Southwest Louisiana FCA Blog

SWLA FCA Huddle Leadership Training

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 15:03:26 GMT

Our largest attendance ever was present for the 2024 SWLA FCA Huddle Leadership Training on Thursday August 27th at Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles.

18 Schools, 160+ HS/MS student athletes, 45 pizzas made for a great day to Engage, Equip, Empower and Excite our young people to lead for Christ on their campus, in the locker room, and on the field, court, or course of competition.

Thank you, Trinity Baptist, for hosting our event, Erynn Boatright, SWLA FCA for sharing the morning devotion and Amelia Broussard, FCA Staff in Lafayette for presenting The Four, board members Charles/Beverly Allen, Janis Guillory, Denise Sanford, John Hogg for serving alongside us and the huddle sponsors/parents who drove their leaders to/from the event.

We are looking forward to an awesome year!

2024 Louisiana FCA Doing Sports God's Way Sports Camp

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 15:00:49 GMT

Romans 15:13 “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit”

Competition, Perspiration, and Intense Worship combined to fuel the 2024 Louisiana FCA Doing Sports God’s Way Camp into an electric worship and training experience for over 200 High / Middle School Athlete Leaders from across the state at Camp Bethany outside Shreveport.

Our 2024 Camp Theme was 24/7…with the goal to encourage / engage coaches and athletes with God’s truth, to equip them to lead their staffs and athletes, and empower them to go deeper in their faith as they head into the coming school year. The four focus topics of the 24/7 theme are RESET, RENEW, REFUEL, and get READY to lead!

SWLA and SCLA FCA sent 70 student athletes to the Sports Camp. THANK YOU to our faithful sponsors who made it possible for us to scholarship a portion of the camp cost for each athlete! This was a huge help for our families to ease the financial cost of sending their young person to camp.

We look forward to watching the Lord work in the lives of these young people to lead their teammates in the coming school year!

2024 SWLA FA Golf Event

Thu, 16 May 2024 14:47:05 GMT

2024 SWLA FCA Golf Event in the books!

Psalms 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people work together in unity”

THANK YOU to each individual and business listed below for sharing their time, talents, and treasures to make this year a tremendous success. THANK YOU for serving alongside us!

+ SWLA FCA Board for helping in all the areas behind the scenes to get ready for the day.

+ EVENT SPONSORS

Title Sponsor, Johnson Funeral Home
Lunch Sponsor, Lake Charles Toyota
Robinson Dental
McElveen Insurance
A J Gallagher
Calcasieu Refining
Louisiana Concrete
Collins Orthopedic
LCCC Women’s Association

+ The 28 teams who entered

+ Our Hole Sponsors

+ LCCC for their hard work to insure that the day ran smoothly

We had great weather, a fast cou rse, and our FCA Core Values of INTEGRITY, SERVING, TEAMWORK, and EXCELLENCE were modeled throughout the day!

2024 Day of Champions

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:56:15 GMT

On Sunday February 18 the SWLA FCA hosted their annual Day of Champions. 200+ athletes and coaches were in attendance for an afternoon of motivation and inspiration. Jacquise Terry, former Kent State All MAC, All Academic performer and currently on staff with the Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge at the Dream Center Campus was our guest speaker. JT shared an inspirational message encouraging the group to grow in Godliness from 1 Timothy 4:8,9.

SWLA FCA would like to express our appreciation to McNeese Soccer for being at the event to welcome our Middle/High School athletes when they arrived, Conner Smith, SJ Welsh FB for opening our event in prayer, Baily Tillman, McNeese VB for singing our National Anthem, Joseph Geier for sharing his faith story, Matt Kreneta, McNeese FB, for sharing how being a part of an FCA Huddle on campus has helped him grow spiritually, and Elijah Melandez, McNeese FB, for closing out the event in prayer!

In addition, we appreciate Trinity Baptist for hosting the event, Mitch Bohannon, TBC, for running the power point for the event, JD Broussard, TBC, for leading in worship, our SWLA FCA Board for serving alongside us, and all the sponsors who financially support FCA Day of Champions to allow coaches, athletes, and huddle sponsors to attend free of charge.

