The Gospel In The Game Sports Podcast
Conversation and stories about real athletes and the journey thru sport, faith and life.
Connecting athletes, sports families and the church. Build bridges and telling real stories to help repair, build and grow people.
Hosts Dan Dromarsky and Dave Dawson
The Gospel In The Game Sports Podcast
Gary Steffes - From Locker Room to Living Pure Encouragement
Pressure can polish or crush, and Gary Steffes has felt both. We sit down with the former pro hockey forward to trace a journey from stat-chasing and panic on the ice to a grounded identity that fuels calm, courage, and consistent performance. Gary opens up about the moment his confidence cracked, the sports-psych “band-aids” that helped but didn’t heal, and the encounter with Jesus that rewired what success means—shifting from playing for approval to competing from acceptance.
Gary breaks down the core framework behind Pure Encouragement, the ministry he launched to help athletes and leaders live confident, victorious lives in Christ. We dig into the three pillars—intimacy with Jesus, identity in Christ, and inside-out living—and why the order matters. If you’ve ever tried to “think positive” while carrying anger, shame, or comparison, this conversation shows why soul work unlocks mental toughness and elevates performance. We also explore practical mentorship, building a band of brothers, and creating communities where accountability feels like protection, not punishment.
You’ll hear a vivid game 7 championship story, lessons in resilient leadership, and simple ways to realign body, mind, and spirit so your training actually sticks. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, parent, or just feeling the strain of high expectations, Gary’s tools and testimony offer a path away from fear and into purpose. Want tangible next steps? Check out the Pure Encouragement podcast, two-minute Monday videos on YouTube, and resources at pureencouragement.org to start building confidence that lasts. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a rating so more people find these conversations—what’s one belief about performance you’re ready to trade for truth?
Tell us what you think.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2389844
Welcome to the Gospel and the Game Sports Play, where sports and fates collide. With your host, Dan Dramarski and Dave Dawson.
SPEAKER_00:Welcome to the Gospel in the Game. Um, my name is uh Dan Dramarski, and my right hand man, my Robin, only because he looks really good in green and red tights is Dave Dawson, and I'm look cool in black. Um, so Dave, uh, we have a very special guest today, don't we?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, Gary Stefas is uh joining us. He's a mental health coach, and I think uh many of us would appreciate that in our society. And Gary um has reached out to Dan through social media, but they have an interesting connection over the years, how they got connected from another earlier guest we had on our show.
SPEAKER_00:We do. Gary and I got to know each other, and um, Gary provides wonderful material to work with young athletes, and one of those young athletes is is Taylor Joseph. And Taylor was our first guest in this year. Uh so uh, Gary, you know Taylor. Taylor knows Gary. Um, what's it like working with pro athletes, Gary?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I would say, first off, in regards to Taylor, he is an incredibly inspiring warrior for Jesus in the sports world. He, you know, you look on the outside at his career. I was actually talking with him last night on a call we had, and you would look at his story and you would look and say, ah, you know, maybe he wished he had a little bit of a different, you know, career on stats and pay on the on paper. And, you know, this is maybe not like the most highlight of careers. But if you look at it from a temporary perspective, you'd think that. But if you saw it from the view of heaven, if you saw it from the view of what God is doing through his life, he is one of the most heroic and inspiring stories that I know of. He's traveled all across these different teams and everywhere he goes, he's he's impacting lives, he's leading teammates to Christ, he's baptized guys in the cold plunge in his locker room, he's started chapels, he's encouraged coaches to get right with God. He is just an infectious, encouraging, loving guy. He inspires me. And so he for me is a neat guy. So if he's your first podcast, you know, that you had, he probably had an amazing, amazing episode. But yeah, I love Taylor. It's a blessing. And and for me, in this space of doing, you know, the mental health, doing encouragement, speaking life to people to help them win and be victorious in life. This is one of the greatest joys for me, guys. Uh, it was the biggest struggle of my life, and now it's become the greatest ministry of my life. And I truly can't believe it. It's a work of God, and I feel so blessed.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I love how you talked about that being the biggest struggle, and that's the area the Lord is use you the most. Yeah, Taylor was the first episode in season two, which was really cool because I what I love the most, Gary, about uh what the Lord has given Dan and I a vision for this podcast when interviewing guests is that sometimes people gravitate to, oh, I I don't know that guy's name. Why would I listen to this show? Like people gravitate to the the big superstar, the you know, the pro athlete, and you have play pro. You and you and Taylor, from what it looks like, you know, looking at through your hockey career, have somewhat similar journeys, but also the Lord is using you to do immaculate things. And even just now I've I've known you for I think three and a half minutes, that I'm super encouraged just by what kind of power the Lord has given you in your story. So take me into that process of what you said that you know that was your ultimate struggle was encouragement. And I imagine anybody now that interacts with you goes, You had a problem being encouraged.