As I settled into the studio with former NHL player Tim Jackman and hockey aficionado Rick Randanzo, the air buzzed with the anticipation of stories only a life in skates can yield. Together, we explored the multilayered world of youth hockey — its impacts on families, the financial and emotional investments, and the sheer thrill of watching kids glide towards their dreams on ice. If you've ever wondered about the heartbeat of hockey beneath the scoreboard, this conversation unveils the raw, often untold tales of the game and how deeply it intertwines with faith and identity.
Tim's journey from a passionate youngster to an NHL star, and now a guiding light with FCA Hockey, is nothing short of inspiring. His candid narration of struggles, triumphs, and the role of spirituality in shaping his life on and off the rink is a profound testament to the transformative power of faith in sports. Anyone looking for a compelling narrative that transcends the game will find solace and excitement in the paths carved by Tim and Rick through the hockey realm. Our dialogue also casts a revealing light on the future of sports mentorship, where coaching extends beyond tactics and into the realms of spiritual and personal growth.
Wrapping up this heartfelt commentary, we delve into the nuances of scouting, the rise of club sports, and the delicate art of nurturing not just athletes but principled individuals ready for life's myriad challenges. FCA Hockey's mission to craft warriors for Christ within the competitive sphere is a fascinating lens through which to view the intersection of sports, faith, and life coaching. Prepare to be moved and motivated by a discussion that champions the pursuit of excellence in all areas of a young athlete's journey — a journey that's as much about finding purpose and community as it is about the thrill of the game.
As I settled into the studio with former NHL player Tim Jackman and hockey aficionado Rick Randanzo, the air buzzed with the anticipation of stories only a life in skates can yield. Together, we explored the multilayered world of youth hockey — its impacts on families, the financial and emotional investments, and the sheer thrill of watching kids glide towards their dreams on ice. If you've ever wondered about the heartbeat of hockey beneath the scoreboard, this conversation unveils the raw, often untold tales of the game and how deeply it intertwines with faith and identity.
Tim's journey from a passionate youngster to an NHL star, and now a guiding light with FCA Hockey, is nothing short of inspiring. His candid narration of struggles, triumphs, and the role of spirituality in shaping his life on and off the rink is a profound testament to the transformative power of faith in sports. Anyone looking for a compelling narrative that transcends the game will find solace and excitement in the paths carved by Tim and Rick through the hockey realm. Our dialogue also casts a revealing light on the future of sports mentorship, where coaching extends beyond tactics and into the realms of spiritual and personal growth.
Wrapping up this heartfelt commentary, we delve into the nuances of scouting, the rise of club sports, and the delicate art of nurturing not just athletes but principled individuals ready for life's myriad challenges. FCA Hockey's mission to craft warriors for Christ within the competitive sphere is a fascinating lens through which to view the intersection of sports, faith, and life coaching. Prepare to be moved and motivated by a discussion that champions the pursuit of excellence in all areas of a young athlete's journey — a journey that's as much about finding purpose and community as it is about the thrill of the game.
Hello and welcome to the Kingdom coaching podcast, where we discuss the world of club sports through the lens of Christ. I am your host, micah B. Hey, hey, hey, what's going on everybody? Thank you again for tuning into the Kingdom coaching podcast. Blessed to be bringing you this episode today, sitting down with two amazing hockey players, two amazing instructors and, more importantly, two amazing men of God. Please welcome Tim Jackman and Rick Randanzo. Welcome to the podcast, guys.
Speaker 2:Thank you, we are super excited to be here.
Speaker 1:I feel like now that I've got you guys recording, I can come clean and tell you my complete motive with this podcast, and it's not to talk about Jesus or hockey, but it's to publicly shame you, both of you, for introducing my child to the most expensive sport known to mankind Gosh, I cannot even tell you so.
Speaker 1:My six so all of my kids came to the hockey camp just to kind of watch and my six year old came away from that telling me and she, you know, she's a girl, you know, girls play hockey. And I didn't really think my six year old girl would come from back from the hockey camps and tell me, dad, I want to play hockey. And I'm like, okay, you know, part of me was, you know, was like, okay, okay, what does that look like? And then having conversations with several people there and they were telling me how expensive it is and how much gear costs and traveling and all that, and I was like, oh my goodness, I hate these guys and I cannot wait to get them on a podcast so I can just berate them all over the street.
Speaker 1:So no, it's, it's really cool. Actually I, growing up in like rural Nebraska, like hockey was not a thing for us. There was one kid in our hometown that played hockey. His parents had a little bit of money and they drove him into the into I think it was Omaha, omaha or Lincoln to play travel hockey and that was my first experience of like what travel sports were. But like we grew up, like with the mighty ducks, you know, in the nineties and so like everybody had rollerblades and everybody was playing street hockey.
Speaker 1:So the fact that, like one of my kids now has the opportunity that we can offer and say, yes, you can, you can try that we live close enough, we have a little bit of money to where we can say, yes, we'll take you there and you can try this out, is it's pretty cool as a father being able to offer up things to your kids that you didn't necessarily have when you were a child. So it's been pretty cool. Actually she she's been been taking lessons and doing this little intro to hockey stuff up in up in Fremont and she's the only girl up there and you know her pink little helmet and her little blonde ponytail sticking out, even though you can't tell the girls from the boys anymore, because the boys have just as long as hairs as the girls do. So but but yeah, no, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are exciting. Your daughter got the hockey bug. Yeah, and you're going to spend a lot of time in rakes invest in a nice warm coat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Lots of long underwear that he yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know if you guys remember, but like when I came to the hockey camp I came just in like a polo and I had they had to dig this FCA hockey jacket out for me and because I was freezing and I don't know why, I didn't cross my brain. I'm just like you should probably bring a coat to this because it's on ice, so, but nonetheless it's all good survived. But yeah, it's, it's been pretty cool so far just being around a different, different world of sport right, clip sports in general, or they're kind of crazy. But I mean, I think we can all agree that they're they're all slightly different, and so it's it's.
Speaker 2:It's been pretty cool so far, but anyways the hockey culture is way different than a soccer culture or baseball being indoors having limited ice. You know there's a lot of things that go into. You know hockey, youth hockey, and it is a major investment for parents.
Speaker 2:So, so, parents really, when they go in, all in it means a lot more than you know a couple days of baseball practice your travel all over the place, and so we'll see how it goes, but I'm glad your daughter is getting a chance to play and start and getting some skating lessons. That's awesome, we're going to see her again next summer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean it's, it's great because it's one of those sports when I talk to people they're like yeah, my son or daughter started at age three and I was like what? But then you think about it, like the basic fundamental skill for hockey is just skating, and like it's not just like walking, like for basketball. It's like Okay, you're, you're a human you can walk like you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like no, we're going to take it up a notch. You need to learn how to skate proficiently, you know, which, for most people, is very difficult in itself. And then to add to it, you know we're going to give you a, give you a stick and a puck, and you know it's just. I mean it's, it's a hard sport, but it's so fun to watch. We're actually going to so the Omaha Lancers. They're doing their faith and family night this weekend, and so I was asked to drop the puck. So Violet and I are, you know so my six year old. So that's going to be quite a thrill for her. And I was joking with her. I was like it's actually the the puck dropping that starts the game. So you're going to have to go out there and, your full gear, drop the puck and then knock those big guys over. She was. She was like, oh, okay, her eyes got so big and I was like honey, I'm kidding, it's like a ceremonial thing, it's like the first pitch of a baseball game, it's, it's not that, it's not that thing.