And lastly, THANK YOU to the coaches and huddle sponsors for getting their athletes to sign up and show up on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

Day of Champions was a huge success as a result of a tremendous collective effort!

2024 Louisiana College Athlete Retreat

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:58:33 GMT

On the weekend of January 12-14 Louisiana FCA held our annual College Athlete Retreat just outside Woodworth, LA. Of the 150 total athletes attending, our McNeese huddle won the high attendance award for the second year in a row with 40 athletes attending along with 4 staff members.

The Purpose of this year's CAR was to train and equip student athletes to compete and live for Christ under the theme of "HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR 24/7? Training time included diving into God's word to RESET, RENEW, REFUEL their commitment to Christ and be READY to serve HIM in every area of their lives. Athletes were divided into huddles to go deeper in God's word.

Thank you to Twin Lakes Camp for hosting CAR 2024, the FCA cook staff for preparing and serving the meals, and the Louisiana FCA staff for planning and organizing the weekend.

Also, SPECIAL APPRECITION to all our FCA Sponsors who provided financial support for our 40 athletes to attend!

2023 SWLA Huddle Leadership Training

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:03:10 GMT

Our largest attendance ever was present for the 2023 SWLA FCA Huddle Leadership Training on Tuesday August 29 at Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles.

20 Schools, 150+ HS/MS student athletes, 40 pizzas made for a great day to Engage, Equip, Empower and Excite our young people to lead for Christ on their campus, in the locker room, and on the field, court, or course of competition.

Thank you, Trinity Baptist, for hosting our event, McNeese athletes Trey Vondenstien/FB, Mariana Torres/SB, and Amelia Broussard, FCA Staff in Lafayette for sharing, board members Charles/Beverly Allen, Janis Guillory and Denise Sanford for serving and the huddle sponsors/parents who drove their leaders to/from the event.

We are looking forward to an awesome year!

2023 LA FCA Coaches Time Out is in the books!

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 16:44:11 GMT

TREMENDOUS weekend for our coaches and spouses to get refocused, refreshed, and relaxed as they head into the upcoming season.

TIMELY word from our guest speaker and his wife Sherman and Sharon Smith, former NFL player and coach. (See their story in the documentary Show Me the Father), Jeff Fitzgerald (former College and HS HC and now NELA FCA staff) and his wife Kim. Along withgreat encouragement to our coaches and spouses from Jeremy Williams, 2X State 5A Boys Basketball Championship coach at Bossier HS and his wife Gloria, 5A State HS Girls Championship coach at Parkway HS in Bossier City.

THANK YOU for the encouraging words from LA FCA Staff Andy Stroup, Hayden Slack, Terry Slack, Corey Steele, Mike and Ellen Dimaria, David McMullen and Jodi McMullen, and Hollis Conway as our MC! 2023 LA FCA Coaches Time Out is in the books!

View Facebook Reel: https://www.facebook.com/reel/600538468828476?fs=e&s=9RfQYY&mibextid=xO1PvT

2023 SWLA FCA Golf Event in the books!

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:28:24 GMT

Psalms 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people work together in unity”

2023 SWLA FCA Golf Event in the books! It took a tremendous team effort from our SWLA Board, Golf Committee, Event Sponsors, Hole Sponsors, Team Entries, Tarver Toyota cook team, and Lake Charles Country Club for each sharing their time, talents, and treasures to make this year a tremendous success. THANK YOU for serving alongside us!

THANK YOU to our Golf Committee and SWLA Board for helping in all the areas Friday before the event started.

THANK YOU to all our Event Sponsors.

