medal in 2012, he looked at Soldati’s face and saw an unexpected emotion underneath the pride and elation: fear. Soldati is asked if he remembers that moment the same way. “Initially it was probably 90 percent happiness and 10 percent fear,” Soldati says. “But 15 minutes after the competition, it was reversed. I felt a tremendous amount of caution, and I talked to my wife right after, and she said, ‘We’ve gotta go to war now.’” Soldati had deeply invested not only in David as a diver, but David as a follower of Christ. Soldati knew Boudia was about to be handed the world on a silver platter — national television appearances, money, fame. All of which would be sledgehammering the same lie Boudia used to believe: You’re in control, you’re responsible for all this, you deserve this. “We think it’s in valleys that we have opportunities to grow,” Soldati says, “but in the super high mountains, there are serious tests, serious challenges. It’s so easy to begin to believe all the glitz and glitter of this. David was a young believer. It’s a difficult thing, being pulled so hard by the world, the majority of which don’t have an interest in the things of God.” Following the 2012 Games, Boudia flew to New York City for a media tour. He asked a pastor from his church to go with him, which became a part of Boudia’s routine. At each interview, the pastor was there by his side. “I started to realize how to do an interview that wasn’t about me,” Boudia says. “The counsel that I had from [my pastor] during that media tour was absolutely crucial. It was the biggest thing having the community around me that’s going to call me out when I need it, and to love me and encourage me when I need it. And I think that was crucial.”

Boudia with coach Adam Soldati in 2009

“WE THINK IT’S IN VALLEYS THAT WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW, BUT IN THE SUPER HIGH MOUNTAINS, THERE ARE SERIOUS TESTS, SERIOUS CHALLENGES. IT’S SO EASY TO BEGIN TO BELIEVE ALL THE GLITZ AND GLITTER OF [FAME].” — COACH ADAM SOLDATI

AP Photos/Michael Sohn

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Boudia with his Olympic gold medal in 2012

a lot of things in life Boudia and Soldati can’t control. A global pandemic, for instance, that delays the Olympics for a year. “The past three weeks definitely put a little hurt in the training schedule,” Boudia said in early April. “Olympic athletes, they plan their lives four years at a time and they ramp up their training when it’s needed. And so we have to kind of take a step back and say, ‘Now that we have 15 months, what do we need to focus on that we didn’t get to?” Boudia sees the extra time as a chance to work on the smallest parts of his craft, chasing perfection, dialing in the infinitesimally small nuances that separate a gold medal performance from failing to qualify at all. Boudia turned 31 in April, making him an elder statesman on Olympic terms. Soldati says the challenges ahead of Boudia are both the physical reality of getting older and the weight of responsibility he has as a married man with three kids. “God hasn’t given David more than he can handle,” Soldati says. “He’s got a big God, so he has the ability to do this. It’s going to be a fight but a fight isn’t a bad thing — it puts you in a position to grow. The trick is to not get too wrapped up in results, to do the best we can … and let the results fall where they fall.” www.sportsspectrum.com

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MICAH CHRISTENSON

AND

CHRISTLIKE & COMPETITIVE by

JON

ACKERMAN

ONE OF THE WORLD’S PREMIER VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS, MICAH CHRISTENSON PLAYS PROFESSIONALLY IN ITALY, WHICH HE HAD TO FLEE DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS. BACK HOME IN HAWAII, HE NOW WAITS TO REUNITE WITH THE U.S. NATIONAL TEAM AIMING FOR GOLD IN 2021. MICAH CHRISTENSON was asleep in his Italian apartment when he got the call from his wife at 1 a.m. “The president just said no more flights, starting in two days, from Europe to America for a month. We’ve got to get you on a flight.” Brooke and their 18-month-old son, Zeke, had already traveled home to Hawaii. As the coronavirus outbreak began to spread through Italy, Micah and Brooke debated what to do. Should they stay together as a family? Should just Micah stay? Is this virus that big of a deal? “God really revealed to us through prayer that it was the right decision for them to go home,” Micah recalled, adding, “I think a couple days after they had left, the numbers really jumped and spiked, and things started to get more serious.” Micah stayed because any wrong move by him could have led to his professional volleyball team, Modena Volley, voiding his contract. So as long as his squad gathered to prepare for matches, Christenson remained in Italy. Modena’s next match — one with major playoff implications as the Italian season neared its conclusion — was played in an empty gym. The PalaPanini is usually sold out with some of volleyball’s most passionate fans. “A super strange situation. Once you walk into the gym, you get your temperature checked; hand sanitizer is everywhere,” Christenson said. “It was super weird and super eerie to go into playing a volleyball game with all that going on.” A few days later, a text from the team manager 32

