Sermon prompts teen to create soccer league
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
As 14-year-old Amanda Otten listened to Senior Minister Dave Stone’s sermon, she knew that just listening wasn’t enough.
That weekend, almost a year ago, Stone preached about the importance of investing in youth and gave some staggering statistics on the high percentage of
teenagers who walk away from church and their faith. To illustrate what that looked like, he pointed to a large section of the Sanctuary that would be missing in
action if the trend continued.
It was hard to imagine that kind of loss, and Amanda began to brainstorm ideas to change the statistics.
She had attended Southeast with her mother, Nancy Otten, and 11-year-old brother, Ben, since 2004. Bible classes and sports quickly became an important part
of their lives. Amanda played soccer, softball and volleyball and volunteered in the preschool chapel. She watched Ben’s baseball games with her mom.
Wanting to reach her friends for Christ, Amanda often asks them to spend the night at her house and go to church the next morning.
“I look at it as a way to get my friends involved at Southeast,” Amanda said. “Teenagers tend to get into trouble, but a lot of my friends are open to coming to
church.”
Through the years, she also invited those who enjoy sports to sign up for a team where they meet other teenagers and coaches who model the Christian
lifestyle.
But as Amanda reached her teenage years, there were fewer opportunities to be involved in recreational leagues at Southeast. The church didn’t offer a soccer
program for teens 14 and older. In fact, Amanda found that there were few recreational sports leagues in the city.
She surveyed friends to see how many would be interested in playing in a soccer league for teens between the ages of 14 and 16.
“I have a big imagination,” Amanda said. “I thought creating something for teenagers to do might be one solution to get them involved in church.”
Amanda wrote a proposal for the new soccer league and sent it to Neal Gossett, who directs the Sports and Fitness Ministry at the Blankenbaker Campus, and
to John O’Neal, the Youth Sports Ministry Assistant.
They took Amanda’s proposal seriously. The Premier soccer league will begin in the fall.
As they checked with youth leaders and teens coming to the Sports and Fitness Center, Gossett and O’Neal found about 30 teenagers who were interested in
playing soccer and decided to form the new league.
Amanda, who waited about 10 months for a definitive answer to her proposal, said she screamed when she heard that her idea will become a reality. She
already is adding to the long list of friends she plans to invite.