Lake Charles Toyota
Jim Bel's Hunting Lodge
Henning Guide Services
Robinson Dental
McElveen Insurance
A J Gallagher
Calcasieu Refining
LA Concrete
Collins Orthopedic

THANK YOU to the 22 teams who entered

THANK YOU to the 80+ Hole Sponsors

THANK YOU to Lake Charles Toyota for donating the meal

THANK YOU to the LCCC for being sure the day ran smoothly

2023 Day of Champions

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:41:30 GMT

On Sunday February 26 the SWLA FCA hosted their annual Day of Champions. 300+ athletes and coaches were in attendance for an afternoon of motivation and inspiration. Derek Blacksher, former McNeese Baseball player, told his faith story by sharing his 5 G's to growing in your relationship with Christ. The River Church Band, representing 5 schools and 5 different sports, played prior to the event as athletes and coaches arrived. Larry Duhon, Barbe FCA, shared his faith story. Grant Ashford, Barbe FCA, shared what having a consistent FCA on campus has meant to him and Maleigh Guillot, Lacassine FCA, shared how attending FCA Leadership camp spurred her spiritual growth. The Barbe Blue Belles, McNeese Football, Soccer, and Volleyball teams were on hand to welcome schools as they arrived. Trey Vondenstien, McNeese FB, served as our MC for the event.

Special thank you to Trinity Baptist for hosting the event, SWLA FCA Board for serving alongside us, and all the sponsors who financially support FCA Day of Champions for making the event a success afternoon!

2023 Louisiana College Athlete Retreat

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 16:34:03 GMT

On the weekend of January 6-8 Louisiana FCA hosted our annual College Athlete Retreat just outside Woodworth, LA. Universities from Louisiana and Texas attended.

The purpose of this years CAR was to prepare out FCA Student/Athlete Leaders to lead their teammates using the FCA E3 Discipleship Model ... Engage, Equip, Empower.

We, McNeese FCA, had 16 athletes, 2 Character Coaches, and SWLA FCA staff attend!

Thank you, Twin Lakes Camp, for hosting the event, our cook staff who providing 5 meals awesome hot meals for our athletes/staff, and Louisiana FCA for providing this opportunity as well as our Sponsors who provided financial support so that our athletes could attend.

SWLA FCA Huddle Leadership Training

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 16:27:45 GMT

20 Schools, 125 FCA Student Leaders, 25 Huddle leaders.

This September SWLA FCA hosted our annual Huddle Leadership Training day at Trinity Baptist Church. The purpose of the training was to give student leaders the tools for their school huddle to be student led this school year.

FCA would like to THANK the huddle leaders for bringing their leaders, Trinity Baptist Church for hosting the event, Lake Charles Toyota for providing lunch for our attendees, and all our FCA Sponsors for their financial support throughout the year to make this event possible.

2022 Louisiana FCA Doing Sports Gods Way Leadership Camp

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:30:30 GMT

FCA 2022 Doing Sports God's Way Leadership Camp is in the books!

200 athletes learning to Do Sports God's Way! 36 first time commitments to Christ and 15 recommitments.

43 athletes from SWLA (Barbe, EDS, Lacassine, LCCP, Moss Bluff Middle, OLQH, Pitkin, SJ Welsh, Sam Houston, Welsh)
40 from South Central LA. (Beau Chene, Kaplan, Opelousas, Southside)

THANK YOU to the parents that helped with transportation. Kathryn Crick Sanford, Cris Sanford, Jessica Forsyth, Emily Miller Irwin, Courtney Duplechain Dressler, Nicole Leger, Suzanne Guillory!

THANK YOU to EVERY individual who supports SWLA FCA monthly, through sponsorships and/or yearly contributions. What a blessing it is to be able to scholarship each student athlete half the cost. (Though we would never allow finances to be a reason a young person cannot attend FCA Leadership Camp)

This was a text we received from a mom who had 2 sons attend camp…

"Good morning!

Our conversation with the boys was ahhhhhhmazing! Holy Spirit touched them greatly at camp and we are so grateful for you and Mr. Steve inviting them. They were intrigued by the speaker in a great way. His message was deep yet helped open their eyes to the reality of many in our world. He definately touched them. They were in tune to his message. Opened great conversation. My momma heart breaks at these boys growing up but I’m grateful for who I see them becoming. It’s bittersweet. My prayers are always that they stay on His path….it was sweet to see them repeating this for once without mom and dad telling them this. I think the big takeaway was camp Taught them selflessness, determination, and the importance of Time for God daily."