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informed the players that the season had been postponed, but they’d still train. After one more practice, everything was put on hold. “Stay in your houses,” the team manager said. Then came the U.S. ban on international flights. So Christenson and the other Americans on his team met with club executives, expressing their desire to return to their families in the U.S., vowing to return as soon as the league opened up again. “Luckily our club was gracious enough to grant us that wish, which a lot of other clubs didn’t,” Christenson said. “A lot of other clubs said, ‘You leave this city and your contract is being completely cut.’” So over a crazy two days, Christenson packed up his belongings in Italy and caught a flight to Honolulu. It was the last day before the U.S. government banned flights from entering the country. “We were kind of panicking, freaking out, thinking, ‘We got to get home or else we’re stuck here for a month,” Christenson said. However, it later turned out that the president forgot to mention an important detail: American citizens would still be allowed into the country. Oh well. Christenson was just glad to be home.

THE

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27-year-old recalls his frantic escape from Italy, one of the hardest hit coronavirus regions in the world, from the safety and serenity of his home in Hawaii, one of the least inflicted states. It’s late March, and he’s making the most of an unexpected break from volleyball. Being the starting setter for the U.S. national team in addition to being a pro in Italy, Christenson says he usually plays nearly every week of the year. When the professional leagues have an offseason, national teams around the world gather their players for the next international competition.

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This summer was supposed to be spent preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But along with every other major athletic competition, the Games were postponed; they’re now set for 2021. Ranked No. 3 in the world, the Americans would have been medal contenders this summer, and should remain in the mix for a podium spot next summer. The U.S. men took bronze at the 2016 Rio Games, and seek their first gold since winning the 2008 Beijing Games. They’re led by Christenson, who, as the setter, is often referred to as the team’s “quarterback” because the offense flows through him. And he’s one of the best in the world. He was named Best Setter at the 2018 FIVB World Championship, where the U.S. finished third. He was first among setters at the 2016 Olympics with 340 running sets (a set that puts a hitter against zero or one blocker). He was named Best Setter at the 2015 FIVB World Cup, which the U.S. men won. And he was a three-time All-American at the University of Southern California (2012, 2014, 2015). Born and raised in Honolulu, Christenson’s first love was basketball, which his father, Robert, played at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. But Micah was also good at volleyball, which he started taking seriously at age 13. It’s the sport his mother, Charlene, played at UH-Hilo, where she won three national championships and was a two-time All-American. Micah competed in both at Kamehameha High School, and led his teams to three Hawaii state championships (basketball in 2009 and 2011, volleyball in 2011). Even though he’s now an Olympic bronze medalist in volleyball, he’s still more known for hoops in Honolulu. He ultimately chose volleyball when it came time to find a college. A seed was planted in middle school when he watched the U.S. men win the 2008 Olympic gold. “I want to do that,” he told himself. “I want to win gold like they’re

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CHRISTLIKE & COMPETITIVE Christenson at the 2016 Olympics

— MICAH CHRISTENSON

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AP Photo/Matt Rourke

“IT’S EASY TO BE WITH GOD WHEN YOU’RE DOING THINGS WELL, BUT TO GO THROUGH THE MUD WITH GOD A LITTLE BIT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR ME TO HAVE. … IT’S LIKE, ‘OK GOD, THIS IS STILL HARD, I HAVEN’T CONQUERED THIS MOUNTAIN YET, BUT I TRUST YOU.’”

doing.” After being highly recruited for both sports, it came down to going to a “pretty good” college for basketball, or essentially any school he wanted for volleyball. He chose USC. It was in college that Christenson really grew in his faith. He was raised in a Christian household by parents who gave him the middle name of Makanamaikjalani, which means “Gift from Heaven.” They had trouble conceiving, and then Charlene needed an abdominal surgery while in her third trimester with Micah in the womb. He was very exposed during the operation. “I was basically trying to get out of her stomach way too early,” he said. “So I had a high possibility of dying, and so for me to continue to be alive, basically, and be born, was their little gift from Heaven.” Robert and Charlene have demonstrated the love, compassion and forgiveness of Christ as long as Micah can remember, and they regularly brought Micah and his sister, Joanna, to church and Sunday school. Robert also worked with the sports ministry Athletes in Action and served as the basketball chaplain at the University of Hawaii. But at USC, Micah was on his own to decide whether he’d attend church or campus ministry events. “It was always like, ‘This is what I’ve known, this is what I was raised in,’ versus, ‘OK, now I have a decision to make. I’m my own man now, and how do I want to live my life as my own man?’” he says. When he felt a pull to go to Athletes in Action meetings and attend church, it confirmed a desire for a personal relationship with the Lord. “That was a super liberating thing for me and really strengthened and affirmed my relationship with God, because it was my decision,” he says. “It was completely and wholeheartedly my decision, and that was a really cool thing for me.”