Speaker 2:So well, that's great. We're excited for you and love to see a picture of that. Yeah, get a chance to the game. So I don't know that we have any guys on the Omaha Lancer team, but we'll we'll check it out. We did have the player there last year, but it looks like they're playing water loose. So we'll let you know if there's any Christian guys? No, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think it'll be a good opportunity for a lot of us to be there and just be there for anybody who wants to talk about Jesus and talk about what FCA is doing, not only for hockey but just for athletes and coaches around the country and around the world, quite quite frankly. So I'm looking forward to it. I know my daughter's looking forward to it. It'll be a pretty cool event. So before, before we get into some of the topics, I want to give kind of. I want you guys to kind of introduce yourself a little bit. For those out there who don't know who you guys are. Just kind of give a brief background of of of your you know your hockey background, what you're doing now, and yeah, we'll go from there.
Speaker 3:All right, hi, my name's. Sorry, my nose is so plugged. My nose has been broken so many times I can't figure it out. But yeah, my name's Tim Jackman. I'm with FCA hockey. I guess I'll start. I have a wife. I have three, chelsea. I have three small children or old. They're getting older now eight, six and four. One place hockey. The other two are girls and they haven't. They're skates. We have an outdoor rink in our front yard and they'll go out there and skate around, which is cool.
Speaker 3:But I can't seem to get them to sign up for hockey.
Speaker 1:That's fair.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I keep saying yeah, yeah, but it does save money that they don't play for sure.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was fortunate. I grew up in, I was born in North Dakota and then my dad worked for the railroad. He got transferred to Minneapolis so I played in hockey communities. North Dakota is big hockey because it's cold. Minnesota is known for hockey.
Speaker 2:It's something it's cold.
Speaker 3:We have schools and lakes everywhere we skate on it. Outdoor parks and coolies, they call them, where you just go skate outside. So the outdoor parks in the wintertime they turn them into outdoor rinks.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So that's kind of where I grew up and I loved hockey and just continued to just have a passion for it. It was the only thing I really had a passion for, that I wanted to practice at and get better at it and through that I just started to get recognized by teams and by scouts and coaches and having success as a player. I played in junior hockey in the USHL like the Omaha Lancers, you see. I played a year there and then I went to college and played two years at University of Minnesota State Makedo, which is division one hockey, and while I was there I got drafted in the NHL in the second round and after two years they signed me to a three year contract which I started my pro career. And I went on to play 14 years professional hockey about six of the American Oculi, which is the minor affiliate of the NHL teams, the off-affiliate of the rest of the NHL for the most part. Lots of ups and lots of downs trying to figure out how to play that pro hockey, learn how to be a better player all the time, but mostly just growing in maturity as a man.
Speaker 3:I was a real immature hockey player. This was before Jesus in my life I thought I knew about it. I've got a real relationship with him and fortunately I had some people plant seeds along the way. And then when I got to Calgary played for the Calgary Flames. There was a chaplain up there that really took me under his wing. It started to disciple me and mentor me.
Speaker 3:At that point I was confessing that I was such a broken man. I had confused the need and help and needed some direction, and the only person that had the real answers for me was this man who loved Jesus Christ and lived that way. So then I ended up playing the best hockey of my life. After that, after I fought for freedom in Christ, I played, got a couple more college tracks in the NHL, which just had so much joy, played and passion about my life. But just because I had Jesus in my heart and my life and transformed me in my life, I still had hard things come my way. I broke my head with 15 seconds left in a game that was meant nothing, that had to miss the playoffs. Then I got an injury the next year on my knee right before the playoffs and just went through some really hard things even though my life had been turned around in so many different ways.
Speaker 3:It was still a real struggle. So I don't know how far you want me to go with that part. It's my faith. I tell people I played the best hockey of my life but I also suffered some areas. It just just because I started following with Jesus my life this year.
Speaker 1:So when I want to press into that a little bit. So when you said you started playing the best hockey of your life, what? What looked differently for you on the ice after Christ?
Speaker 3:I think, yeah, I think passion and joy for sure, consistently. I wasn't played out of fear anymore. I think I used to play with so much fear that I wouldn't make it to the NHL and then, when I was there that I was, I was so afraid to lose my position. So that motivation was fleeting and it was going here. Some days I was excited to be there, some days I wasn't sure. And after I had a love, a love for the game that I had when I was a young player again that's cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there was a little. The pressure did affect me. I actually I fought a lot. I wasn't very good at it, but I did it. I did it anyways and when I became a Christ follower, became a better fighter because I was fighting on a log for my teammates, Instead of out of fear to get a contract, fear to get set to the Myers again.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That made me it actually made me a better fighter.
Speaker 1:When you're saying fighting, are you meaning like physically fighting on the ice, or you meaning like fighting for positions? Well, both Okay.
Speaker 3:In hockey back then there was a lot of fighting.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, it's true.
Speaker 3:Yeah, punch each other face. It's crazy that that's it was part of the game. Yeah, very much. No, I know I yeah it was a good thing, it was for me, because I don't know if I would have played that league if it wasn't. Yeah, but it's it's.
Speaker 1:It's funny that you bring that up, tim, because when I was looking for pictures of you guys to put on on my page to kind of share the like the precursor to the episode, all of these videos of Tim Jackman getting into fights kept popping up, and so naturally I go down a rabbit hole and I start Googling Tim Jackman fights. And there were some pretty good brawls you got into, yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I always tell people, let me pick the fights that you watch, because some of them one guy said man, you're the best at stepping on a banana peel. I've ever seen this.
Speaker 1:I did. I did see one. Yeah, I think you were playing for the ducks and you just it looked like you had an unlucky slip and I was like okay, you didn't get punched out, he slipped and I looked like an unlucky one there.
Speaker 3:I became pretty. I knew when to slip or what not to that.
Speaker 1:That's fair.
Speaker 3:That's fair my nose under my face and off.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:There was one point of the other side of like what am I doing?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Anyways, that I, but I did. I played the best hockey with passion and like for love of the game. So that's kind of my story I don't know if you want to get into FCA, but Rick and Sharers.
Speaker 1:No, not yet, yet. Actually, I want to. I want to go back to the fights for a second, if you're okay with that, tim, unless you don't want to. Okay, is that okay?
Speaker 3:No, you're is it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, go ahead. Are there? Are there any fights that like stick out like you know that you yeah, I don't know. Is there any like fights that you're just like man, that was, that was a good brawl that we had. They just kind of like sticks with you still.
Speaker 3:The first one that just comes to my mind is a player named Matt Martin.
Speaker 3:Okay, he was playing for the New York Islanders and the reason it stuck out to me. It sticks out to me is because of the timing. He ran a player on my team, the Sammy Vat Vatidin, a defensive from Fidlan, and just it was kind of a dirty hit. It smoked him and Matt Martin plays hard. But it was at this point I had clarity in my mind of what my job was to do and I knew, because I got skipped the next shift and then Bruce Moudreau was our coach. Then he sent me out the next shift at the timing. It was perfect that Matt Martin would be on the ice at that time.
Speaker 3:I knew that my responsibility at that point was to challenge him and fight him. And we ended up having a good fight and our team came back and won the hockey game. But that was the purpose of it. And I remember just the coach understanding the situation and knowing what he, how he wanted to use me and how he purposely arranged it in the way that nobody else knew but me and him doing. I think that at that point that's the kind of hockey I was playing better hockey, more purposeful hockey.
Speaker 3:This is my new face, this transformation that happened in my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's fair. So is it okay if I share with you the video clip of, like, my favorite fight that I saw? Is that okay? You good with that Tim?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I hope it's not the one we're running. Yeah, I will see it.
Speaker 1:So this was my favorite one.