Thanks, �� Emily Irwin

2022 SWLA FCA Coaches/Spouses Night Out

Tue, 24 May 2022 15:10:45 GMT

On Sunday evening May 15 ^th we hosted our 2022 SWLA FCA Coaches/Spouses Night Out at BeauxDines. The theme this year was “The Power of Positive”.

Thank you to the 30 coaching couples who attended, Dr. Errol Wilder for providing our live music, BeauxDines for serving delicious food as well great service, and our SWLA FCA Board for serving.

Jeff Wainwright, Head FB Coach at Grand Lake did an awesome job sharing the importance of Positive motivation of athlete's vs negative motivation.

Andy and Marla Stroup, Baton Rouge, LSU FCA shared 3 “Power of Positive” relationship tips…

1. Never speak negative about your spouse in public. Proverbs 18:12 “Don’t dis the misses”

2. Work hard to understand rather than be understood. James 1:19

3. Look for something good in every situation. “Whatever you look for you will find. ”Matt 7:7

We look forward to seeing coaches and spouses at our 2023 event!

2022 SWLA FCA Day of Champions

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 14:38:29 GMT

“God is good all the time and all the time God is good”

The saying “God is good all the time and all the time God is good” was certainly true yesterday at our 2022 SWLA FCA Day of Champions as we saw 120+ of the 400+ athletes, coaches and huddle sponsors attending make a decision for Christ.

Our Speaker, Scott Carter, shared a tremendous message that ended with asking each person to filter their relationship with Christ by asking themselves these questions:

1. Do you know Jesus or just know about Him?

2. Are you converted or just convinced?

3. Do you have relationship with Jesus or just religion?

Thank you to each of those listed below who played their role with EXCELLENCE in SERVING to make this day a success.

* Coaches and sponsors who brought their FCA Huddles

* Trinity Baptist Church for hosting the event

* Trinity Baptist Worship and Media teams

* Scott Carter for sharing God’s plan for our lives

* McNeese Football, Soccer, Softball, and Rodeo for being our “welcome force”,

* Eunice Mayo for giving an awesome event intro

* Student athletes Ava Henry, Bailey Tillman, Bella Bradley, Trey Vondenstein, and Reece Wilks for stepping up and speaking out.

* SWLA FCA Advisory Board and Winston Quesenberry, FCA staff, for helping with the set up and break down.

* Our sponsors who fund SWLA FCA ministry throughout the year

2021 SWLA FCA Golf Event

Mon, 17 May 2021 15:25:08 GMT

What a FABULOUS day to host our 2021 SWLA FCA Golf Event! Mid 70’s, a slight breeze and a dry course! We are blessed to be able to have our golf event at the Lake Charles Country Club. Stuart and the pros do a great job hosting us and helping us make the day run smooth.

SWLA FCA would like to express a special THANK YOU to our corporate sponsors, our 30 teams, 90 hole sponsors, Lake Charles Toyota for providing (and cooking) a tremendous pre-event meal, our SWLA FCA Board and Golf Committee for serving alongside Denise and I throughout the day. This event is a success because of their untiring persistence and patience to pull this together. Our goal is to always be able to achieve our FCA Values of EXCELLENCE, INTEGRITY, SERVING, AND TEAMWORK.

Please join SWLA FCA in expressing THANKS and APPRECIATION to the below sponsors when you have the opportunity, to let them know how much we appreciate their support of SWLA FCA through their financial partnership for the golf event.

Lake Charles Toyota
McElveen Insurance
Louisiana Concrete
Robinson Dental Group
AJ Gallagher
Oak Crossing
Terrell and Associates

SWLA FCA Coaches Night Out!

Sun, 16 May 2021 15:40:42 GMT

After the Covid shut down that kept us out of school in our homes and cancelled spring sports, two hurricanes that displace many people, schools / seasons cancelled due to the devastation from the hurricanes and a freeze that busted many of the fixed pipes, we were finally able to host our annual coaches event. Good weather, great music, delicious food, and the sound of coaches and spouses visiting made for a wonderful evening.

