Young Athletes and Extreme Community Engagement
The former WHL Medicine Hat Tigers' captain and Edmonton Oilers rookie James Hamblin scored his first career NHL goal on a Saturday afternoon in November 2023. Hamblin, 24, removed his mouthguard, kissed his glove, pounded his heart several times and pointed upward while mouthing, "That's for you, Mom." Pastor Aaron and Emily Pardy, and Mark Asham of First Assembly of God in Medicine Hat had all the feels for "one of their boys." The Pardys and Mark Asham, a member of First Assembly and a Hockey Ministries International chaplain, walk young Western Hockey League players like Hamblin through unexpected crises, like the death of a parent. Chaplaincy and the church afford young athletes a safe place to talk about life, career, and spiritual things.
Mark Asham has served as the Tigers team chaplain since 2008, building relational credibility with the players and coaching staff. What started as a monthly meeting at the arena grew into twice monthly chapels at the church, featuring a meal, shooting hoops, dodgeball, or playing video games and a devotional. The chapels, though voluntary, are regularly attended by the entire team. The annual highlight is a homemade Christmas dinner of roast beef or turkey with all the trimmings, served to the players, coaching staff, trainers, and billet families by forty volunteers from the church—a guest speaker from the hockey world shares about faith and sport.
On the day of Aaron Pardy's interview as a youth pastor, chaplain Asham met Aaron and invited him to the players' chapel that night. At that first chapel, Aaron and a player from Sherwood Park connected over some mutual friends from the area. That particular player stayed for a young adults' game night and later went to McDonald's with Aaron. Being with the Tigers was written into Aaron's job description, and now, with Aaron as the Lead Pastor, First Assembly has become one of the most highly engaged Canadian churches in chaplaincy to a local sports team. The Tigers organization trusts the church as a partner in developing their young men. Players in the WHL (ages 16-20) live away from home, balance hockey and school, and face pressure that their peers wouldn't understand, but they appreciate mentoring with no strings attached.
Aaron and Emily Pardy, and Mark Asham are enthusiastic fans; the boys know when they are in the stands at Tigers home games. Bibles are regularly offered to the players, and one young man was quite pleased to let Mark and Aaron know that he shared the Bible with his dad. One player was baptized in the off-season; some have attended church events over the years, and former players keep in touch with Chaplain Asham.
Is there a local sports team in your community that you could get behind and build an enduring relationship with? Cheer them on. Pray for them. Make your facility available for team meetings and functions. Connect with Aaron aaron@firstassembly.ca or Mark marktasham@gmail.com.
Bob Jones is the founder of REVwords.com, an author, blogger, and coach with 39 years of pastoral experience. Bob is also an Advance Coach with the ABNWT Resource Centre. You can connect with Bob here.