Speaker 3:Can you guys see it?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was, it's good.
Speaker 3:I mean you're just getting after him there.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to say, I'm just going to say, I'm just going to say I love how the announcers are really just getting behind and that's that's my favorite move right there. You pull the jersey over his head. Freaking freaking love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I, I loved that.
Speaker 1:So when I saw that again, like growing up the nineties, mighty Ducks was huge. So when people talk about hockey, I associate those movies, because I probably had a memorize for a long time, and so I always think about that scene in Mighty Ducks too, where it's just like stick gloves and they grab the jersey and pull it over the head and they get into a fight. I'm like okay, so like that was where Tim learned that he must have watched, you know, mighty Ducks and that's how we learned how to fight like that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, the guy Tim is fighting is a big podcaster himself. He's on the NHL network and does his own thing, so that's cool, it is kind of neat. Yeah, I hadn't seen that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was it was, it was good, but I, but you're, you're, you're exactly right, tim. That's, it's that part of the game has changed so much where the fights don't happen like that, and I think that's across the board and all sports right. I don't want to say it's gotten, I don't want to necessarily use the word softer, whatever. I don't want to get into that discussion, I suppose. But the baseball is the exact same.
Speaker 1:You know where you had pictures that were through intentionally, you know, add batters and batters would charge them out and stuff like that was just normal. Every once in a while you'll still see like benches clear and some fights break out, but it's like once a year maybe, but it's not as common as it used to be, especially with with hockey too, and it was just. I love watching their refs with the fights, like you know, and it's like they're just, like they're just kind of skating around waiting for you guys to go down and they'll pick you up and take you to the box and it is what it is, like you're grown men, you'll be fine, like no one's going to die, like it's fine. Now that I had my fun with that one, tim, hopefully I didn't embarrass you too much, nope.
Speaker 3:That's okay, you picked a good fight.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:All right, good, good, Okay, Rick, let's. Let's transition to you and Rick, if you want to slide over so we can see your, your pretty face.
Speaker 2:Sure, sure. So I grew up in Buffalo, new York, and actually started playing hockey during one of the blizzards in Buffalo. We, we didn't have school and walked down the street and started playing with some of the older kids and and the dad walked over and told my parents, you got to get your son in the hockey. He was, he was really doing great with these older kids. So so that's kind of the joke in our family. It took a blizzard of 77. My parents weren't hockey people and so we started and and I had a pretty neat youth career in New York and went on to play four years at West Point, the United States Military Academy, and and loved every second of it. But while at West Point, you're there for another reason not to turn professional but to train to be in the United States military.
Speaker 2:So at some point that became my goal and I had a chance to go to Army Ranger school and do some really neat things in the military and and put away my skates. Put away my skates for about six years while I was in the Army and and really hadn't didn't think about hockey and watch hockey, really had moved on from that. It took a God moment when he called me to leave the military and go coach college hockey at the United States Naval Academy. The arch enemy of and the people at the academy.
Speaker 2:The Naval Academy did everything they could to not bring in higher this West Point guy, but I knew. I knew the Lord was behind it and he told me I was going to be the coach there. So I just took it all in stride and I ended up coaching at the Naval Academy for eight years. It was there that I reconnected with FCA and Mark Stevens, who was the Maryland State Director and and well, at the time he was a pastor at a church and then later went on to join FCA and he invested in me as a coach and and then I was able to start doing some huddles with my players and and tie into the FCA huddle that was existing at the Naval Academy and it combined a couple of my passions my passion for hockey and my passion for the Lord, and that took a big front. It took a lot of our priority as a family. Then we started having some kids, my wife and I, and we have five children now.
Speaker 2:But but we saw hockey at the Naval Academy as a mission field for us to reach athletes and other coaches and after the eighth year we decided it was time to move on. We moved to Raleigh, north Carolina, left the Naval Academy in that chapter of life and went to Raleigh, and it was there in Raleigh that I got a call from one of the executives now at FCA, sean McNamara, and he asked me to fly to Kansas City to talk about starting the sports specific hockey ministry, and that was in 2008. So it's it's crazy. Now, looking back, 15 years we've we've been working for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes as the hockey director and and have built out the ministry where we now have camps all across. We've ran camps all across the country and all around the world and the impact that we've had on coaches and athletes has been pretty incredible.
Speaker 2:So I've been blessed to be able to start the hockey arm and to work for FCA for 15 years with some really amazing coaches and players and discipling young men and young ladies who have a passion to play hockey at the highest levels. That's been just an incredible blessing for us.
Speaker 1:Everyone out there that's heard your story of how you've you sold everything and just decided. You know that God. God called you to take FCA to specific camps all across the country, and it was what. How many years did you spend on the road?
Speaker 2:We spent four and a half years on the road from 2011 to 2000,. The end of 2015. So it was. It was just an incredible time for our family. We packed up our house and Raleigh had sold it and and packed up a 15 passenger van. It's been 30 days in 42 different states running hockey, FCA hockey camps and clinics and coaches, seminars and and connecting with the hockey community, both Christians and non-Christians, all across the country, and it was really hard, as you know, moving you know, every 30 days, we'd pack up our van and our trailer and we'd head to the next state not knowing living arrangements and and having clinics, but not knowing many people and
Speaker 2:then going there and then leaving 30 days later, having met amazing Christian brothers and sisters and families that we still are connected with many today. So the ministry the Lord used us to, I believe, stir up the hockey community for him and it really just go out and find Christians that were playing hockey and but also to share Christianity with other other non-believers in the hockey world. And you know, many of those players have been involved in our ministry since the year they were introduced, some in 2011, some 12, 13,. So they've been. Many of them have been with us 10 plus years, which is which is really exciting to look back and and and to see how the Lord had his hand on on the 50 state, 50 city tour that we did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's, it's cool and I don't want to give you a big head here. But you know, from a biblical perspective I'm like equating it very similar, you know to, to the calling of Abram, where God promised to bless the world through the seeds of Abram, but Abram had to leave. He had to leave everything he had comfortably and just go. And he continued to go and tell the day that he died and he didn't really get to see, you know, the, the actual fruits of his labor. But Israel wouldn't have been blessed if Abram wouldn't have done what he done, much like we wouldn't have FCA hockey as we know it today, If you wouldn't have stepped out there on faith, answering God's call and living.
Speaker 1:That you know, uncomfortably, state to state. You know, living on such, a, you know, massive amount of faith, you know, for four and a half years, I mean, that's just, you know, you know I just want to commend you again for that because, again, the fruits, the labor, we always want that instant gratification. But that's not the reality of it, you know. But now you're able to kind of sit back now, not that you're sitting down, I mean, I know you guys and you guys are constantly grinding, but now you can kind of step back and say, wow, all that, all that labor, all of that, all of those uncomfortable times and moments have really, you know, you know, built us up into where we're at now, and so that's just. That's got to feel good.
Speaker 2:It is pretty incredible to think back. The Lord called us to a verse in Isaiah Isaiah 6, 8, who will go from me? Here I am, lord, send me or send us. And that was the verse that really hit us my wife Shannon and I and really said, okay, we're going to, are we really going to go serve the Lord and build this, help to build this hockey ministry across the country and meet families and live this hard life? And you know we needed to be obedient to the calling that he put on our heart. It's been. It's been an incredible journey. We often sit back and we're actually going to be taking a little vacation here in a couple of weeks and going and seeing some of the friends that we met on the 50th and you got a chance to spend time with them and reunite and the Lord's hand was strong. It was really really, really hard but really was rewarding and this still is still rewarding us today with those relationships being obedient to the Lord.
