Kelly Skinner's playing days with Crossfire are over, but the experience she had with her club impacted her in ways she never imagined.
Seeking a place to play "team oriented ball" and develop meaningful friendships, Skinner joined a Crossfire volleyball team her junior year of high school, a decision that set her life on a new course and strengthened her relationship with God.
As a player, Skinner is thankful for the passing, digging, serving, attacking and blocking skills her coaches taught her, but the biggest lesson she learned was that competitive sports and Christianity don't have to be mutually exclusive.
"It was like life and here and God wa there," Skinner said of things before playing for Crossfire. "I never knew that through sports I could learnt to glorify God." With that discovery, Skinner, a first year student at the University of St. Thomas, has returned to Crossfire as a coach.
It's her desire that the current generation of players also will find that it is possible to integrate Christianity and competitive sports to achieve spiritual, athletic and personal growth, the mission of Crossfire Youth Sports.
Once she learned that "God wasn't just in a church service" but was also in volleyball and other areas of her life, Skinner started a Bible study and led FCA devotionals at Maple Grove High School. During her senior year of high school, she started helping out with a Crossfire 12s team.
The team didn't win a lot of games, Skinner said. But they did win the attention of opponents and spectators who noticed the team's enthusiasm, skills and camaraderie. "It was an amazing experience," she said. "We'd get feedback from people we didn't expect it from. They'd say, 'you're a great team to play.' They smile and play good ball. Then I got to tell them who we are and what we do."
Skinner still likes to play the game, but she said she feels the call to coaching with Crossfire. With the chance to build into the lives of her own players by integrating Christian philosophy into lessons both on and off the court, as well as the opportunity to minister to opponents "I want to be an advocate for God. I definitely want to continue."
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