The 2017 Louisiana Coaches Time Out event (Co-Sponsored by Louisiana FCA and Professional Athlete Outreach)  was held June 23-25 in Baton Rouge at the Renaissance Hotel.  Over 50 Coaches and spouses attended this years event with 15 coming from Southwest Louisiana.  The sole purpose of this event is to give coaches and their spouse a needed "time out" before "next season" begins.

The comment heard repeatedly from SWLA couples was, "this was just what we needed, a perfect Time Out for us to refocus on our relationship, our family, and our calling as a coaching couple.  We cannot wait to bring a couple back with us next year".   

Featured speakers this year were Kerry Joseph, McNeese State Football, as the weekend "Spiritual Coach" and Tony Robichaux, University of Lafayette Baseball Coach on Coaching Prinicples that please God. The Financial Adviser, Breaux Nadar, spoke the on the "Steps to Financial Peace". 

The Southwest Louisiana Fellowship of Christian Athletes 2017 Golf Event was held on Friday afternoon May 12 at the Lake Charles Country Club.

FCA is THANKFUL and GRATEFUL that we were blessed with such a beautiful day for a golf event, as well as, express our sincere appreciation to each of the event sponsors (see photo), the 52 Hole Sponsors, the 30 teams that played on Friday, and to the Lake Charles Country Club for doing such a fantastic job hosting the event.  

The purpose of the FCA Golf Event is to raise funds for the local FCA Ministry to SWLA Coaches and Athletes.  This years event was a success and allows us to send  athletes to the 2017 FCA Sports Camp, McNeese athletes to the Louisiana College Athlete Retreat, as well as provide FCA God's Game Plan Bibles to the leaders in the FCA Huddles in SWLA.

There was a 3 way tie for first in the men's division at a score of 58.  The winners were decided by a back 9 scorecard playoff:

FIRST PLACE: 

Jacob Marceaux, Chris Denton, Jared Gothreaux, Ben Chretian  /

SECOND PLACE: 

Johnny Girordano, Ernest Celestie, Sam Powell, Bruce Eisen 

THIRD PLACE: 

Shawn Fontenot, Andrew Beasley, Patrick Stroderd, Will Fruge

The winning teams in the Women's Division were:

FIRST PLACE: 

Willie Mount, Alexis Trahan, Darleen Wallace, Sandy Moore /score of 69

SECOND PLACE: 

Thelma Thibodeaux, Becky Meaux, Bobbie Arnold, Monk Bridges/ score of 70

THIRD PLACE: 

Olga Watts, Sharon Berken, Idell Cogbill, Kim Williams

Closest to the Hole / Ken Oakley  

Men's Longest Drive / Jordan DeRouen                               

Ladies Longest Drive / Kelly Durio

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association gives the Fellowship of Christian Athletes the opportunity to pray before each State Championship game throughout the year during the State Football, Basketball, Soccer, and Volleyball Championship weekends.

Eunice Mayo, SWLA FCA minister to  High School Coaches and Athletes, was on site April 26-29 and May 10-13 as SWLA FCA was honored to pray before the Louisiana State Softball and Baseball games at the respective complex's in Sulphur, LA.  

On Thursday May 4 at the National Day of Prayer event hosted by Profit and Loss, Southwest Louisiana Fellowship of Christian Athletes along with Profit and Loss, recognized the 4 annual recipients of the Kyle Broussard Memorial FCA Scholarship.  

The winners of this years FCA / Profit and Loss Kyle Broussard Memorial Scholarship are:

 Madison Fontenot Sam Houston High School

Makyla Burkes, DeRidder High School

Julius Johnson, Kaplan High School

Joel Whalley, South Beauregard High School 

Each of the recipients will receive $1,000 payable in their freshmen year of college

The 2017 FCA Day of Champions was held on Saturday February 11 prior to the McNeese Men's and Women's Basketball games.

Tristan Baggett, a Senior Soccer player at Sulphur High School, served as the Master of Ceremony's.  Walker Forsyth, SJ Welsh Middle School Athlete opened in prayer, McNeese Football Player Jammerio Gross, shared his story about how God has used FCA to strengthen his relationship with Chirst during his collegiate career, and Madi Fontenot shared her experience about how FCA Sports Camp impacted her life and encouraged the athletes to not miss the opportunity to attend during their high school days.  

Special Guest Sports Motivation Music Artist Tyrone Powell motivated those in attendance to compete and live life with "Clear Eye and a Full Heart  / Can't Lose" mentality .... when Christ is the reason why we compete with the gifts and talents the Lord has blessed us with.  Then guest speaker, Myron Guillory, inspired everyone to live life with the Power of ONE  from Philippians 1:27... One Purpose, One Power, One Pain, One Passion.

SWLA FCA would like to THANK YOU to Chad Pousson and Ronnie Breaux for providing the jambalaya for the event.

Athletes from the following schools attended the Day of Champions: Barbe, DeRidder Jr High School, East Beauregard, Kaplan,  Lacassine, Merryville,  Sam Houston, Starks, Sulphur, and Washington Marion.
 