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's great. Well, I would say, you know, I've always been an enthusiastic, energetic guy. I think that's that's been, you know, from my my early days. But when I grew up, I didn't grow up walking with God. Uh for me, hockey was life from a very, very young age. I was four years old. I started playing, seven years old, I started playing competitively on some of the big teams in Detroit area. And then I moved away from home when I was 16 to Canada to go play near Toronto, and then all over the country, this sport has taken me. But for my life growing up, church wasn't a part of my life. God wasn't a part of my life. I believed that God was real, but I didn't have a relationship with Jesus. I had no idea what a relationship with Jesus meant. When I was in church, I would see Jesus hanging on a cross, but we were taught to pray to Mary and to talk to the saints and to talk to the priests to get right with God. Uh for me, it was I'm showing up, you know, to do to do church. I'm a good guy, I'm not as bad as others. And that makes me okay in regards to eternity. And so I didn't know anything about really what the cross meant for me and who Jesus was. So fast forward, you know, I'm traveling, playing this sport, and on the outside, everything looks amazing in my life. I am playing on U.S. national teams, traveling overseas to wear Team USA across my chest. I'm I'm a full scholarship athlete to a top 10 team in the country at Miami University in 2006. Uh, I got to play on all these different teams and I was winning championships at every level I played at. The outside of my life looked amazing, but inwardly, I was an absolute disaster. I struggled with the fear of failure to the point of having minor panic attacks on the ice. I was constantly afraid of what my coaches thought and what my teammates thought, and I was chasing acceptance everywhere I went. Uh, I would wrestle with jealousy and comparison traps. I was, I didn't know how to deal with the emotion that I was feeling. And so I would deal with it with pornography and I would deal with it by trying to be the party guy that got a story and try to get validation and acceptance uh from the outside world in any way that I could. And so I was chasing these things and they left me empty. Honestly, they left me frustrated. And so here I am. I don't have God in my life. I got these major internal issues going on, and I'm trying to make it to the NHL. I'm doing everything I can think of with sports psychology. I'm talking to sports psychologists, I'm reading books, I'm listening to stuff, I'm trying affirmation statements, and I'm not finding freedom. Now, these things help, they for sure do, but it was like putting a band-aid over a major wound that needed serious internal care. And so this band-aid would help for a little bit, but then it wouldn't really solve a problem. And so I'm on my way, I'll never forget the day. I was driving to Ohio State University on the bus to go play, and I just had this like sinking feeling in my gut. Like, this is gonna be my life. And I was like so hopeless and so frustrated at that thought. Like, I'm just gonna be this insecure guy that struggles with confidence, that is full of the fear of failure, fearing what other people think. I'm gonna have to manage this the rest of my life. I don't know what to do. And so this was like a hopeless moment. Well, thankfully, that wasn't the actual answer because it wasn't too long after this that I uh encounter Jesus. Uh, hockey, this God of mine, actually gets taken from me. And through a series of events, I end up at Athletes in Action on our college campus, and they're telling me about Jesus: how he died in a cross, how he rose from the grave, how he conquered Satan's sin, death, and the wrath of God, how we can be forgiven if we will confess him as Lord and believe in our heart that he was raised from the dead. I'm I'm hearing this, and for the first time in my life, it's making sense. Like I see who Jesus is. I see that he's come to save our life and that he's God in the flesh, and that I'm a sinner in need of this savior, and it just rocks me to the core. And so for the first time in my life, I jump two feet in. I gave my life to Christ. Uh, I get my first Bible that week. I start learning and growing. I knew nothing. I was as green as they come when it comes to understanding the Bible. And for me, this turning point in my life uh leads my teammates to have no idea what happened to me. My parents think I get involved in a cult. Uh, my whole world shifts the way that God grabs my life. And I was going down the road of medicine, eventually get led into the road of ministry instead. And it's that road uh that's that's now led me down to where we are today, to where this biggest struggle of my life, which was confidence, God began to miraculously change me. So when I came into pro hockey, confidence started to become a strength of mine. And now, this world of ministry, this is the lane that we get to play is confidence. And now you talk about encouragement, the enthusiasm and the energy that I feel like I had has now been really, I guess, uh connected to this intimate walk with Jesus, to where encouragement, this is how I'm wired and gifted, I believe. I think this is my role in the church, is to strengthen and encourage people, and I'm honored to play it.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that's the show.