Speaker 1:That's what he wants from us. That's very cool. So when? When did you and Tim meet? When did those paths crossed?
Speaker 2:So we had moved 2016.
Speaker 2:We had moved to Minnesota, where we are living right now, and we had finished the 50 state tour and we were in discussion about building a sports complex in a little town called Alexandria, minnesota.
Speaker 2:I had started with FCA, a coaches Bible study call that met a couple of times a month and we had coaches from, you know, professional to college to junior to high school coaches, and Tim had heard about that Bible study call, that coaches call, that we had been discipling coaches and reached out out of the blue and said, hey, I've heard about your call and love to hear more about you and why, why you're leading a call.
Speaker 2:And so we really hit it off and at the time we were about a year, year and a half out from starting our North Star Christian Academy prep hockey team and I knew Tim would make an amazing coach after a few discussions and invited him to stop by North Star and to see our school and let him know that we were in the process of building a new rink. And when the Lord's behind something, he makes it happen and he puts all the things into place. So wasn't long after that, tim and his wife were driving through Alexandria on their way to Fargo and stop by and we hit it off. We hit it off big time and I knew that he was supposed to be one of the coaches at North Star Christian Academy and ended up coaching as part of our program for five seasons, which has been totally amazing.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Okay, so, tim, what were you doing at that point? So your last year in the NHL was at 15, right?
Speaker 3:Yes, I believe so.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:Around that time. I've been done for, I think, eight years, though, and so as soon as I was done playing, I knew I wanted to get into coaching.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:And, like I said, I've called that freedom and the joy. I wanted to help others other hockey guys find that, yeah, because of the way I was able to play my career. So I went back to I was looking for coaching jobs and my college. My elbow modern called me and asked me what I was doing. They said, hey, they called me right back. I told what I was doing looking for something, not sure where I was going and he called me a half hour later. It's like to come down here, finish your school, because I've been taking classes.
Speaker 3:I was playing pro hockey at the end of my year knowing that it was, it was almost coming to an end that. So he the assistant coach there at the time there, blue, called me and Said we'd love to meet and see if I'd like to be a student assistant, finish my degree and start learning to coach and Learn from some great coaches there that have been doing a long time when I was there.
Speaker 3:I got Kind of like Rick said. I heard about his FCA coaches called. I jumped on it. After a few calls I called the water, the blue and just started Asking him who he was and why he's leading this and why I should be following him and what's this coach is called about it? Yeah, we just start building relationship, and so that's kind of how it happened. I knew I wanted to get it in coaching.
Speaker 1:I've been discipled by a bad in Calgary and I felt Called or led to share what I've learned with other guys and I think just the the testimony, tim, that you shared there of going from from the NHL and Not saying, you know, I'm gonna sit back and take like a five-year sabbatical because I've earned it, because I've, you know, got into enough fights and I just want to rest for a little bit. But you knew that you wanted to one, get back into coaching and two, more importantly, I think you know God had already been planning those seeds for you to coach with Coach, with Rick. He was already working upstream, kind of little, laying those bricks for you and For you do to take that, instead of you know going, you know like a D1 route or you know pursuing a NHL career, I mean that's, that's huge right. I mean it's just you, someone with your background, with your experience, you know could have easily I mean I need to tell me if I'm wrong but I mean somebody with your background could have easily walked into a lot of universities, a lot of US, us HL, a lot of other organizations and said I want to help coach and they probably would have offered you more money than Rick could, and that's, that's probably the reality of it.
Speaker 1:But you, you, I mean, tell me if I'm wrong. Wrong? I'm not a one. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but you, from you know, becoming a Christian in the NHL, felt this conviction to be a coach for Christ where you wanted to. Maybe, you know, come alongside a younger version of yourself. Does that, does that make sense to him? Am I off base there? That's, that's kind of my, my assumption from when we talked, you know this last summer and just a little bit that you've shared today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, that's, that's. That's what was going on. I, when I was at back, you know I I'd have some of the players that were playing over to my house for dinner. I just get to pray for dinner and try to walk him up into my home, just like the bad up in Calgary did for me, yeah take it guys up for coffee and pray with them and try to understand what they're going through and, yeah, kind of walk through them.
Speaker 3:but in the Division one University you can't really talk about right too much, and so I get invited to this junior Chowder cup with Rick, with FCA, and I get there and the first practice we go on the ice to, the first thing we do is pray, looking around like where am I this?
Speaker 1:yeah.
Speaker 3:This is a little different. This is not. This isn't what really goes out of the hockey world. And then I remember a young man asking another player there so what's your relationship with Christ?
Speaker 3:that I was like, wow, these there's just something different about this FCA Sure three of this FCA hockey and, yeah, I just felt like this that's what I wanted to talk about because I was really sick when I was playing in the NHL times and the NHL has really good doctors, they have the best of the best they said that the doctor had a psychologist and and then in Calgary we had a chaplain and a psychologist and I saw all of them I was seeing everything.
Speaker 3:I was, and the only one that I really Felt the truth or was will to share all my junk and will it to talk to, was the one that was had a foundation in Christ. So that's where I do. This is what I wanted to talk to players.
Speaker 1:Yeah, does. Does the NHL have a chapel service, I mean like a chaplain service, where each team is given given a chaplain Dean? Are you, are you anything like that? Some teams have it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, some teams have it. I know there's different ministries. There's athletes in action in Canada. There's okay ministries. Fca has the coaches call and we're doing some yeah pro calls and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:So, okay, our avenues for players do ever. Does every team make it available or advertise it? No, and Some don't want it in the locker room, sure, and so some are like. You know that one year in Calgary the general manager brought in a chaplain and a psychologist. He was like whatever the players need to help them, and so I got to reach out to him a while back and tell thanks, because that's cool.
Speaker 1:That's huge. Well, that's something that I'm definitely gonna be praying about, because I look at at professional baseball and every major league and Minor league team has a chaplain, and that's something that I think is just huge, because I think there's that misconception of, just because you're playing professional sports, you, you have it all together. Right, you're living your best life. You have no stress, no drama. Why do you need Jesus or anything else?
Speaker 1:Right You're a millionaire, you had every everything you could ever want at your fingertips. But the reality is you're still still a human. You still have have issues and, if anything, you probably have more because there's more pressure now than ever. So, yeah, I'm definitely gonna write that down for something I'm gonna continue to pray about, just because you know that's um, yeah, I could see that being a huge thing for for the NHL. But but yeah, I just want to commend both of you guys.
Speaker 1:I mean, you're both doing stuff that the world would say you, you were entitled to so much more and you didn't go that route.
Speaker 1:You know the world would say you know you both had done X, y and Z and it should have, you know, prepared you for a More worldly successful Lifestyle down this road.
Speaker 1:But you, you looked at that and said, no, like Christ died for me and I owe my life to him and I'm gonna go this route, and so we just don't see that that often anymore and I just I love being able to just to rub shoulders and talk to guys like you. It's just, it's really encouraging knowing that there's other other guys out there, you know that are, you know, following the call of the Lord and ignoring the call of the world, because the call of the world has been there since day one and it is caught is constantly been whispering in our ear and constantly been thrown in our face by everyone around us, and so being able to Constantly push that away is is a challenge, and so I just you know not that you guys are perfect or, you know, have it all figured out, but you know, I just want to tip my hat to you guys on that- Thank you, micah.
Speaker 2:We just Want the Lord to use us and be an obedient, taking a step of faith out there. And I know Tim would be an amazing coach in the NHL and in multiple different roles, but he's chosen to his wife. It shows into invest in young men and train them up and so that they can lead a God-honoring life in hockey. And it's incredible to think over the past five years We've been together, the number of players that are in college now that are really doing well and and Tim's had a major hand in a lot of those players lives Chelsea so incredible.