“CERTAINLY HE’S A VERY UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS, I THINK, A GREAT BALANCE OF A DESIRE TO BE HONORING TO GOD, AND A PERMISSION TO BE COMPETITIVE.”

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

— REID PRIDDY

Christenson with Reid Priddy (left) at the 2016 Olympics

WHILE excelling at USC, Christenson also competed with the national team, starring in major international tournaments before even graduating. Just months after receiving his diploma, he helped the team qualify for the 2016 Olympics by winning the 2015 FIVB World Cup. But Christenson soon learned the reality of life as a professional volleyball player when he signed with Modena Volley and moved to Italy. He didn’t know the language, or the town, or anyone on the team, but was expected to be a leader as the setter. And he quickly learned how important it is to win, as you could soon be out of a job if the team didn’t. “I spent a lot of time sitting at home reading the Bible,” he says of that first pro season. He FaceTimed often with his parents and Brooke, his fiancée at the time, whom he met through volleyball and AIA at USC (they married in 2016, after the Olympics and before his second season in Italy). Being away from them was tough. “But I think that year really helped me learn about who I am as well ... and that helped forge a lot of my relationship with God, in terms of going through the mud with God,” he says, adding, “It’s easy to be with God when you’re doing things well, but to go through the mud with God a little bit was a great experience for me to have. … It’s like, ‘OK God, this is still hard, I haven’t conquered this mountain yet, but I trust You. And I’m still here with You.’” Toward the end of that first season, in an attempt to strengthen its roster for the playoffs, Modena signed Reid Priddy, a longtime veteran of the U.S. national team. Priddy was coming off an ACL tear and sought out Modena for the chance to play with Christenson, because synching up with his national team’s setter could only help his chances of making the 2016 Olympic team roster. www.sportsspectrum.com

Christenson obviously welcomed the acquisition because it brought him a friend. In hanging out with Priddy and his family the last few months of Modena’s season, Christenson learned more about how to be a pro. That time deepened a friendship that began on one of Christenson’s first national team trips. As he walked through the team’s hotel, he heard worship music playing while someone was shaving. That’s when he discovered Priddy was a Christian. Later, when Priddy tore his ACL, Christenson walked with him to the locker room, praying over his veteran teammate. That “old soul maturity,” as Priddy calls it, is what stands out about Christenson. “Certainly he’s a very unique individual that has, I think, a great balance of a desire to be honoring to God, and a permission to be competitive,” Priddy says. “And that took me a good four years as a pro [until] I sort of felt permission that this drive to want to win and be great, that that’s OK; that’s in line with who God created me to be. And I saw that in him at a much younger age, which was really cool.”

CHRISTENSON discovered who God created him to be with the help of mentors like Priddy and those leading campus ministry at USC. Being firm in his faith as an elite athlete created opportunities to publicly share his testimony. But because he “didn’t come out through prison and find God,” he felt his testimony wasn’t good enough to share. His college mentors assured him that most Christ-followers don’t have a “crazy, crazy story” of God saving them. “Most people have a similar experience to you,” he was told, “so being able to share that can relate to a lot of people.” Christenson conquered that fear and now works with a friend to impact more youth for Christ. Daniel Rich, who is the Hawaii state director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, first met Christenson when he led Bible studies for the national team in Southern California, and he’s helped Christenson stay connected to other Christian pros through virtual huddles he joins in on from Italy. Now that Rich is in Christenson’s home state, they’re exploring ways they can “further God’s community in Hawaii.” Christenson will remain in Hawaii for the foreseeable future. In early May, the remainder of his Modena Volley season was officially canceled, and with no international events on the schedule, he’s unsure when he’ll next meet up with his American teammates. He stays fit with some cousins who have crossfit equipment, and he has access to a friend’s gym. And he’s enjoying the unexpected yet abundant time with his wife and son. Though Christenson honored his contract by staying in Italy until his club allowed him to fly home, he was informed he’ll have to take a pay cut for this season and next. He says, “Contracts don’t matter, it sounds like.” As he sits with Brooke and watches little Zeke run around the yard, Christenson knows what does. SPORTS SPECTRUM