SPEAKER_04:That Gary, thanks for listening. Episode uh number 19, season two.
SPEAKER_00:Uh you know, that was you know what, Gary? That was great because I think um I love the passion when we have that Emmaus arode experience where God literally opens our eyes in order to see Christ, and we discover and know and understand and fully get it. And uh when we do that, it all of a sudden it's not about us anymore, is it? It's really about him, and we're excited to tell others. Sometimes I'll I'll even uh say to guys, I'll say, like, you know what? It is like all of a sudden, if you realized that you were running towards a cliff and you stopped, and there was a reason why you stopped without hopping over that cliff, wouldn't you be excited to quickly run over and tell everyone else that was sprinting towards that cliff? And uh it's a great answer, Gary. Great answer. Um, you talked a little bit about growing up not full, going through, I guess you'd say going through the motions and doing the things that were told to you that that would make things right, and then finally discovering things when you found out your calling away from a sport, was it a clear picture to you what to do next? Or was this something that you had been processing as it happened, and then you're like, okay, now the green light's on. Because I think a lot of people started.
SPEAKER_03:Sorry to interrupt that's a great question. Yeah, uh, for me, uh I'm sorry if I interrupted you there. I would say that uh, you know, when I began to walk with Jesus, I I I literally didn't know anything. And I was I was being taught these things in the Bible. I started reading it for the first time in my life, and these people really came alongside me to help kind of mentor what it was like uh to walk with God. And one of the things that I began to learn is that just like you said, you know, this isn't meant to be just for me. This this walk with Jesus isn't meant for me to just be vertical with God myself, but never ever share with somebody else. Like Jesus said to go and make disciples of all nations. So there's an element to where I'm called to go love others by telling them this unbelievable news that I've experienced. And and so I knew nothing of how to do that. I just heard that this is partly what I'm called to as a man of God. And being overwhelmed by the love of Jesus, honestly, it compels you to want to share. I I couldn't, I couldn't hold back wanting to share. I loved getting to share about Jesus. He saved my life. I was that guy you speak of. And so I think over the years, you know, I've learned maybe how to how to be better at that and how to communicate and build relationships and navigate that. But you mentioned kind of this this road and this calling into ministry. I don't think it was like this light bulb moment of like boom, this is what you're called to. It was me fighting to honor and love the Lord, and just step by step, these different doors would open up. Uh, I tried to go to the road of med school and it was frustrating and stressful, and it wasn't happening. And then two weeks later, I get this call from FCA and says, Hey, will you come, you know, be a part of this camp and share Jesus and coach hockey? And I'm like, my two favorite things in life, hockey and Jesus. I'd love to come. And so I stepped in and then relationships built and and I loved it. And I got invited back to another thing and another thing, and and little by little this became a summer job. And then I got invited to become an intern. And and I'm like taking these steps of faith as God is is organically moving my life in this direction. And as this kind of went on, uh, I would say that the call of the Lord became solidified in me as I walked in faith to do the things I believe God was telling me to do.
SPEAKER_04:Now you love the way you put go ahead, Dave. I love the way you put that with the call of the Lord. Because I think that, you know, we every time we have a guest on, they they talk about I was doing this and now the call of the Lord. And if you're listening to this and maybe you aren't um you're not a believer or faith is new to you, that concept can be kind of foreign. So take me into that process of, you know, you had said that that wasn't a clear, crisp voice as somebody who maybe um is new to Christianity and they're trying to think, well, my whole life I've gone this direction, I have these talents, I have this. And, you know, but deep inside, I I feel like maybe I have a desire to do something like this. So, how does that you know manifest itself as you continue to move towards and draw closer to the Lord? Because sometimes, if yeah, if you don't live in the faith community, that can seem foreign, right? Someone would say, Why are you leaving this great job to do this? Like that this can bring you money, this can bring you success, this can bring stability, this can you know have all those things for your family. So take me into that process of continually just working and obeying the call of the Lord.