Speaker 1:No, that's cool. And again, we never know what God has a store for us next. And you know I'm always a big advocate, I'm sure, as you are too, rick, is yours crazy as I am, you know, we're not gonna deny the next chapter of our life because we want to stay on the last chapter. We're always, you know, trying to wake up reminding ourselves that like, okay, god, my life is yours today and tomorrow, in the next day. So if you have something different for me, make it plain as day. So yeah, I mean, we never know, right. Just, we don't ever want to get stuck. I'm as long as yet that that calling in your life is is present and you, we're obeying it daily. I mean that's that's all we really can do.
Speaker 1:So but that being said it, it would be kind of cool to see a Tim Tim Jackman on the bench in the NHL, you know, being able to kind of kind of break the norm, right. I mean, I don't know if there's any Christian coaches out there in the NHL, tim, if you could even speak to that. But just, you know, even you know from any professional sport that you know you don't see as many Professionals athletes, professional coaches advocating for their faith on a, on a public platform, and so just just the idea of having someone being able to do that, regardless of the sport or not, I think is just is huge right being able to use the platform that God's given you to to make his name great. So yeah, who knows?
Speaker 2:there is a former NHL head coach who's a Christian that is part of our ministry. Brad Larson was the coach of Columbus for a couple of head coach Columbus for a couple years. He and Tim have a long time friendship and and Brad is excited to be a part of FCA, worked one of our camps last summer and, and Is you know, excited to do more things with us right now, as he's between jobs.
Speaker 1:So sure, no, that's, that's cool. Yeah, we don't. We don't really have a team either. I mean, my daughter just got into it. I mean it's so, it's funny. Like after that camp she came home and she'd seen like the mighty ducks on like Disney. She never watched it before because she didn't ever understand it or care for it. So when she watched it she's like it's so, it's so funny. She's like I wanna. She's like that's my team. I'm like, well, it's not a real team. But I was like, but like there is, you know, like the Anaheim ducks.
Speaker 1:And then it was her first day of hockey, like intro to hockey, and this kid, he was wearing a Mighty ducks jersey, like from from the movie. And my daughter comes up and she says dad, did you see that guy wearing the mighty ducks jersey? And I was like, yeah, she's like I think he plays for the ducks. I just, I, just I laughed pretty hard. So, yeah, so she's, she's kind of adopted the ducks as her team. So Naturally it's like super far away. But whatever, right, if, if she, if she likes that. So I told her I was like, yeah, I'm actually gonna be podcasting today with a guy who played for the ducks. And she, her eyes lit up, she was like whoa, and I was like yeah. So she just kind of got a kind of chuckle out of that. So we'll have to go find a Tim Jackman jersey out there for you're gonna be looking hard.
Speaker 3:Hey, you know, I mean eBay's eBay is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:You never know what you might find on eBay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:So I want to transition. I want to talk about FCA hockey. Now I know F FCA, for I mean more than a decade now. There's been or organizations how is I not organizations? Fca is the organization. There's been individuals within FCA like like you, rick, that have taken a specific sport and Created an FCA Alternative team in in the club world. Now they've been.
Speaker 1:This has been going on for more than 10 years, but recently FCA has decided to go, you know, to combine it all together and go FCA sports, because they they see what you've seen, what many others all over the country have seen for more than 10 years that travel sports are just just huge. I mean it's, it's this huge monster. I mean each sport, like you said earlier, is it's got its own culture, it's got its own language, it's got its own baggage and it keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And a fact that I saw this this year, but it was posted for next year the CDC put it out that Projectedly so about 75% of American youth are going to be playing sports next year roughly 40 million kids 32.4 million Of those kids are going to play for a club team rather than a high school team, and so I just isn't that. Those numbers are crazy. Like kids are playing fewer and fewer high school sports, as much as they're playing through clubs, regardless if it's hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball, whatever. They're wanting to play through those clubs because One.
Speaker 1:That's where you get more attention, you get better, typically better coaching, better development, but more importantly, at a higher, higher age, higher level. That's where you get scouted. Scouts openly will tell you that too. I don't know about hockey, but I can't imagine it's really any different for hockey than it is for Baseball, softball, volleyball and basketball. Scouts put way more Energy into scouting tournaments and they put way more credit onto athletes who compete and succeed at a high level In the club world rather than in the, you know, high school world. Not that high school is irrelevant, but they mean that's. That's just the way the scouts are working these days, would you? Would you say that's the same for the hockey world, rick Tim, it's mostly it's mostly the same for the hockey world outside of Minnesota high school hockey.
Speaker 2:Okay, so hockey still gets a turn. That's probably an HL scout the other day. And he was at a Minnesota high school game and and Minnesota still gonna get that high school hockey Team and and in Minnesota still gonna get that, but outside of Minnesota high school.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The club teams really dominate and that's where the majority of the players come from that makes sense.
Speaker 1:On yeah, I mean like that. That'd be the equivalent of like football in Texas. Right, high school football in Texas will always be dominant. You'll always have those, those scouts go into those, but yeah, but for the most part it's club all the way around.
Speaker 1:But, but so anyways, I mean this this world of club sports is just blown up quicker and quicker. I mean it's just like overnight. It's just millions and millions and more of clubs and athletes and parents are just joining this world and there's there's so much good that can come out of it, but at the same time, there's so much bad that exists in it, because there's so much money to be made in it and I know you guys can attest to that that there's so many, there's so many good people out there like yourselves that are offering high-level competition, high-level development, but at the same time, you have just as many people if that price, not more individuals that are out there saying I can give you X, y and Z and I'm gonna tell you it's X, y and Z, but it's really like a watered-down version, but I just want your money and it's. It's really sad because I see that a lot here in the Omaha Metro area and what I've seen is you give a lot of clubs that that'll start with with a good conviction that says I want to, I want to start a softball club and I want to be different than the other clubs, because typically people start new organizations because they want to do something different than what's already out there.
Speaker 1:And then, as that goes on, your conviction usually I hate to say it, but is usually compromised for dollars, because it's hard, as you guys know, you're hard pressed to find coaches with similar mindsets, which I can completely imagine what that conversation was like between Rick and Tim. When, rick, when you saw Tim, you're just like, okay, we're aligned, okay, you're not leaving at ever, you can't never leave. I can imagine that's what Tim was thinking when he met you. I'm sorry, rick, I can imagine that's what Rick was thinking when you met Tim. It's hard to meet coaches the one that you're going to match up with philosophical-wise but also spiritually. To be able to agree on how to coach from an athletic perspective, but from a biblical perspective is even tougher. But I often see that so many clubs give up on their conviction just to keep the lights on, and I get that and that's a huge struggle and so many parents are just swindled by terms like development and wins and success. People generally associate dollars with the development and that's not always the case.
Speaker 1:I know your son, aaron, is a pretty good example of something that would go against the norm.
Speaker 1:When I was talking to him and he was sharing a bit about his story about how you're on the road for four and a half years he's not there playing for a specific club team for his entire youth life he's not doing that, he's picking up, he's playing with guys as he travels around and he was a phenomenal hockey player, so that's the outlier. It's not always the case that you have to buy into whatever person in your community is saying that if your son wants to play in the NHL, you need to come to me, you have to do X, y and Z. I'm sure there's some absolutes there, and so I want you guys to talk through that In your experience. What would you say are some absolutes for the hockey world? If there's some parents out there listening to this and that are asking I've got a son or a daughter and they enjoy hockey and they want to continue to pursue it to a high level? What are some absolutes, or are there any absolutes that you would say in the development of hockey players?