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BACK& & , WITH& GAME PURPOSE IN THE

by B E C K Y Y O R K

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2009

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helped lead the U.S. to Olympic gold and silver medals, and two other World Championship gold medals more than a decade ago. The softball legend never had to fret over making a roster. But on October 6, 2019, the 2020 U.S. Olympic softball team was revealed with 15 players. It was the first roster announcement that brought Osterman to tears. “So many emotions and so much time put into getting back to that spot,” Osterman said recently on the Sports Spectrum Podcast. “To see it all pay off was awesome.” At 37 years old, the left-handed pitcher was on her way to a third Olympic Games after starring in ‘04 and ‘08, before softball was left off the program in ‘12 and ‘16. But when news broke on March 11 that the 2020 Tokyo Games would be postponed until the following year, this two-time medal-winning Olympian, TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

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CAT OSTERMAN STARRED ON TWO OLYMPIC MEDAL-WINNING SOFTBALL TEAMS AND RETIRED IN 2015. BUT THE LEGEND RETURNED FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT THE OLYMPICS (NOW A YEAR LATER THAN EXPECTED) AND A CHANCE TO GROW IN HER FAITH ALONGSIDE SOME BOLD CHRIST-FOLLOWING TEAMMATES.

former four-time collegiate All-American and retired six-time pro All-Star did not let it shake her. Instead, she believes that even at 38 she’ll be able to join the U.S. softball team to take home gold in 2021. Having earned a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Games, and a silver in the 2008 Beijing Games — before many of her current Tokyo-bound teammates entered high school — Osterman officially retired from the National Pro Fastpitch league in 2015. But in 2018, she decided to play again. In 2019, she entered her 11th national team tryout to take a shot at going to Tokyo. “I wasn’t playing competitively like the other girls, I was just training on my own,” she said. “It was clearly the most nerve-racking [tryout], but it was fun.” Twenty-six-year-old U.S. national team catcher Aubree Munro has been catching for Osterman since January, when the team began its Olympic tour. The expertise and years of experience Osterman has been able to bring to the mound has changed the atmosphere for the younger players. “It’s almost a joke how she spins the ball,” Munro says. “Cat came back after being retired for three years, training 2005

“I LOOKED AT IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP [YOUNGER TEAMMATES] BUT AT THE SAME TIME I FELT LIKE I WOULD BE ABLE TO GROW FROM THESE WOMEN THAT HAVE BEEN WALKING WITH CHRIST SO FAITHFULLY AND OUTWARDLY FOR A WHILE.” — CAT OSTERMAN for one of those, and still she knows exactly what she wants to do and does it. Working with pitchers who really know what they want to do is really fun. It makes my job easier.” Just as the team was gaining synergy, news broke that the Summer Games would be put on hold. Osterman admits that learning of the Tokyo Games being postponed did not come as a surprise to her. Between the announcement of the NBA and MLB season postponements — and the fact that the softball players were being told to only use their own pens to sign autographs, while not getting too close to fans — she was able to prepare herself for what was to come. In fact, she was relieved to hear of the decision. “Not only are we talking about people’s health — putting 11,000 athletes in one place together in four months — the Olympics are about being the best of the best, competing all together,” she said. “When your training is impacted the way it’s going to be with all of us, you’re not going to get those athletes’ best.” Many of Osterman’s teammates share the same view. Says outfielder Janie Reed, “I couldn’t help but think about the other athletes, such as the track and field athletes, who hadn’t yet had their qualifiers. Not being able to train would have made it unfair for them.” What could have resulted in fear, disappointment or depression for these girls instead resulted in a concern for the world to heal from a time of pain and sickness. What caused such a response? Perhaps it was the knowledge that the Olympics would take place within the next 12 months. Or perhaps it was a deeper faith in a God who holds the future in His hands.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

OSTERMAN grew up in a Catholic family, with whom she attended church every Sunday. It was in the Catholic Church where she was baptized, took communion, made confessions, and completed confirmation. But for Osterman, her faith was no more than a set of religious accomplishments to check off her list. “Sleeping in and going to the softball field took precedent,” Osterman reflected, thinking back to her postconfirmation days. “I drifted from [the church].” Years later, after having accomplished much in her softball career, Osterman was asked to be on the board of the Boston chapter of a Major League Baseball youth www.sportsspectrum.com

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BACK IN THE GAME,WITH PURPOSE outreach program called Reviving Baseball & Softball in Inner Cities (RBI). “I was so excited about it,” she said. “Yeah! Let’s help underprivileged girls play this sport.” Each RBI chapter has a specific focus to help support sports in their area. RBI Boston’s happened to be faith-based mentoring. When Osterman discovered this, she was faced with a dilemma. “I was still gung-ho about doing this, but in my heart I asked, ‘How am I associated with this faith-based organization when I’m not in my own faith?’” she said. Her fellow RBI Boston members invited her to go to church with them, but she admitted to putting it off. When a few friends, whom she’d known for years through her University of Texas connections, encouraged her to attend church all by herself, she decided to give it a try. “I swallowed my pride and went,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I cried the entire service.” Following that night, Osterman began attending church with her RBI friends. “Slowly but surely, I got myself in a place where I wanted to explore my faith more,” she said. “I think I drifted from it in the first place because I didn’t latch onto how to have a relationship [with Jesus Christ]. I know the ‘Our Father’ and the ‘Hail Mary,’ but I didn’t have a relationship.”