SPEAKER_03:It's actually really funny you bring that up. I I think back my uh the day that I started walking in ministry, my dad thought I went off the deep end and was ruining my life. He did exactly that. You're giving up the road of medicine and you're gonna go do what? You're gonna solicit people for money the rest of your life. Like his whole perspective was that I was ruining my life and I was throwing it down the drain. And the the the amazing thing now is his perspective is radically shifted and he's highly supportive and involved in a lot of things we do. And it's just amazing, though. But I I hear you on that perspective. You know, I think that God speaks to us in in a in a lot of powerful ways. He's God, he can speak any way he wants. Now, obviously, the the guiding source for all things to work through, the for the rubric that we have to pass everything through is the is the Bible. Everything's got to match up and be aligned with God's word. And so, with that as the authority, you know, we learn to start walking with Jesus and we start just fighting to obey the things he tells us to do, to go and love our neighbor as ourselves, to go and serve and become servants and use our gifts and our talents to be able to point others toward Christ. And we're building relationships, we're serving, we're loving others. And through this effort to obey Jesus, I believe that God really prompts our soul and directs us into certain opportunities. And we have a choice as to whether we're going to step in faith or not. And so these little steps day by day lead to new relationships and new connections. And we are always fighting to sit at God's feet to hear his voice as to where he's leading. And this is really the journey for me is fighting to do the thing that God has put in front of me, that He's He's aligned my heart with His to pursue after and to love and to share the goodness of Jesus with others. And so I would say it was a growing path for me of really discovering God's voice, obeying Jesus in the little things. And I just would say, as I got away with God, I would pray over these things, God would put a prompting on my heart to go to this ministry opportunity rather than go pursue med school. And so I took a step of faith. And then as I did that, and I saw some people come to Christ, and there was fruit bearing in that ministry, and I got invited back. I felt God prompting me to go again. And then there's a job opportunity that came. And so I remember sitting in my car one day thinking, like, is this really what like being called to ministry is like? Because I didn't really have like this light bulb moment of like this crazy boom from heaven. I was literally just saying yes to a job opportunity to go work with a ministry, and I love hockey and I love Jesus, and this works great with the position I'm in in life. And I what else could I do that would be better? And so I jumped in with two feet. And now I will say, as things went, uh there has been moments where I have really had to sit at God's feet regarding staying in ministry or making decisions. Do I do I leave or do I stay? Uh, this call into pure encouragement, uh, I really felt the prompting of the Lord in a very strong way. I didn't want to leave what I was doing in California, uh, and I loved what I was doing there, but I felt like the Lord so strongly prompted my soul that we were to go into the unknown in ministry, and ultimately what's come from that step of faith is pure encouragement. So I can tell you that story, but it's it's the it's a journey with Jesus where we're fighting to be obedient with the things he's put in front of us.
SPEAKER_00:You mentioned a key word that has been sticking with me while you've been speaking, and I think it's a big part of what you're doing with peer encouragement. And if those of you who don't know Gary, uh tune in Pure Encouragement Podcast, take a look at the stuff that he's presenting online. Uh, you will be encouraged because Gary is like probably the most fired up dude that I know. Uh, second thing is he speaks truth along with it. It's not just raw, raw, go get him. It's using the heart of scripture. But the key word that has stuck out to me, Gary, is mentorship. Speak to me about the heart of mentorship involved in pure encouragement.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, mentorship is is massive. I I think of it the way that God is a good shepherd to us and he walks with us and he cares for the souls of his sheep. Uh, this really is so vital to us as men and women of God, uh, to be able to live a confident, victorious life. We need people in our life, people that can walk with us through the challenges of our day. I don't think we're meant as the body of Christ to walk on our own. I don't think that we're meant to be isolated. It says in Proverbs that he who isolates himself is not wise. It's not a wise move to be isolated. And so getting involved in these things, like so with our ministry of peer encouragement, cultivating an environment where we can shepherd the souls of people and have people that are really watching out for one another, that are that are journeying together. We one of our studies is literally called the journey, and it's it's a group of guys that are bonded together in this pursuit of Jesus as as a group. Uh, and I'm a part of that group. It's it's not like I'm above everybody and just speaking from the top down. No, no, I'm chasing Jesus. I need him desperately, and I'm on this pursuit, and so we get these guys that are in this pursuit together. And as we create an environment where guys are watching out for each other's souls, we have mentors and we have guys that are encouragers and we have guys that have each other's back. And it creates a band of brothers that can live victoriously in the face of the challenges of our day. Even this last week, with all the stuff that's happened with Charlie Kirk and some of the other school shootings that have been tragic, and there's just a story after story of this evil that we face. This is where brothers they they lock arms and they have shields that protect each other. And so the mentor absolutely is a shepherd that is vital to the soul health and to the strength of everybody around him. And same with the other people that are in the in the band of brothers. Like you need to have each other's back. And I really believe in cultivating that kind of community. I couldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the mentors in my life.
