AIA and Queen’s
There’s something exciting happening with the Athletes in Action (AIA) ministry at Queen’s university.
Three years ago, in Kara Pogue’s first year playing for the Gaels Field Hockey team, she found one of her strongest desires unmet. “I wanted to live out my Christian life but found it tough. I didn’t feel like being in a Christian group helped me out too much, and I wondered how God could connect more with my sport.
That year, Kara attended AIA’s National Training Camp (NTC) and, as she says, got inspired. Her and few others developed a passion for connecting faith and sport. “There was a few others ahead of me that had a vision and I was on the same page as they were.” Kara says her friend Natalie was instrumental in finding what a passion for sports ministry and varsity athletes looks like.
“We decided we had to just do it!” she recalls. The student volunteers began focusing more on varsity outreach.
Since Queen’s has no full-time AIA staff, Kara has since taken the position of Student Link under the leadership of Morgan Donaldson at UofT.
There are six others on Kara’s team: Alanna Rae Harms-Wiebe, Oliver Neal, Jordan Yule, Carolyn Hait, Alison Aldred and Simone Enns.
Check out this progression: in Kara’s first year, there were no AIA meetings. The next year, there were three women’s meetings, and now there have been eight in only the first semester!
On Wednesday nights, 45-or-so athletes meet to hear an athlete speak (Roughrider Eddie Russ has spoken here!). They have a discussion, play a game, and enjoy an atmosphere of fellowship.
And on Tuesdays, 5-10 athletes gather in a more laid-back environment to learn what AIA has to say about the intersection of faith and sport and how to become a total athlete (Thanks to a sponsorship, the group enjoys free pizza!)
The AIA team has met the favour of players as well as coaches, who have been very supportive and have recognized the emotional side to athletics. “God has been so faithful – from team meetings supported by Queens’ coaching staff to getting athletes involved in Bible studies.”
Kara says the face of AIA at Queen’s has “changed a lot in the past three years. We’re trusting God to go ahead of us and doors are being opened.”
“Opportunities come up when we trust God and act.”
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good article thank you for the post
Hi Shana, that is great that you would like to get involved. Have a look at the Athletes in Action sites for Canada http://athletesinaction.com and USA http://www.athletesinaction.org/ to see how you can get involved.
Hello i would love to get involved on the Queens Campus. I attended The Ohio State university and we had an amazing group of dedicated full time staff for our athletes. I would like to be able to give something back to this university.