“WHEN I WAKE UP THERE’S SOMETHING WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ON MY TO-DO LIST, ANYTHING THAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN ON THE SOFTBALL FIELD, ANYTHING PERIOD. I’M HERE FOR A PURPOSE. IT’S HIS PURPOSE AND I’M GOING TO FULFILL IT.” — CAT OSTERMAN

Not long after that, Osterman met her future husband and began attending church with him. Right away, the women’s pastor recognized Osterman and approached her. “I’ve read the Bible through with her twice now,” Osterman said about her mentor. “We talk about it every day, and now I share that with other people.” Osterman is not afraid to be vocal about her faith on social media or with fans, though there was a time she kept it to herself. “I don’t know why at 37 I finally feel like I’m in a strong place in my faith,” she said. “I wish it had happened sooner, but at the same time, right now, there are so many parents that are like, ‘I love that you share Bible verses. I’m showing my daughter how to be a strong athlete, a good role model, and be Christiain.’ If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. ... But there’s a small something missing from the beginning of my career … my relationship with the Lord. “At 25 years old, I was just a softball player. I didn’t embrace the role model identity too much. I didn’t embrace a whole lot besides playing softball. Slowly over time, you add ‘coach’ in there when I started coaching. I get married and you can add ‘wife’ and ‘step mom.’ The most important thing now … I want to be known as a Christian.” A few years ago when Osterman started to venture into a bold faith, sharing Bible verses on her social media platforms, she received a negative message from one of her followers. “‘I love you and I love following you, but you’re just getting too faithy for me,’ he said. And I had only posted one or two religious things!” she remembered. “Then I realized, I don’t care who I’m offending. If my faith is offending you, obviously I’m not meant to be an influence in your life.”

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AP Photo/Matt Rourke

2004

C AT O S T E R M A N

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

CHRISTIAN fellowship and a deeper relationship with the Lord was, in fact, one of the main reasons for Osterman’s decision to try out for the 2020 Olympic team. “I’m supposed to do this, I felt like, for two reasons,” she said. “One: I genuinely wanted to help this generation that thought they weren’t going to have an Olympic dream to be able to have an Olympic dream and be able to see that dream come true. And I felt like I was still in a physical capability where I could help the team do that. And then twofold: In my journey I have my own personal time with Christ, but I don’t talk about it a lot. But obviously, Janie, Aubree, Ali [Aguilar], they all do, which is so cool. ... So I looked at it as an opportunity to help them but at the same time I felt like I would be able to grow from these women that have been walking with Christ so faithfully and outwardly for a while.” Munro, a member of the U.S. team since 2016, was excited to be on the roster with the softball legend, welcoming her not only back to the national team, but also to their team Bible studies. “Cat was in the sport when the business was rising,” Munro said. “Since we’ve been out of the Olympics, a lot of the support has fallen away. A lot of us struggle in knowing our value and worth when it comes to pushing for more female athletes, especially in softball where our sport has been in limbo — are we going to the Olympics or not? Cat brings the perspective of, ‘We are worth more.’” Osterman has a verse that hangs by her bedside — 2 Corinthians 5:7, which says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” This is the verse God has put on her heart for such a time as this. “Right now we have to walk by faith because we don’t see what the future looks like,” she said. “We don’t know when this [pandemic] is really going to end or how it’s going to end, but we have to have faith that it will and everything will be OK at the end. Even for us as a team, we have to have faith that we are going to get to go to Tokyo and play. ... While we’re not in control, we have to have faith that He who is in control is going to put us in the right position.” While her career history and current talent upon returning to the diamond might be enough for some to stand firm without cause to fear, Osterman places her faith and hope in something that is much more certain. “The biggest difference for me is just knowing every day when I wake up there’s something way more important than anything on my to-do list, anything that’s going to happen on the softball field, anything period,” Osterman says. “I’m here for a purpose. It’s His purpose and I’m going to fulfill it.” www.sportsspectrum.com

