CSU-Pueblo’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has emerged as one of the most active and well-known student organization on campus.
Started in 2008 on the campus of CSU-Pueblo, FCA has grown tremendously throughout the years.
“FCA has been operating since 2008 and was formerly called FCT (Fellowship of Christian Thunderwolves),” said Trever Hess, a junior industrial engineering major and FCA’s student leader.
“However, in fall of 2013, we decided to change our name to FCA so students could identify with and a more familiar name when they transitioned from high school to college,” he said.
Along with the name change, FCA’s membership has also drastically increased over the years.
“When FCA started there were only about 20 people, but it has doubled in size,” said Alyxx Sanchez, a senior mass communications major at CSU-Pueblo and FCA member. “It’s great to see new faces come in each week as a testament to what God is doing in the university community.”
Bou Amaya, a senior mass communications and English major and FCA’s team lead said the organization attracted a high volume of members in 2013.
“To our surprise, we grew from twelve to thirty within about two weeks in fall 2013. As the year progressed, we maintained a number of about 30 students per week. Since last year, our organization has grown even more and we now have about 40 students involved in FCA,” Amaya said.
Instead of having a set group of officers including president and vice president, FCA consist of a team of student leaders who have been running this student organization successfully for past six years on campus.
“As a leader of FCA, my major roles consist of contacting our members on a weekly basis, setting up the room, leading worship at the beginning of each meeting and managing our announcement board,” Amaya said. “I also speak at some of our meetings and if we don’t bring in a speaker, one of the leaders will prepare a message to share.”
The team leads said they believe the reason FCA has been so successful at CSU-Pueblo campus is the impact it has on the students.
“I believe FCA has given student athletes to come and share their relationship with Christ and it has also given them somewhere to go with all the stresses of school and sports,” said Chance Rodriquez, junior exercise science major and football player at CSU-Pueblo. “It has also impacted their lives forever by created relationship with others and giving them friends.”
FCA was also honored to receive the nomination in the “student organization of the year” category during last year’s CSU-Pueblo Student Leadership Awards, and is hopeful to stand in the same position again this year.
“I am hopeful for FCA in the upcoming Student Leadership Awards, but no matter what I know FCA has been a great impact on me individually and for other student athletes,” Hess said. “In just three years with a new fresh style of leadership, FCA has more than tripled its size making it one of the fastest growing student organizations on campus.”
CSU-Pueblo alum and FCA’s former student lead Zach Farrell said the organization was the highlight of his time at CSU-Pueblo.
“FCA provided me with an opportunity to grow with a community of friends that shared in my Christian beliefs,” Farrell said. “Every week we had an opportunity to hang out with one another and seek the Lord together. A lot of the friends I have made I still keep in touch with and I now have a chance to practice my faith in the military.”
