Episode 090: A Christian Approach to Athletics? (Is it the great race to nowhere? Or a chance for redeeming culture?)

This week, we are joined by our friend and colleague, Ross Douma, who serves as Director of Athletics at Dordt University. Ross is a longtime educator and coach in both faith-based and public schools, and has a wealth of insight and experience to share. We asked Ross to share some of his vision for a distinctively Christian approach to athletics, and he has plenty of wisdom to share. If you are a coach, parent of athletes, teacher of athletes, or an athlete yourself, we are sure there will be things in this episode to both encourage and challenge your thinking! From the way the emphasis on athletics has shifted over time, to the need for redemption of athletics in contemporary culture, to advice for parents for how to encourage kids, to reframing “extra-curricular” activities to “co-curricular,” we talk about it all! 

• In the episode, Ross references the Defender Way, which is a coaching philosophy that guides the athletics department at Dordt University. You should definitely read up on it here: https://www.dordt.edu/athletics 
• We also talk about Coaching for Transformation, and if you serve at a faith-based school, we highly recommend you look into this framework as a way of reimagining what athletics might look like in your school: https://www.coachingfortransformation.org/