2019

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CARLIN ISLES

RUNNING WITH AN ANCHOR by COLE CLAYBOURN 40

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one moment in Carlin Isles’ football career that Jeff Kracker will never forget. Their Jackson (Ohio) High School team was losing to a conference rival with just a few seconds left. There was time for one play, but they’d have to go about 75 yards to score and win. Kracker, then an assistant coach, and the other coaches looked at each other and thought, “Let’s just give it to Carlin.” It was a simple toss play, and Isles got to the outside, got a couple of key blocks, then blew past everyone. Game over. It’s a sight that so many of his rugby opponents have become all too familiar with. “Every time I watch him in a rugby match, I go back to that play because it’s very similar, with the angles he’s running,” Kracker said. “The free safety was coming down and he probably TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

BOUNCING AROUND FOSTER HOMES INSTILLED A FIGHT AND DETERMINATION IN CARLIN ISLES, NOW KNOWN AS THE “FASTEST MAN IN RUGBY.” HE’S FOLLOWED GOD’S LEAD TO THE HEIGHT OF HIS SPORT, AND CONTINUES TO TRUST IN HIM AS HE WAITS LONGER THAN EXPECTED FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT AN OLYMPIC MEDAL.

did believe he had a really good angle on Carlin, except his speed is so exceptional.” To Kracker, that moment summarizes the essence of Carlin Isles — both the athlete and the person. “Carlin’s never, ever, ever going to give up,” he said. “He’s never going to give in. He’s going to fight to the last moment.” It’s what he’s been doing his whole life.

AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

LONG before he became the face of USA Rugby, the fastest man in rugby, and an Internet sensation, Isles was fighting a different battle — both literally and metaphorically. If you met him now and felt the positivity radiate off his 5-foot-8, 165-pound frame, you may never know how tough the early years of his life were. But he wears that experience on his sleeve and is grateful for the man it helped mold him into. He’s only met his birth father once, and his birth mother was arrested on drug charges when he was just 7 years old. He’s not seen her since. He and his twin sister, Tambra, then bounced around in foster homes. That’s a lot for any child, and Isles began to lash out. “I was dealing with a lot,” Isles said. “I was running away from home a lot. I was fighting kids. It

was just bad situations.” However, he points to that period of his life as when his journey toward faith began. His understanding of God at the time, like most children, was miniscule, but he knew enough to know he needed God. More importantly, he knew how to pray, and he knew he needed to pray. “I was just praying, ‘God, please get me out of here,’” he said. “And then He sent a family. That’s when He answered my prayer, and that’s when I knew He was real.” It wasn’t but two days after he pleaded with God that his prayer was answered. Charles and Starlett Isles had two children of their own around his age, and adopted Carlin and Tambra. Once neglected, the brother and his sister now had a home. But some of Carlin’s old habits remained for a while. He had been so used to playing the role of protector for his sister that he assumed that role over his adopted siblings as well. That meant the violence still persisted, particularly if he felt like someone was trying to harm his siblings. “Carlin developed his high level of determination from being in a foster home and being accountable for keeping his twin sister, Tambra, and himself safe,” Starlett said. “He felt a need to be her protector. Once

RUNNING WITH AN ANCHOR

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CARLIN ISLES

“I WAS JUST PRAYING, ‘GOD, PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE.’ AND THEN HE SENT A FAMILY. THAT’S WHEN HE ANSWERED MY PRAYER, AND THAT’S WHEN I KNEW HE WAS REAL.”

great, his friend said. “He was never the kid to have an alcoholic beverage in high school,” Meskiel said. “We all wanted to go hang out, and he’s racing cars [on foot] going down the street. We’d get a kick out of it. He lived right off a busy street and when someone would pull in, he would ask the car to race him down the street.” The fastest he was ever recorded running, Meskiel recalls, was around 23 miles per hour. “I just remember it was a 25 mph speed limit and I was like, ‘Carlin can run that,’” he said. For comparison, Olympic great Usain Bolt was recorded at a high of 27 mph. Kracker, who also was an assistant track coach, said as hard as he tried, he was never able to run Isles out of energy. “I’ve probably never been around anybody, in the nine years that I was coaching and even another nine in education, as determined and as positive and as focused [as Isles],” Kracker said.

“When he knows what he wants to get, he does everything he can to go get it.” Never was that more true than when Isles found himself at a crossroads in his athletic career.

AFTER a brief stint on the football team at Ashland (Ohio) University, Isles left to pursue a track career with hopes of making the Olympic team. As good as he was at football, he might’ve been better at track. He’d been clocked at 4.13 seconds in the 40-yard dash, which would’ve been the fastest recorded time at the NFL combine. And in high school, Isles took home three second-place finishes at the Ohio state meet, while setting school records in the long jump and 100-, 200and 400-meter dashes. In college, he was an All-American in the 60-meter dash. His time was fast enough to qualify him for the 2012 U.S.

