FCA soccer clubs from Coachella Valley and the High Desert in Southern California combined to send a boys team to the largest youth soccer tournament in the world, the Gothia Cup, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
What began as a vision trip to give athletes an opportunity to take their faith and sport to another part of the world has led FCA staff to cast a bigger vision of what it looks like to reach coaches and athletes through FCA Club Sports.
Support staff Victor Aguirre shared his perspective on what the Lord is doing in their region and the type of life change the trip to Sweden brought to all who were a part of it.
“I think FCA Soccer in the Coachella Valley and High Desert areas are showing kids that they can be a part of a great soccer team, a great culture, get better and reach their competitive goals, while serving God and being a part of a faith-based club,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre went on to share, “If there's one thing we're doing really well, it's showing that you don't have to pick between loving 
Jesus or getting better at soccer. We’re doing both here and that’s the biggest thing.”
Many of the athletes from the High Desert and Coachella areas who were asked to travel and compete in the tournament are from underserved communities and never traveled outside the United States until the Gothia Cup.
“For them to see that soccer was able to take them to another country, play a tournament together, and make memories that are going to last them a lifetime was really cool to experience,” Aguirre said.
While training and preparing for the tournament, several went in with the mindset of, “Let’s go compete and share the Gospel,” and that’s what they were equipped to do.
As this team went on to compete in the tournament, they not only performed well, making it to the semi-finals in their bracket, but they carried themselves in a way that teams from other countries couldn’t help but notice.
One small yet impactful way these athletes made a spiritual touchpoint with other teams was by handing out The FOUR bracelets after each game. The FOUR is the Gospel explained in four simple truths and is a great conversation starter for individuals looking to be bold in sharing their faith with others.
Adam Caudle, FCA Board Chairmen for High Desert, had the idea of handing out The FOUR bracelets and shared an impactful moment that happened between his son and another opponent from Sweden.
“I watched [my son] speak to another player on the other team who happened to be from Sweden,” Caudle said. “And the kid actually asked him what it was about, what it meant and what symbols were on it.”
Because Caudle’s son was intentional enough to share something as small as The FOUR bracelet, it provided a door to naturally open and for those powerful truths to be shared.
Shaun Smithson, Executive Vice President of FCA Club Sports, traveled in support of the team and his son who was competing in the tournament. One of the nights, he reached out to a friend and FCA leader in Gothenburg about finding a church to hold a worship service with their team. This friend organized everything with a local church and the team spent the evening worshiping and hearing from a few of their coaches and leaders.
Following the trip, there has been discussion of what this could look like across the board for Club Sports. While competing will still be a component of these trips in the future, they’re hopeful to make it more mission-minded and equip coaches and athletes to compete and share the Good News of the Gospel with other teams around the world.
The Gothia Cup was just another step forward in this initiative for Club Sports. You get a team of athletes who are already fired up about competing and provide them with the opportunity to travel to another part of the world or country to not only play the sport they love, but share the hope of Jesus with kids from all over the world—it becomes invigorating and something everyone can get excited about.