SWLA FCA would like to Shout Out a SPECIAL THANK to the following people that were so instrumental in making this time with our coaches and their spouse a special evening:

Paul Pettefer / Paul’s Rib Shack and staff for hosting us,
Errol Wilder, Ronnie Fruge, Justin Martindale for entertaining us,
Todd Butler for sharing his coaching journey with our coaches
Lisa Hebert, Crystal Guidry Baggett, and Michelle John Aiken for serving on our Coaches Wives Panel.
Clint Sanford / Kathryn Crick Sanford for sharing marriage relationship tips, and
Our SWLA FCA Board for serving with us tonight.

SWLA FCA Disaster Relief

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 18:28:55 GMT

This past 9 months have been a challenge as we all have been thrown multiple curve balls, change ups, mixed in with well-located fast balls, with a surprise slider on occasion!!! We have all learned, or are in the process of learning, how to adjust in a moment’s time. HOWEVER, the one constant we have faced is change. It is good that we can trust in a Savior that “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” because HE is our constant in a changing world.

As we close in on the end of 2020, SWLA FCA, would like to give an update on ministry the past several months.

Ministry through COVID and the 2 Hurricanes has been, and continues to be, a definite adaptation to ministering outside the box. Below is some of the ways we have adapted to these changes and ministered to Coaches and athletes.
Through the “blessing” of technology/ZOOM (I never thought I would call Technology a blessing!)

1,000 Coaches and Spouses took part in our FCA Coaches/Spouse Marriage Camp
Weekly “Huddle Up” meetings with coaches hosted by NFL player Ben Watson that feature pro athletes sharing their testimony
Weekly Bible Study for High School coaches from multiple area schools
Weekly Bible Study for McNeese coaches
Weekly McNeese All Athlete FCA Meeting
Weekly McNeese Team Bible Studies for Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Rodeo

MINISTRY During Hurricanes Laura and Delta

Since our FCA core ministry is to coaches, our goal for Hurricane Disaster Relief was to “serve the servants” so that our coaches could be freed up to goabout ministering to their athletes.

Bigger than the challenges presented have been the “Blessing” of so many teams and FCA staff coming into SWLA to help physically and financially in our Disaster Relief efforts.

The below individuals and groups gave their time and energy to make it possible for SWLA FCA to serve 60+ Coaches Families clear lots and clean houses of debris, praying with each homeowner, and on many occasions sharing a “pre work” devotion.

Drew Beard, Southwest Regional VP
Terry Slack, Louisiana State FCA Director
Baton Rouge FCA Staff (TS Noble, Ira Jewitt, Alex Wharton, Amanda Jennings
Lafayette FCA Staff
Central Louisiana FCA
UL FCA
LSU Eunice FCA
SWLA Rodeo FCA
Cris Sanford Family
Clint Sanford Family
Drew Mill Family
Jon Ringo Family
Scott Fitzgerald Family
Brad Forsythe Family
Cade and Candice Marcental (the tractor was clutch)
Thunder Cat Youth Soccer Team and Parents
McNeese Baseball and Softball Teams
Southeastern University Coaches/Athletes
ULM Coaches / Athletes
Teurlings Catholic Coaches / Athletes
Catholic Pointe Coupee Coaches/Athletes
Andy Hankins/ Johnson Funeral Home

Equally important were the following individuals and teams that donated financially so that SWLA FCA could give out 70 $100 Gift Cards to Coaches Families from the Disaster Relief donations received to help with the expenses incurred during the hurricane evacuation and resetting up of households.

Fontenot Family
Tudor Family
Ben Watson Family
LSU A Men’s Basketball Team
Adam/Nicole Walsh
Former MSU athletes Liz Fesler, Alana Sidman, and Andrew / Kourtney Guillotte
Stillman Institute

The pictures posted with this update are of the individuals and teams that came to serve in SWLA during this devastating time. As you read over the above list, and look at the pictures with this update, please say a prayer of THANKS for these individuals and teams for their willingness to serve during a difficult time. They will never know the blessing and impact they had in the lives of the coach’s families in SWLA.