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AP Photo/Kin Cheung

he was adopted by us, we had to continually redirect him on allowing us to relieve him from being his sister’s protector.” Carlin found a home on the football field, and although he was smaller in stature than his peers, he quickly realized his speed could set him apart. But much like he struggled to learn concepts in class at school, he struggled to learn plays on the football field. “The coach threatened to take him out if he did not learn the plays,” Starlett said. “Carlin cried on many occasions because the kids would tease him because he struggled to learn the plays. His adopted dad, Charles, worked with him in the yard using milk jugs for him to learn the runs of the plays.” It’s been one obstacle after another in Carlin’s life, but he’s faced them head on and overcome them all. When asked where his determination comes from, he recalled as a child seeing a local athlete who was fast. He wanted to be just like him, and he’d train by running through snow. By the time Isles got to high school, he was still smaller than a lot of his teammates and opponents. That didn’t stop him from dominating on the football field and the track. He simply put in more work than anyone else and was obsessed with being the best version of himself. Jonny Meskiel was teammates with Isles from the time they played Little League baseball together up through high school football. Isles has just always wanted to be TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971

AP Photo/Kin Cheung

IT SHOULDN’T Olympic Trials, but ultimately not quite good enough to make the team. come as any surprise, then, that Isles is handling the With his athletic career hanging in the balance, postponement of the 2020 Olympics the way he is. The Carlin stumbled across a video on YouTube of rugby U.S. rugby sevens team went into the 2016 Rio Olympics highlights. It looked a lot like what he’d done to expecting to earn a medal, but it failed to get out of pool opponents on the football field, and he saw it as his play and finished ninth. That’s only motivated Isles more ticket to the Olympics. the last four years. He got in contact with officials at USA Rugby and But make no mistake — the news of the was invited to Aspen, Colorado, to work out with a club postponement was tough to accept initially. It’s hard team. At the time, Isles had about $500 to his name, enough to wait four years between Olympics, and and he knew this might be his last chance to continue adding another year of waiting when you’ve mentally and his athletic career. physically prepared for this year can be jarring. “I was like, ‘God, I really want to inspire people “It was heartbreaking at first because you’re and show them that you can do anything you put sitting here, two months out, and you’re ready, your mind to,’” he said. “I just had this vision and prepared, psyched, healthy, getting strong and I had faith. I remember I was driving up to Aspen, then you get that delay,” Isles said. “For me, it’s just Colorado, and I was crying and I was like, ‘God, this another year to get even better. I’m sad because is all I’ve got. If we waited so this doesn’t pan long for it, but out, I’m screwed.’ that’s just life. His voice was It’s all about saying, ‘Trust perspective and “I WAS CRYING AND I WAS LIKE, Me.’ I kept going. how you look ‘GOD, THIS IS ALL I’VE GOT. IF THIS About a month of at it.” working hard, my He’s been DOESN’T PAN OUT, I’M SCREWED.’ faith in Him and through enough HIS VOICE WAS SAYING, ‘TRUST my trust in Him disappointment ME.’ I KEPT GOING. ABOUT A — it paid off.” that he’s almost He a pro at having MONTH OF WORKING HARD, MY remembers perspective. He FAITH IN HIM AND MY TRUST IN thinking, “I’ve handles it all the HIM — IT PAID OFF.” got to make the only way he’s team” — a bold known how since stance about a he was 7 — giving sport he’d only it all to God and seen on video being the mostand never actually played. prepared, hardest-working person he can be. “I remember every day I was working my butt off,” “For me personally, as a child with what I went Isles said. “I was practicing on my left, practicing on my through — my whole life — God was always at the right, trying to get the fundamentals down. That’s just center,” he said. “My faith, at times when it’s tough, I my determination. My will was so strong that it didn’t had something to hang on to. My relationship grew. The matter that I put in hours of work every single day. I just more I talked to Him, the more I got to know Him, it was used my God-given ability.” everything. At times when things don’t go your way, that’s He made the team, and a year later was added your anchor. You just keep moving. You keep fighting. to the U.S. national team. He’s now one of the biggest You keep staying strong.” sensations in rugby (one highlight video of him has more than 7 million views on YouTube) and the all-time leader in tries for Team USA. It’s that confidence and determination that’s gotten him where he is in life. He knows he can outwork everyone else, even in a sport he’d never played before. It’s a confident type of cockiness versus a condescending type of arrogance. Think Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba Mentality,” or Rocky Balboa, from whom Isles draws some inspiration. He watched the “Rocky” film a lot as a kid, and he remembers his dad telling him, “Don’t let somebody beat you.” “[Rocky] came from nothing and he was just so determined,” Isles said.