Speaker 2:I think it's a great discussion point to talk about. We work with a lot of different players, I said earlier, from the college levels to the junior levels to the high school levels, and one of the common things that we see from players like my son, aaron, was the drive to really be the best. Every player we talk to says they want to play Division 1 hockey, they want to score, they want to play in the USHL. Very few will put the time and effort in to do that or make the commitment to do that. They won't get up early, they won't discipline their body, they won't strengthen their mind. They won't do that. So, from an absolute standpoint, parents know that I have five kids and I know which kids of mine had a drive to be professional athletes or college athletes, and then I know which ones enjoyed other things, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2:So, as parents, it's when we get a son or a daughter that we want them to be a college athlete and they just want to be a recreational athlete. And then we're pushing them, we're signing them up, we're doing this, we've got to do that, and if it's not coming from themselves or their own drive, it's going to be a really hard road and a costly road.
Speaker 2:And then I always tell people, on top of that you have to have some talent from the Lord, like hard work, and I was a player that worked tremendously hard every shift, every practice, every game. At some point my talent level maxed me out. It was at the college level there was. I just reached the peak of what the Lord kind of gave me and combined that with hard work and that was okay. I had a really great college hockey career, but it wasn't. There was no professional rank. I'm not six foot too like Tim or I can't skate super fast or this or that. I got the most out of what I had. So parents have to take a realistic look at their sons and daughters and just say they've been given this ability to have vision or to be able to throw really hard or hit or catch or whatever the skill is. That's come from the Lord. And then their work ethic and their desire to be the best combines with that.
Speaker 2:And then they've got something really special. If not, use sports for the lessons that you're going to learn, learn it to have fun, or use it to have fun and go down that road. And it doesn't mean you won't get a college scholarship, because often you might, but there's. I think those are a couple of the key things talking to parents and just helping them to align with their sons and daughters.
Speaker 1:No, that's good, yeah, cause I that's something that I speak to a lot is the kids need to be driving the ship, because as soon as the parents take the wheel, you know, you you said that becomes very costly and it's and it does like not even from a financial standpoint, but we're talking relationally, because you're going to be putting these dividers in your relationship with your son or daughter. That may not actually mount to much damage now, but five, 10, 15 years down the road they will, they, they. There there's resentment that can can usually follow from those type situations, and you see that so much more now, I think, just because you have more kids playing youth sports and and and club sports than than you ever did. And so you have more kids, more parents living vicariously through their, through their children. And you know, I'm glad you said there's that difference between kids who have that drive and you need to have that drive it's.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you can teach that drive. I think there's things you can do to help encourage it and help lay a foundation for it. But certain kids just are naturally driven, and so there there are those kids that are driven, you know, for excellence and wanting to pursue greatness. And then there's kids that just want to enjoy the game, and there's nothing wrong with that with either one, either one of those. But there there's that misconception that there is that if your son or daughter is playing in this club and they're just out there, they're laxity as a goal, they're having fun with it, but they don't want to put in work in the, in the, in the off season or after practice because they just want to enjoy it. They just want to be a regular kid. To be a regular kid, you're not going to be a high level athlete.
Speaker 2:Well, tim, tim has something called secret training. I was talking to somebody apparent about it today that that, what are you doing that nobody else is doing? And Tim yeah, it was a second round graphic but the work ethic and the he lived and breathed hockey growing up and and was able to put that time in Aaron, although he wasn't on a team for four years as we traveled around Aaron worked on his hand-eye coordination and studied the game and really put secret time in that. A lot, a lot of people just don't know what the commitment level is needed and I never talked to him about it, he just drove himself to that level.
Speaker 2:And I think we see that in some of our top athletes. And and we have we have a young man who was an average athlete for three or four years when he's been with us but he stayed at it. And Josh Friedes, one of our strength coach and one of our co-employees at FCA, talks about compounding interest, about you spend time each and every day and it's just building and building and building. And we've got multiple players that are late bloomers right now. That didn't get a whole lot of opportunities and scholarships early, but now a couple of them, two or three of them have gotten them and they're doing amazing, amazing stuff because they compounded, they invested a lot of their time early on and now it's starting to pay off.
Speaker 1:That's cool, I like that term.
Speaker 1:you used secret practice you know, because you're right, it's those kids that are doing stuff that they're almost like making up in their brain. You know they're they're just being creative, they're creatively problem solving how to get better, you know, and it's helpful to have parents or people around who can help kind of guide that and help influence that a little bit. But you know that's that's so incredibly needed, you know, for kids that want to take it to the next level. You know, if you're doing the same amount of work as everyone else's, okay, well, so is everyone else. Like that doesn't mean you're going to get any further than they are, like you have to outwork everybody. It's just that Kobe Bryant mentality.
Speaker 1:I want to. I want to go back and touch on the idea that it's it's okay for kids to be normal kids and just want to play. You know, because there is that misconception that I that I see so often and and it's heartbreaking because when you see it in the midst of of, of like a game or a tournament, and you, you see that disappointment from from their parent, from the, from the parents that their kid is not hustling or doing this. And you know the kid, you know from a, from a coaching perspective or whatnot. That kid just wants to be a regular kid and just wants to play it and the, the, the dad or the mom just wants so much more and it's just.
Speaker 1:It's really, really heartbreaking and I I wonder if you guys can can speak to that. If you have, I know I know, tim you you mentioned last week, when we were going to do this originally, you had kind of a kind of a crisis pop up where, where an individual that you were coaching was considering, you know, quitting hockey altogether I don't know how private that is. Is that something you can, you can speak to at all? Is that? Is that related to what? To the direction this conversation is going?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it. I think it is, it's. I think that's why I'm so thankful to be part of FCA hockey, because what we're trying to do is help these players find their true identity. You know, we say don't put your identity in anything you can lose. Well, what's the ultimate? What's the ultimate for sports? Or what's the ultimate? What's the ultimate finish line or win? You know, I played in the NHL and I can tell people it wasn't all it cracked up to be, because I wasn't completely fulfilled. I can say that I was actually living a very simple life and not making smart decisions. Sure, we start out by taking videos when the right timeladı involves winning and losing them, or having boring moments.
Speaker 3:I didn't have all the joy. I was playing with fear and anger or a lot of it. So I made it to the NHL, okay, but I didn't win a Stanley cup. So my failure or you know where's it, where's it stop, or you got to become a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 3:Or is it, where is the finish line? So we're trying to teach these guys Now you're worth the values, not up for grabs for what team. If you play on, your worth of value comes to the Lord. And then, whatever team you're on, you got a major purpose to to one Witness to your teammates, to serve them, to be a reflection of who crisis in your heart. And now it doesn't matter when you play, you have a mission and you have something to do Wherever you are. Yeah, it's bigger. And now everything these people, these guys, your teammates, are watching you, the way that you interact with them, to think the decisions that you make and want to want to More meaningful way to play sports. And when I felt that, that's when I had the real drive of the real passion yeah, sport.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I, and I think when, when an athlete because I can speak to that, to Tim I became a Christian later in life and you know just that confidence you have as as a Christian, is just it's night and day at least it was for me, from when I was a non-Christian athlete To when I became a Christian and I was still playing that same sport. It was like night and day and I feel like I could have, I was, I was so much better equipped for sports After I knew where my identity came from, because my identity was completely wrapped up in one sport. And again there was all that anxiety, all that stress, all that fear that kind of came along with it and was sucking a lot of the joy out of it. And you know, I think what you guys are able to do there and again, this is kind of going back to my first point about FCA hockey is kind of standing out there as this, you know, chapel on a hill, more or less, to to the, to the world of travel hockey, offering something that's completely abnormal, you know, from the sense of we're gonna develop you physically into, like, high-performing athletes, but in addition to that, and quite frankly more important is we're gonna Introduce you to who your creator is and what your identity is, because your identity is In Christ, in Christ alone, and you're gonna be able to use so many different skillsets that he, that he's instilled in you since before birth, to to honor him and a lot of times, since you're, you know, gonna be going the direction of FCA hockey up there in Minnesota, you're probably gonna be able to use hockey to glorify God, but don't get it twisted, it has to go Jesus.