The 2017 Louisiana College Athlete Retreat  was held January 20-22 at Camp Bethany outside of Shreveport, LA.  Over 300 athletes from each University in Louisiana attended the event with 27 athletes and 6 adult staff from McNeese attending.  FCA staff from around the state challenged the heart of the  athletes to be compete with Christ likeness on their fields, course, or  court of competition.

Two McNeese Athletes were baptized at College Athlete Retreat while another is being baptized in church on Jan. 29.  Josh Beasley, a member of the Servant Leadership Team for McNeese FCA, was awarded the Thomas Mitchell Character award for his servant leadership attitude throughout the weekend.

During the month of October 12 schools in Southwest Louisiana hosted a Fields of Faith on their football field or in their gymnasium.  Fields of Faith, which began in 2004, is an student lead community event.  Students invite, pray for,  share with, and challenge their peers to read the Bible and follow Christ.  The challenge comes from 2 Chronicles 34 where King Josiah, an influential teenage King, gathered his people and challenged them to read God's. As a result, they change their culture.  

Schools that held a Fields of Faith on their football field or in their gym were:  A M Barbe, DeQuincy, DeRidder, East Beauregard,  Iowa, Jennings, Kaplan, LaGrange, Sam Houston, South Beauregard, Sulphur, and Washington Marion.  Over 3,100 people from each of these communities attended their local Fields of Faith. Below are pictures from the Fields of Faith that sent in pictures of their event.

On August 28, 2016 SWLA FCA hosted its annual Night of Champions event in Burton Coliseum.  1,100+  athletes and coaches from 26 SWLA schools attended the event. Shanna Zolman, the former HS Miss Indiana Basketball, who played 4 years at Tennessee under the legendary coach Pat Summitt, and spent 6 years in the WNBA inspired the coaches and athletes to compete for Christ on the their field, court, or course of competition.  Shanna is currently on staff with FCA in Seattle, WA as Minister to Women athletes at the collegiate and pro level.

The below email from Coach Stark, Opelousas High School, who attended the event, puts the evening in perspective:

“Just wanted to send a quick Thank-You to you and your team for putting on the Night of Champions event last night. Everything was well-done--the band was excellent, the student testimonies were encouraging, Shanna had an incredible message about God's grace, and it was well worth the trip. My students came away with a renewed thirst to learn more about Christ and excited about the potential for FCA at Opelousas High. I had several who went forward to commit themselves to live for something higher than themselves and give their lives to the God whose love for them is greater than we could ever imagine. The program ministered to my heart as well. Just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to take part. It was an awesome way to kick-off the year.”

SWLA FCA wants to THANK the coaches who brought their athletes, the sponsors who make the event possible, and the SWLA FCA Adult Advisory board for making the Night of Champions a success!

During the Louisiana State Rodeo Competitions (May 31- June 4) SWLA FCA was honored to host a Chapel for competitors each afternoon prior to the evening competition.  The theme for the Chapel Devotions this year was "Don't Take for Granted" the talents, blessings, and opportunities the Lord sends our way during the course of our daily lives.  The caution was that when we begin to take for granted any area of our lives we open ourselves to complacency and compromise which ultimately leads to failure whether it is spiritually, athletically, academically, or in our relationships.

The overall theme verse for the week was 1 Peter 1:13 in which the competitors were encouraged to overcome complacency and compromise in life through preparing their minds for action, begin self discipline,  and to set their hope on Jesus Christ ... to compete for something greater than themselves.

The specific areas of caution were to Not Take For Granted the...

• Trials of life / James 1:2
• Tiny Things it takes to be successful / Luke 16:10
• Textbook God has given us to live life by / 2 Timothy 3:16,17
• Time to Compete / Matthew 6:33....The Game is Tremendously Fun and Teaches Great Life Lessons, but makes a Terrible God....

SWLA FCA is grateful for the opportunity that LHSRA allows us to share Biblical Lessons that apply competitively and also to Carmen Denison for having the Daily Chapel added to the schedule.

The 2016 Coaches/Spouse Appreciation Crawfish Boil was held Saturday April 30th at Sale Street Baptist Church.  Even though the rain in the morning may have dampened the attendance we still boiled and served 400 lbs of Crawfish.  SWLA FCA holds this annual event to express our appreciation to coaches and their spouse for the impact and influence they have on your young people as well as the time they sacrifice from their own families.

In addtion, SWLA FCA would like to say a special THANK YOU to Sale Street Baptist Church for hosting the event inside and provided the day care so that our coaching couples could enjoy some time with other adults!

Our Guest speaker/artist this year is Tyrone Powell. T. Powell is a motivational speaker and music artist. He brings a message of hope, victory, passion and perseverance through his music and speaking.

T. Powell’s goal is to provide music that motivates without the language and graphic under tones that the sports culture gravitate to. He has traveled to high schools, middle schools, little leagues and churches to inspire young people to always pursue GREATNESS! To check out T Powell and his motivational music go to http://www.sportsmusic.org.

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