The Oklahoma Sooners women’s softball team last night captured its third World Series title, overtaking Auburn 2-1 in a down-to-the-wire finish. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso has been a longtime friend and active participant in FCA, and the Sooners have an inspirational story that goes far beyond softball and straight back to the Bible.

“All of us at FCA congratulate the amazing young women who put forth their absolute best during the World Series,” said Donna Noonan, FCA’s National Director of Events and Women’s Staff Development. “It’s awesome to watch these athletes as they inspire young girls who are passionate about sports as well.”

FCA Magazine has highlighted Gasso’s coaching journey leading up to her third World Series title. She grew up in California, playing sports at a park that bordered her backyard. Those childhood games laid the foundation for a stellar career, with Gasso now among sports’ elite.

Her coaching career began in 1991 at Long Beach City College, where she guided her teams to four conference titles in five years. In 1995, she took on the head coaching job at the University of Oklahoma. That fall, Gasso, husband Jim and 7-year-old son J.T.—who now serves as an assistant OU softball coach—traded in the sand of California for the red dirt of Norman, Okla.

“I absolutely loved my time at Long Beach City College, but, when it came to coaching, I wanted more of a challenge,” said Gasso, who at the time was pregnant with the couple’s second son, D.J. “I had no idea that would send me all the way to Oklahoma, but that’s where God placed me and my family. In California, we had lived literally four blocks from the ocean, and I could see it from my front yard. People thought we were crazy and it wouldn’t last because we were leaving family and had no relatives or acquaintances in Oklahoma.”

More than two decades later, Gasso—and her players—have thrived at OU. Even though Gasso—an eight-time Big 12 Coach of the Year with nine previous trips to the Women’s College World Series under her belt, also winning the title in 2000 and 2013—has led her Sooner squads to postseason play in each of her 22 seasons, she says her greatest satisfaction comes from seeing her players develop and mature off the field.

“The emphasis on winning is not as prioritized as people might think,” Gasso said. “I’m most proud of watching the transition and what happens between the time when athletes come into our program as freshmen and leave as seniors. I believe that my job is to play a large part in forming these athletes for their futures. They come in as girls, and my goal is to make sure they leave as women, hopefully strong women with a heart for God.”

Gasso’s passion for developing softball players is only surpassed by her love for sharing Christ, and FCA allows her to use the gifts God has given her to bring Him glory.

“I love my players, and I want them to know the truth,” Gasso said. “Young athletes don’t understand that it’s OK to make mistakes and it’s OK to doubt. God wants to be our best friend and talk with us every day. He is a loving and forgiving God, and I think FCA does a wonderful job reaching out to all athletes to share this message.”

In the powerful FCA video, “Sooners Playing for a Higher Purpose,” Gasso added that it can be easy to become caught up in the must-win attitude of Division I sports. But her focus remains on her players’ relationship with God long after they leave Oklahoma.

“It is important that I offer them everything I can to make them their physical best, their mental best, their emotional best, their academic best, and most importantly, their spiritual best,” she said. “And FCA really helps bring the spiritual side in, where we can really reach out and give them that opportunity to find the Lord.”

Also featured in the video is FCA's OU Chaplain, Sarah Roberts, who over the past 10 years has made great impact among the team’s players. She’s been an FCA staff member for 14 years.

“I want them to leave (Oklahoma) being OK that they’re not a softball player anymore,” Roberts said in the video, “but now they’re a follower of Christ, and they can take that wherever they go.”

During the three-game series with Auburn, fans may have noticed the raised arms of the OU players and those in the crowd between innings. This gesture is an illustration of an inspiring lesson from Roberts to the players.

As the playoff picture intensified, Roberts searched for and prayed about a way she could unite the team and especially support the Sooners’ tired pitchers. Last week, Roberts was preparing for a chapel service and asked Coach Gasso about the needs of the team. “They’re tired,” Gasso had told her, “they’re tired and they’re young,” with the majority of players freshmen and sophomores.

Roberts prayed about the message to give the team and settled on Exodus 17, the story of the struggles of the tired Israelites as they were escaping slavery in Egypt. As God prepared Israel for battle with the Amalekites, Moses told the army’s leader, Joshua, that he would stand on a hill with his hands raised, holding the staff of the Lord. Joshua and the army went into battle, but eventually Moses’ hands and arms became tired, and when he dropped them, the Amalekites overtook the Israelites. When he raised them again, Israel surged.

When Moses could no longer hold his hands high, his brother, Aaron, along with Hur, stood on either side of him, holding Moses’ hands in the air for him. Roberts told the team that in their time of struggle, their strength would come from their teammates—and from God.

“I told them, ‘You are not doing this alone,’” said a hoarse and raspy-voiced Roberts yesterday before the win. “‘Joshua needed Moses, and Moses needed Aaron and Hur.’ I just wanted them to know that they needed each other and the center point of it all was that they needed God—we all need God.”

After Gasso quietly listened to Roberts’ message, she asked the chaplain to share the story of Moses and Joshua with others—not only to lift up the team but also to plant the seed of an ever-present God in their hearts.

FCA staff Sarah Roberts (front, white hat) and the Oklahoma Sooners celebrating their NCAA softball national championship.

“Here’s a coach in the midst of a championship run,” Noonan said, “and she’s still thinking about how she can use her position to advance the kingdom.”

After that chapel service, Roberts also shared the story with parents in small groups, asking them to hold their hands in the air as the players came off the field between innings to remind them of God’s power and faithfulness.

“This is a true example of seeing sport imitating God’s word,” said Roberts. “We’re seeing people, especially parents—some who never heard this story or are not believers—ask questions and delve into the word of God for themselves.

“If we can give them a glimpse of who God is and what His word says, it’s all worth it,” Roberts continued. “We didn’t plan this; it’s just God’s way of reaching people. Our prayer is that this goes beyond a raising of the hands to a changing of the heart.”

Photos courtesy of Ty Russell/University of Oklahoma and Sarah Roberts