Speaker 1:And then you know, whatever it is hockey, baseball, football, whatever it is that has to be secondary. And you know what you guys are doing I think is huge, because you know there's, there's not enough people in the club sports world that are trying to redirect. You know all these sheep of saying you know they're going up this, up this, this road to self glorification, self self gratifying. You know, you know lifestyle, it's just encouraging. You know just, you know me, me, me, I deserve this, I've earned this. You know I put in the work I'm, I'm the best, I, I deserve all these accolades and they're all going up there and we have individuals like myself and you guys that are trying to put Ourself as a fork in the road to redirect these, these sheep, off that path and saying you can still be good, you can still develop, you can still love this, but understand the prize that you're chasing way up there. That is not Jesus. And like to your point, tim, it will let you down because if it's the NHL, great, then what? And there's always going to be something else. If you're chasing something finite, once you reach that point it doesn't fill your bucket. You got to have something else and then then what? And so you know, I'm I'm really glad that you know, since, before you know, fca sports is starting to do something.
Speaker 1:There's been people like you guys that have just, you know, put yourself down as as a fork in the road and said you know, we're gonna stand out very obviously as a, as a solid standard in in Minnesota, which is the heart and soul of of hockey in in in America, and saying we are gonna be excellent. We want people to look at us and see excellence, not only from a competition standpoint but from a character and and and identity in Christ standpoint. And I think you guys have just been a model to the rest of the country and has been really, just, really just been huge because, like I pointed out earlier, just the the club world has just exploded. More kids are going into it, more parents are going into it, blind, you know, and they have no idea really how much damage they're causing their kids.
Speaker 1:Because even if we're saying it indirectly, that this is, you know, we may not be saying directly this is your identity, have all your faith and hope in this one bucket of this one sport. We're telling them that when we're putting them in practice five days a week, and their only Point of that practice is to get better as as an athlete, and so they come home week after week, month after month, a year after year, and that's all that they are, that they're hearing from mom and dad is. They're talking about Hockey. They're talking about how good, how good, how good, how good is practice, how many goals do you score, a last tournament or whatever. You know that's, that's all those conversations are. And so those kids are, you know, unconsciously putting their identity and something that, like you said, tim, will fail them.
Speaker 1:And you know I, I would love to see more more people like you, like Rick and Tim, out there, you know, taking hold of whatever sport they're passionate about, like you guys in hockey and being able to just, you know, be that fork in the ground and saying no, like we are not gonna move. We are gonna show you guys that there is a better way to do this world of competitive hockey or Competitive basketball, football, whatever it is, because there's a better way to do it. And so I want, I want you guys to kind of talk about the transition. So, rick, when, when you came back from four, four and a half years on the road and you met Tim and you started to go down the road of Starting an organization there in Minnesota, walk me through one why why that was on your heart, like why God called you to do that and Kind of what, what you've seen since and like what you've learned from that. Yeah, just kind of roll with that.
Speaker 2:So we started taking teams to Boston, massachusetts, under under FCA hockey in 2010 I think was our first year and we went for a week. We did a training camp, then we played games over the weekends and then we sent people home and that quickly became the most impactful week of this summer. We had multiple camps and and did all kinds of other Ministry events, but but that became this special time that we spent with these players and their families at the Chatter Cup, and it was during one of those Chatter Cups in around 2014, 15 we're one of the players said Rick, like can't we do this team year-round? Like can't we do this team year-round? And and and. That stuck with me and and as I impacted after we went home. What was it that made that team different? What was it that made that team special? It was Competing really hard, but also studying the word together and holding people accountable and having hard discussions and hard, hard conversations. Right, fast forward a year or two. That young, that young man was 16 and he ended up becoming a goalie on our first FCA hockey team and with the same, with the same intent, instead of just being a week, it was going to be a full year together.
Speaker 2:Discipleship was was first and foremost then hard, hard training In the weight room on the ice a couple times a day. But everything revolved around the discipleship piece, about Discipling these young, young men, building their foundation in Christ, their strong foundation, knowing that hockey would end. Some of them from that first team might end up playing in the NHL. Pretty cool couple of them, several of them, they're playing division one, college hockey right, the many of them on that first and that first team. But others have left hockey altogether. Others are playing club hockey and in having Incredible success right where they're at. But the Lord is first in their life. It's we've helped them build that foundation. So that's the environment that that we wanted to build, that we set out to build three pillars in an academic and athletic and a discipleship pillar, spiritual pillar.
Speaker 2:That really gave these young men a strong, strong Foundation to move on a junior hockey and college hockey and some of them professional hockey, or to move on away from hockey and move into college and then a career doing something outside of hockey. That that's been our intent and our goal, but built on that Um, and that's been hard. It's been a challenge to keep people focused on the discipleship piece. Parents pay a lot of money, there's a lot of challenges, there's a lot of reasons not to disciple or to disciple less, or to say we can disciple here but not over here, um, so that's really. We've been the differentiator between what we've been able to do, um, and others that have maybe a similar type um goal, but, uh, yeah, that that's. That's, I think, the differentiator, that that we started with and that we really want to continue to focus on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so my next question but I think you've you've already answered it was what? What separates you guys, uh, and what you're doing in minnesota from from other hockey clubs? I know you, you mentioned your three pillars, um, would you say that? I mean that that's kind of like a I don't want to say it's a cop out, but I mean like it's it's you. You already answered it, but I want you to kind of kind of dig into it a little more of like what separates you guys from from other hockey clubs in minnesota?
Speaker 3:I can start, I think, this where I talked about how I ended up with fca. The first time we first thing we did was we parade on the ice. Yeah if you want to see something different.
Speaker 3:Yeah robin's 12 to conform to the ways of this world. We're not. Yeah, that's that was what I saw. We pray and that something powerful happens when you pray with other Men, other players on your team, when you open up the bible. I mean In that first show to recover that I went to. This is before the the team was launched. It was about discipleship first and then practice and then more discipleship after, and so I would say that's the difference. I I'm Leading a pro call with some guys in the nhl. I don't have a ton of friends from the nhl. I have guys that I know that I could talk to, but one of the players out there that is probably a lifelong friend Is because we pray together.
Speaker 3:So sure that's why I would say you know, one of the questions that I asked these guys is what is jesus stunt for you in your life? Uh, through heart things. And I told my answer was he's giving me a community of men. I have seven to ten men that I could call Be like hey, help me, walk me through this. I have some real clothesmen Including right now I could call say hey, pray for me here. This is really I don't even know what to do the situation, but uh.
