By Jay Hoberecht
I had the pleasure of meeting with four members of the Enid High School FCA Leadership Team and sponsor Jennifer Sullivan. All four students are seniors and have played key roles in the resurgence of FCA at Enid High. Danielle Martinez plays softball, Madison Lippard plays volleyball, Bennett Percival plays baseball and football and Brock Sullivan plays football. All four are excellent students. All four have a heart for FCA!
Take a step back with me to 2019, just prior to Covid. Dennom and Jennifer Sullivan decided to re-start FCA at the high school. The first year was tough with monthly lunch meetings being attended by three to five people. In 2020, amidst Covid, the Sullivans rallied help from parents and churches and got FCA off the ground. Huddle nights had 50 in attendance. In 2021 and 2022, FCA began to fly thanks to student leadership and other coaches’ families getting involved.
Student leadership has been the key to the FCA outreach and influence at Enid High. The four students I met with, along with Seth Carlson, are five of 11 student leaders setting the course for Enid High FCA. They all talked about leading by example. They want to show their relationship with God by the way they lead their lives, how they work together andhow they use the principles of Live the Creed (a championship traits program in place at Enid High thanks to former athletic director Billy Tipps).
The leadership team wants to bring others to Christ and in fellowship with a local church. They want to help underclassmen get involved, feel comfortable and understood. Each leader was very intentional about FCA being open to all students. They want to provide ways to include them in high school life experiences and have fun doing it! They want to show the way!
Danielle Martinez shared about attending FCA Extreme Camp in Kingston, Oklahoma this past summer. She learned a lot about herself and how to be a Christian athlete and role model. She seemed enthusiastic about sharing that with her teammates this season.Enid High School FCA is poised to make a difference and influence young women and men as they experience high school. The Leadership Team, 30 in number, has 11 seniors leading the way. It will be an exciting year!
