Athletes in Action Canada (AIA)
is an international coalition of professional athletes which
has been working for more than 25 years to develop the spiritual
lives of athletes at all levels, from pro to peewee.
In late November, AIA hosted their 2004 Grey Cup Breakfast at
the Ottawa Congress Centre where guest speakers from the Canadian
Football League (CFL) spoke about their lives and faith as professional
athletes.
Who’s on the team? CFL legend and Toronto Argonauts coach
Mike “Pinball” Clemons, record-breaking Canadian speed-skater
Catriona LeMay Doan, Calgary Stampeders offensive lineman Seth
Dittman, Ottawa Renegades quarterback Kerry Joseph and Mike Fisher
of the Ottawa Senators are a few of the athletes who are using
their deep faith and commitment to Jesus Christ to be disciples
in athletic culture.
Using the platform of sport, the AIA speakers use the respect
they get for athletic prowess as a springboard to “share
their experiences in a genuine way that is, in almost every case,
extremely well received,” says Ryan Dawson, national director
of AIA.
“I’ve met some people after speaking who told me that
they had dedicated their life to Christ and I know that ultimately,
it wasn’t anything I did,” says 32-year-old Seth Dittman
of the of the Stampeders. “It was such a privilege of being
a part of that for that one person . . . it’s a pretty amazing
feeling!”
Dittman, a towering 6’7” and solid 311 pounds, became
involved with AIA during his time at Stanford University studying
for his masters in engineering. He indicated on a survey from
Campus Crusade for Christ, the parent organization of AIA that
he wanted to learn more about the Christian community at his
school.
“I was in varsity football so they sent someone from AIA
to tell me about their Bible study program,” says Dittman,
a former Ottawa Renegades offensive linesman. “We had a
really good discussion and I started attending their meetings
and I’ve been a part of AIA ever since.”
In Canada, the AIA began in 1974 when ten CFL players gathered
in Toronto to discuss ways they could share how their lives had
been changed through their faith in Jesus Christ. Since then,
the AIA in Canada has grown to over 80 staff, more than 100 sports
camps and events like the All Stars Assembly, says Dawson.
“Every year during the off-season we do this program and
speak at youth events, in schools, to local media and at universities
using professional and varsity athletes,” says Dawson.
“At public schools we talk about making good life choices,
dealing with issues like hanging with the ‘right’ crowd
and in Catholic schools, we share a similar topical message but
we also tie it to the difference Christ makes in our lives.”
“Victory Beyond Competition,” a catchphrase for the
group, means “God is not concerned with the scoreboard but
with character and what’s going on in your heart,”
says Dawson.
“We send out the message that you can win on the field,
and lose in God’s eyes just as you can lose in the field
and win in God’s eyes because it’s about how you conduct
yourself on AND off the field,” he says. “It’s
about the deeper issues in life: where you are struggling, where
you are hurting, where you are hopeless and Jesus comes to deal
with these things . . . He leads us in triumphant procession
in the ticker tape parade of life!”
Dittman, an Oregon native now residing in Ottawa, has been very
active in community outreach through media interviews, speeches
and youth events, but he says he gets more than he gives to AIA.
“I’d say it’s more about what they do for me,”
he says softly. “It gives the players an environment in
which we can strengthen our faith and we can give back by sharing
what we’ve learned by going to places as professional athletes
and talking about our faith. I really enjoy having the opportunity
and the liberty to speak freely about Jesus.”
But in reality, discussion of religion, especially Christianity,
is not always well received. There is the notion that tolerance
means people are not allowed to hold different views and disagree
with other people’s beliefs or else they are “bigoted,
intolerant and anti-multicultural,” says Dawson.
“Tolerance, to us, is saying ‘I believe that Jesus
is the only way and if you don’t subscribe to that view,
I still respect and honour you as a person and you can have a
completely different view and that’s okay,’” says
Dawson. “That’s true tolerance but our society doesn’t
see it that way…we have to say ‘this is my opinion
but I also support your opinion and see your opinion as true.”
Dittman has not always been a Christian. When he was in the ninth
grade, he says he found himself searching for meaning and purpose
in his life and that he was highly motivated by selfish desires.
His father signed him up in a class at their church and Dittman
began to find the answers he was looking for, he says.
“I knew I was hungry but I didn’t think this (class)
was going to be the answer, but once I was there I saw people
being transformed, living their lives in a different way, empowered
by a power I didn’t have in my life, and I decided that
whatever was going on with these people, I wanted it to be a
part of my life too,” he reflects.
“I surrendered control of my life to Jesus Christ and right
away, I began to understand. I continue to grow to this day.”
Dittman says he was very discouraged when he first began to share
his faith with others because he was afraid people didn’t
want to hear what he had to say, but he has seen a need for spiritual
discourse in society.
“The truth is, when I get out there and speak, people are
hungry to hear what I have to say,” he says modestly.
“It’s not because of me or what I’m saying, but
because of who I represent in Jesus Christ. Even when people
are angrily opposed to what I’m saying and they say they
don’t want to hear me, and I’m sure they mean it, what
I’ve seen is that at least they get a chance to hear and
if they reject it, they reject it, but at least they get the
opportunity to make up their minds about it.”
Dawson is very careful to note that AIA is not trying to convert
people because their purpose is simply to share their experiences
by “looking at what God has given (them) and then giving
back to others,” he says.
“Mike ‘Pinball’ Clemons said at our Grey Cup Breakfast
earlier this month ‘you make a living by what you get but
you make a life by what you give,’” says Dawson. “That’s
a pretty good synopsis of what it means to be a follower of Christ
because there’s so much we can do to give back to the world
and Christ teaches us how to do that.”
Despite the uncertainty of a career in professional sport and
having been traded to his eleventh team in ten years, Dittman
says he has developed a trust in God because “He has been
faithful in working things out to the good and I don’t have
any more dread that everything isn’t going to be alright.”
In the end, Dawson says the main thing AIA does is enforce the
message that if athletes are role models, they should take this
responsibility seriously.
“Sport will shape culture,” he says. “It cuts
across every demographic line, no matter what gender, ethnic
background or age.
“Sport will impact you and so AIA uses this platform to
share what we think is the best news ever!” |