Speaker 3:So I think To the answer why. Why was it different? Is because things were built on prayer, things were built on the word, a lot of things were built on our faith and it was a place that was free to talk about that and it was expected that it wasn't going to get talked about. And it was amazing to see the freedom that players had In a safe environment where sure you know what we can tell? Well, christ, that we could build this foundation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so if, if a coach from a different club in your area walked in, um, you know they, they would see things very differently. I mean, as you know, as as you're explaining there, tim, everything was built around prayer and discipleship first, I mean, it would look very foreign, it would look very weird to them. Um, and I'm sure you've probably had some of those conversations with coaches, as you know that you've played, or they've come in, or even parents that are bringing their son or daughter to you, because what you guys are able to offer them from a hockey standpoint, and hoping that the jesus thing is just like a, an under, you know, just a, just a minor note, right, like, okay, that's, that's good we're, we're here for the hockey, just get the prayer thing over, make it, make sure it's small. Have you, have you had any experiences like that?
Speaker 3:I'll share one quick story and, Rick, you can answer this question. But I had a player appear and asked me what time you're not going to take my kid the back and electrocute him if he doesn't believe in this Jesus Hope off the electrodes. And you know what that kid ended up having an amazing experience.
Speaker 1:Electrocuting Okay.
Speaker 3:I know his dad said to said to picture, you got a scripture tattooed on his arm. You know this is after.
Speaker 1:So was. Was his dad mad? Was his dad blaming you for the tattoo then, or was it a kind of a happy Okay, like, okay, okay.
Speaker 3:Now the faith has become his own, and it is that's cool. Yeah, it was asked me if we were going to hook him up to the electrodes.
Speaker 1:That's cool. I'll keep that in mind, though I wonder if that actually works, tim. Hmm, I'll have to keep that in mind.
Speaker 2:I think there's always a lot of different ideas from people about how discipleship happens. So you know people that aren't used to praying. That's odd to them. Why would you pray? People that aren't used to praising and walked by a chapel can say you know what? I never saw that in a church before.
Speaker 2:So we have tried with FCA Hockey to accept everyone and to not pressure people into doing it, but allowing them the freedom to choose to do it with us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and whether that's praying on the ice, whether that's worshiping, whether that's, you know, having hard conversations all of the different things that we've tried to teach. We've tried to teach to fathers so that they could maintain their position of authority in their family and then teach their young, their sons and daughters those things. We're now challenging different coaches to pray with their wives, challenging different coaches to pray with their children. How are you actually living what the Bible is telling us to do and encouraging them to do it? So when coaches come in and we get an opportunity to share with them how we're doing things differently, it may be so foreign to them that maybe just praying is the next step for them. Others that are like wow, this is amazing, how can we do this at our program? Now we get a chance to talk to them about doing an optional Bible study or doing something with their parents and their players.
Speaker 2:So it's just kind of meeting people where they're at and then encouraging them to take it to the Lord and then the Holy Spirit guide them as to what the next steps are for them, where they're at.
Speaker 1:That's exactly what I want for us here in Omaha and everywhere is to be able to have that sport specific presence where parents they recognize the logo, like FCA hockey or FCA baseball, fca sports whatever it is. They say that's got a solid reputation of just creating not only good athletes but good humans. I want my son or daughter to be associated with that program wherever I am. I know what that means. That branding means something to me. I think that it's just huge that it's not just a closed club for Christians only. It's being able to say, yeah, if you're a Christian family and you want to compete with other Christians, with Christian coaches, yes, come If you're wanting just high level development, and we can offer you that, but we're going to offer you Jesus too. You don't have to accept it, but chances are, if you're surrounded by a bunch of strong men or strong women that are just exuding Jesus, you're going to drown in Jesus and it's going to take over your life eventually.
Speaker 2:I think that's a great way of saying it. We want to have coaches that are transformational, coaches, that coach the heart, and then those players that don't know Jesus will ask well, you're treating me different than my last coach. My last coach, I was nervous and I was anxious, and I was this and I was that. We don't play our best when we've got a coach that talks a certain way to us or keeps us on this edge.
Speaker 2:We play our best when we have a coach that believes in us and just wants to love on us and push us. You want to push us out of love. We're not a program that's going to say okay, it's okay, this and that. We're going to push them, but we're going to push them out of love.
Speaker 1:Well, absolutely. I mean, that's what we see in scripture All throughout the Old Testament. Yahweh was constantly pushing Israel. He loved Israel more than anything, but he was constantly pushing him, pushing all of them. And Christ same with us. He's wanting us to pursue greatness daily. Jesus does not want us to be laxity as local Christians and just sit around me like, eh, grace has got me, I don't have to do anything today. I'm like no, no, god does not want lazy people and he does not want lazy athletes, because I hate that misconception that Christian athletes everyone gets a star. We're all equal, we're all fine. Everyone, no matter if you give all your effort a half-refer, everyone's a winner. I'm like no, that's not how it works. It drives me nuts when people associate that. I'm like no, god wants our very best in everything, regardless if it's in a job, in a sport, in school, whatever it is. He wants us to give. He wants our sweat. He wants us to give our absolute best all the time we want to train young men to be warriors for Christ.
Speaker 2:That's really what our goal is, and we want to train them to compete hard, hard, hard, but also to love your opponents and respect them.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 2:That's what, and I believe we've been able to do that over the years. This summer we're going to have 20-some FCA, AAA club teams that are competing in and around the region and out east. That's. The hope for each of those teams is that they compete really hard, but they also compete out of love and they grow in their relationship with the Lord. Those that don't know the Lord will get introduced to them.
Speaker 1:Would you say that's the unofficial mission statement of FCA hockey?
Speaker 2:To make warriors for Christ. I think that is one of our main goals.
Speaker 1:No, I love that it's putting it at that plainly. Again, so many people I've talked to and again on this podcast, I talked to a lot of coaches, non-christian Christian alike. The majority of us can agree that 99.9% of these kids we're coaching are not going to play at a professional level and a high amount won't even play in college. The skills and lessons that we're teaching them on a day-to-day basis is preparing them for life because, regardless of how we do or don't want to see it, they are the future generation that will rule the world. I gave the example that the future president may be on my team. It's that conviction that drives me to coach in such a way that points them to Christ. But coaches out of character, coaches out of discipline and out of excellence. Like you said, rick, we're creating these individuals to be fathers, to be employees, employers. The lessons they're learning now is going to translate into their adulthood, into life. So many kids are instilled with this self-gratification, instant gratification, don't want to work any harder than I have to mindset, and so then when they get older we're seeing it right now there's so many people that just don't want to do any more than they absolutely have to, but they expect to get out of college and be a CEO making $250,000 a year because they have a degree. I'm just like, so what? No one's entitled to anything. I see that as just a challenge to me, with my kids and everyone that I coach. It's just like you're probably not going to play professionally, but I'll be darned if you're going to be an individual who is dragging society down and, to an even larger degree, is pointing people away from Christ, because that's really what it comes down to at the end of the day. For us Christians, that's got to be our driving factor, right, because pointing people to Jesus and everything else outside of that is a bonus if somebody plays professionally, bonus if someone ends up becoming an owner of a company bonus. But as long as they can accept Christ and they can go out there with that same conviction that drives you, drives me and drives FCA. That's the goal, right? We're out there trying to make disciples warriors for Christ, as you said, rick.
Speaker 1:Well, that's all the time we got for today's episode, guys, again, huge shout out to Tim Jackman and Rick Riantanzo over there at FCA hockey for taking time out of their schedule to join me in the studio today and just have a conversation about youth sports and hockey and Jesus and everything that we're doing collectively to make the world, a club sports, a better place for everyone involved in it. So again, guys, I hope this podcast was a blessing to you. You're a huge blessing to me. You'd be an even bigger blessing if you would like the podcast, share the podcast and let me know your comments, let me know your thoughts on it. So again, guys, you're huge, huge blessing to me. Go out there, be a blessing, take care. Well, see you later.