2020 SWLA FCA Game Day

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 14:31:56 GMT

8 High Schools and 85 Student Athletes attended the 2020 SWLA FCA, student led, Game Day event on Saturday February 1 prior to the McNeese Women’s and Men’s Basketball Games against the Lamar Cardinals.

The theme of the day was 100% taken from Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”.

The GAME DAY event was hosted by SWLA FCA with the McNeese State FCA Servant Leadership team leading the event. Student athletes shared what it meant to them to serve the Lord in the areas of 100% SACRIFICE (Trey Vondenstein, McNeese FB), 100% SURRENDER (Hannah Miller, Lacassine High School), 100% SURROUNDing Your Self with the right peers (Kamyrn Duncan, McNeese Rodeo) and 100% SERVING (Callie Lechtenburg, SJ Welsh Dance Team). In addition, the McNeese Servant Leadership team led the attending athletes in three competitions to complete the day.

Following the Game Day event, the group was a part of the sold out McNeese Women’s and Men’s basketball games.

2020 Louisiana College Athlete Retreat

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 17:35:43 GMT

The 2020 Louisiana College Athlete Retreat was held January 17 -19 at Camp Bethany outside of Shreveport, LA. Each University in Louisiana was represented with over 225 athletes in attendance. FCA staff from around the state challenged the heart of the athletes to compete with Christ likeness on their fields, courts, or courses as well as in their locker rooms. The weekend was 36 hours of nonstop Inspiration + Motivation + Competition + Persperation which equaled an life changing weekend for those in attendance.

FCA would like to express a special THANK YOU and APPRECIATION for those that support FCA in the State of Louisiana. Lives are changed because of your support and prayers.

2019 SWLA FCA Student Leadership Training

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:44:01 GMT

The 2019 SWLA FCA Student Leadership Training was held on Thursday October 24 at Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles. FCA Huddles Leaders from 20 schools brought their student leaders (124) to be trained so that the huddles in each school could be student led.

Former FCA staff member, Eunice Mayo, did a fantastic job presenting at the Leadership Training. Student Leaders were challenged to step up and speak out on their respective teams in the locker room and on the field, court, or course of competition. Kendal Thomas, former McNeese FB athlete, did a tremendous job leading these young leaders in worship.

Special Thank You to Trinity Baptist Church for allowing FCA to host this event on the church campus and Little Caesars for providing lunch.

SWLA FCA Night of Champions

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 16:57:20 GMT

On September 29th SWLA FCA hosted its 14th annual Night of Champions event in Burton Coliseum. 600+ athletes and coaches from SWLA schools attended the event. Our Guest speaker this year was Jennie Finch.

Jennie Finch is a former collegiate All American and medal winning Olympian, retired 2-time pro All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher and first baseman originally from California. She pitched for the Arizona Wildcats, the USA National Softball Team and the Chicago Bandits. Finch won the 2001 Women's Collegiate World Series and helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Finch is a Christian Athlete and has turned down large financial offers to appear in magazines because of her Christian faith, saying she wanted to be a role model for young women. Finch has spoken about her faith, saying: "It's so important to find hope in Jesus and live for a higher purpose: to share about Him

SWLA FCA wants to THANK the coaches who brought their athletes, McNeese Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, and Women's Basketball teams who welcomed the High School athletes as they arrived, the sponsors who make the event possible, and the SWLA FCA Adult Advisory boards for making the Night of Champions a success!

2019 Louisiana High School Rodeo Chapel

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:46:42 GMT

During the Louisiana State Championships Rodeo Competition SWLA FCA was honored to host a Chapel for competitors each evening prior to the competition. Rodeo participates Kamyrn Duncan, Live Oak High School, Quincy Mudd, St. Louis Catholic High School, and Morgan Sparks, Home School, have been faithful to promote and share each night. The Lord has been moving through this week as a result of these three young ladies faithfulness and obedience to stand up and speak out for Christ.

SWLA FCA is grateful for the opportunity that LHSRA allows us to share Biblical Lessons that apply competitively and living daily for Christ.