Engaging the youth: FCA brings first Power Camp to PB

Local coaches lend a helping hand to increase engagement with the youth by involving their favorite sports and capturing the true essence of faith.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Poplar Bluff hosted its first Power Camp at First Baptist Church. The Power Camp is for youth who want to develop their sports skills. This camp provides excellent instruction and competition through sports-specific and multi-sport focus.

The FCA has hosted many power camps in Cape and Dexter for the past six years, and due to scheduling conflicts in the past, the community of Poplar Bluff had yet to host the event. Area representative Josh Mills and the staff of the FCA were motivated to make one happen this year.

“We felt like our first-ever FCA Power Camp was an awesome event with a great turnout,” Mills said. “We had 54 campers show up and participate in five different sports and worship, which is a win-win. The staff at First Baptist Church was so helpful and encouraging, and we had some amazing volunteers show up big on the day of our event.”

Though it was the first camp in the area, everything lined up with our local coaches and facilities at First Baptist Church and after a successful camp this year, the FCA is looking to make it a 3-day camp next year.

Mills said one of the great things about FCA camps is that they can partner the Gospel of Jesus Christ with sports, which is a huge win.

“We’re teaching kids how to compete with a greater purpose and how to be incredible teammates, and all of that helps contribute to a better society,” Mills said. “We’re really hoping that the message of a relationship with Jesus Christ gets out not only to these young athletes but to their families as well once they go home and talk about camp. It’s a really fun time and something great for our local communities – we’re looking forward to more opportunities in the area.”

Poplar Bluff High head football coach Dave Sievers takes a break from the Mules to help train future athletes at the FCA Power Camp.D'Courtland Christian/DAR

One of the key perks of FCA camps having various sports, such as baseball, softball, basketball and others, is to utilize local coaches and athletes. To have a key figure in the athletic world partner with them is huge, and this year, the Poplar Bluff area coaches showed up and were a huge help.

During the event, the campers received key instruction from many coaches from Three Rivers College and Poplar Bluff High.

Additional help came from SEMO college softball player Alyson Tucker and Track & Field athlete Aaron Modrow. Mills said one of his favorite things is to empower student-athletes to help serve and give back in any way, and they received an abundance of help from the local high school athletes.

Despite having the first power camp in the area, Poplar Bluff High head football coach Dave Sievers thought they had an amazing turnout. Having an event that can mix athletics and faith is a positive message to send to the youth in the community.

“I thought the camp was a big success,” Sievers said. “Athletics is just a wonderful thing because it builds character. This camp provided a great opportunity for the kids to break a sweat playing their favorite sport while hopefully strengthening their faith. These younger kids often look up to the older athletes and coaches, so it was great that we could come together for a great event like this.”

Three Rivers College head baseball coach Tyler Smith was in attendance, and when asked to participate as a coach, it was a no-brainer.

“The FCA camp was awesome,” Smith said. “When Josh asked me to be a part of it, I didn’t even hesitate. Anytime you can work with kids with baseball is awesome, but anytime you can work anytime kids in a faith-based program, that’s even better.”

Three Rivers College head baseball coach Tyler Smith shows the future ball players the proper technique to throw a pitch during the FCA Power Camp.D'Courtland Christian/DAR

Smith said sports and faith go hand in hand with building the characteristics of a nice person. He preaches to his players that baseball will only last so long. A person’s identity is not in baseball, it’s in Christ. We don’t force faith onto people but love guys who like to be around it. Overall, Smith thought this was a great opportunity to help out and help spread the word of Christ.

The FCA will have one more youth camp in the next few weeks and host another Power Camp at the Sportsplex in Cape Girardeau from August 1-3 for grades 5-8.

There’s also a Huddle Leadership Camp for the junior high and high school student leaders at Notre Dame Regional High School on July 27 and First Baptist Church Poplar Bluff on July 28.