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Bridge Your Faith & Finances “Ronald Blue Trust has helped open our eyes to finances in a new and healthy way. We would encourage anyone who is looking for biblical counsel around their finances to talk with the team at Ronald Blue Trust. Their planning process helped us understand our finances and pay off our debt and also empowered us to make decisions for the Kingdom!” – Daniel Murphy, MLB Infielder (Murphy family pictured above) Contact us today to find out how we can address your specific needs. DON.CHRISTENSEN@RONBLUE.COM | 602.432.7082 REED.CROSSON@RONBLUE.COM | 770.280.6190 | RONBLUE.COM/ATHLETE Ronald Blue Trust advisors apply biblical wisdom and technical expertise to help clients make wise financial decisions to experience clarity and confidence and leave a lasting legacy. With comprehensive financial services and objective advice to over 9,500 clients across the wealth spectrum in all 50 states. As of 12/31/19 and subject to change. Ronald Blue Trust is a Division of Thrivent Trust Company. Investment Product and Services: Are Not FDIC Insured • Not Bank Guaranteed • May Lose Value 44

The client’s experience many not be representative of the experience of other clients. ThisT Ostory SUBSCRIBE: CALL 866-821-2971 is also not indicative of future performance or success. 10193584-05-20

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DEVOTIONALS Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Like the Psalmist says, it’s important for us as Christians to know God’s Word so that we stave off sin in our lives. But the Bible also has many other vital benefits. As Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

These devotionals come directly from The Increase, a community of athletes all pressing toward the goal found in John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” For more first-person testimonies and stories from the lives of Christian athletes, visit TheIncrease.com.

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YOU CAN KNOW CHRIST PERSONALLY

OUR PROBLEM, GOD’S SOLUTION

God created mankind in His own image … God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:27, 31 God made human beings with personal and relational qualities like His own (Genesis 1:26) and desired to have a delightful relationship with them. But something went terribly wrong. When Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan’s advice in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), sin poisoned the world and now we are all born with the desire to do things our own way, not God’s.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 Our sins against a good and holy God have distanced us from Him (Isaiah 59:2). God “cannot tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:12). Through sin we forfeit a relationship with God, and along with it our happiness. The result of all this is death. Spiritual death is separation from God in a very real place called hell. Physical death marks the end of our opportunity to enter into a relationship with God and avoid eternal condemnation (Hebrews 9:27).

If these words reflect your heart and you would like to receive salvation through Jesus Christ, say this prayer to God. It's as simple as A-B-C: Admit, Believe, Confess. SPORTS SPECTRUM

By Randy Alcorn

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

There is absolutely nothing we can do to restore ourselves to God. He is holy, we are not. In fact, He says even our good deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). But God loved us so much He sent us His Son Jesus, fully God and fully man, to deliver us from death and give us life (John 3:16). "God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus went to the cross to pay the price for our sins. He did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. When Jesus died for us, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “it is finished” was written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant “paid in full.” Jesus then rose from the grave, conquering sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

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Janie Reed, USA Softball

“I remember how draining was to live a performance-based "The Gospel is God graciously giving us whatitwe don’t deserve through His Son lifestyle I accepted as our Lordhearts of myand life.believe The peace unconJesus Christ. If webefore choose to acceptChrist Him into thatof Hebeing died for ditionally loved by a Savior who paid the price for my salvation our sins and rose again three days later, we can also receive the free gift of forgive-is and It’s uplifting the same time. nodo greater joy than ness and eternal humbling life in Heaven. aboutat understanding thatThere’s we can’t anything knowing that I can abide in love instead of having to work for it.” to earn Jesus’ love, He freely gives it. Then we ourselves are motivated to love others even when they don’t deserve it, because that's what Jesus does for us."

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 God’s greatest gift is a restored relationship with Himself, delivering us from hell and granting us entry into Heaven (John 3:36). This gift depends not on our merit but solely on Christ’s work of grace for us on the cross (Titus 3:5). He is the one and only way to God. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

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If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

To be right with God, we must admit our sinful hearts and actions, and ask God’s forgiveness. If we do, He graciously promises full forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”(1 John 1:9). Then we are to affirm to others that the resurrected Jesus is our Lord.

The life we long for is freely offered to us in Christ. We can believe His promise and call on Him to save us, humbly accepting His gift of eternal life: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). God’s Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us obey Him (2 Timothy 1:14).

Romans 10:9

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“Dear God, I ADMIT that I’m a sinner and the penalty of my sin is death. I BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that He died and rose from the dead for my sin. And I CONFESS Jesus as my Savior. Please forgive me. I repent of my sin and surrender my life to You. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen." — Miles McPherson, senior pastor & former NFL player

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