SportsLife Camp Sees Nearly 200 Decisions for Christ

On June 5-7, SportsLife Wrestling hosted a camp at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky, drawing 280 athletes and 35 coaches for training, competition, and ministry. Both boys and girls wrestlers benefited from an all-star lineup of clinicians and speakers.

SportsLife Wrestling Executive Director Brandon Slay, who served at the camp, said the teaching was consistent and professional, from the mat work to the spiritual presentations at devotionals and chapel.

“Some of the most successful wrestlers in the sport got up in front of these kids and taught them how to become the best wrestler they can be. But ultimately, these men told them there’s something greater.” – Brandon Slay

Joining Slay, an Olympic gold medalist, were SportsLife Field Director Wynn Michalak (three-time NCAA All-American), Wheaton College Head Coach Jim Gruenwald (two-time Olympic athlete), Northwestern University Assistant Coach BJ Futrell (two-time NCAA Champion), David Carr (two-time NCAA Champion), Nate Carr (Olympic bronze medalist), Campbellsville Head Coach Jacob Murton (NAIA All-American), Campbellsville Assistant Coach Michael Diemer (NAIA All-American), and Joe Carr Jr. (National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee).

“We don’t want to promote idol worship by any means, but there’s something about the sports world where young athletes look up to people they know have been in the Olympics and competed at the NCAA Championships,” Slay said.

“That’s not how it works in God’s economy, but the way we operate down in this realm, influence matters and it opens the eyes and hearts of these kids.” – Brandon Slay

Michalak said the process started on the mats, during training time.

“While working at a camp like this, the goal is to create relationships with them through wrestling,” he said. “That connection allows their hearts to be open to the Gospel, which is how it was modeled by the Early Church in the New Testament. We’re speaking these athletes’ language and meeting them where they are.”

After chapel services, Campbellsville wrestlers huddled with about 20 kids each to talk through what they’d just heard from the speakers.

“It’s a lot easier to unpack the message in a smaller group, so those moments a

llowed the college guys to get a little deeper with the campers and motivate them with the Truth,” Slay said.

Carl Perry, SportsLife’s Chief Sport Officer, was astounded reviewing the camp’s results: 42 athletes made first-time decision for Christ, and 147 rededicated their lives to the Lord.

“It’s humbling to see God move like that and have that kind of fruit.” – Carl Perry

“This is why we exist,” Perry said. “It’s humbling to see God move like that and have that kind of fruit — it’s God’s blessing on the ministry, and we’re fulfilling our mission and the Great Commission. It’s even better in a sport-specific context like SportsLife Wrestling.”

Slay said Campbellsville was just the beginning of a busy season of SportsLife Wrestling camps and clinics, with additional events in North Carolina, Michigan, Montana, and Illinois.

For Gruenwald, teaching and speaking to young athletes is what pulled him out of his role as a college head coach and into his responsibility as an evangelist.

“As coaches and sports ministry leaders, we’re called to be a father to the fatherless,” he said. “Some of these kids don’t know what true love looks like, and we have an opportunity to share the Gospel with them. We get to show them that you can have wrestling and Jesus in the same place.”