SPEAKER_04:So good. Yeah, you touched on a lot of important things though. Obviously, Charlie Kirk is one of those moments that I think many of us now feel that this is one of those groundbreaking where were you when moments that happen, right? Like obviously 9-11 ironically worked out to be the day before that. But it is kind of one of those groundbreaking moments. We'll get to that in a second, but I want to actually dial it a step back here for a moment because we just met. So, and if many of people are listening and they recognize your name from your pro career, what is pure encouragement? How does it work? How does it operate? Who are you? We generally ask that question off the top, but you know, we dove right into the good. So, who is Gary Staffis? What is he doing with what is pure encouragement and and what is it all about?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, pure encouragement. We launched in 2022. Uh, it is something that I didn't plan to start. I didn't have like this five-year vision that this is what it was gonna become. I it was a step of faith into the unknown that I felt like the Lord was leading my wife and I into. And as we traveled across the country 40 hours, we were praying and seeking and and and we we went in faith. I didn't know if I'd be planting a church, joining a church, planting a ministry, joining a ministry. I had no idea what was gonna become of this, but we were so convicted by the Lord that he was calling us into the unknown. It was gonna be in ministry. And so we hit the ground in 2022 in Florida and we just started fasting and praying and chasing fruit. And so I had written a book to Christian athletes. I offered it up to some people that hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna lead you, lead a little group. Are you interested in being a part of this? Uh, a bunch of people said yes, there was a lot of fruit. Liberty University says, Hey, why don't you come run that for our entire team? I'm like, sure. And so we we go in faith to that, and little by little the fruit just starts bearing. And I my job was to sit at the Lord's feet and to seek him diligently to be able to discern what in the world we were doing. And so for months, I had no idea what this was going to become. I had so many ideas. I could do stuff with men, I could do stuff with with discipleship focused, you know, soul care ministry, I could do stuff with confidence. I had all these ideas and passions. And it was like the Lord was taking these these many ideas and bringing it into like the scope of a sniper rifle with a with a uh with a crosshair. And you could be right in the dead center of the crosshair, that this is what you're called to do. And after years of seeking God and fighting to chase fruit and be obedient as He leads us, uh, where I would say we are, pure encouragement exists to strengthen and encourage people to live confident, victorious lives in Christ. And one of our greatest lanes is this lane of confidence where we're strengthening athletes to overcome the fear of failure, the fear of what people think, performance anxiety, insecurity, identity issues. How do you how do you come back from unexpected injuries? And how do you stay confident when you feel like your dream is impossible? We get to work with athletes, pros, all the way down to eight-year-old kids across all different sports, men and women. It's awesome. And then with that, we also get to work with a lot of coaches and alumni. Uh, it's becoming a community of men of God and women of God who are chasing intimacy with Jesus, who are fighting to stand in their identity in Christ. And I would say that the bulk of our ministry really boils down to three specific things: that if we can be intimately connected to Jesus, if we can own our identity in Christ and stand in the truth, and if we can live from the inside out, as he talks about in Mark 12, 30, that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with our mind and all our strength. I believe the order matters. That inside out, victorious life. And so those three things intimacy with Jesus, identity in Christ, and inside out, that has become the heart of our ministry and how we come alongside people to help them win with whatever challenges they're facing.
SPEAKER_00:Uh, you have shared with me previously uh I'm gonna call it a work of art, Gary. It's called the mental side. It's uh it's a 200 plus page book about training athletes to win in heart and mind for Jesus Christ. Uh, we talked a little about speaking to the maybe to someone who doesn't understand who God is and know him. Talk to now the athlete who knows Christ. Why is it so important to win in heart and mind? Talk about those combinations.
SPEAKER_03:That's great. Well, I would say as Christian athletes, we are not athletes that happen to be Christians. Or Christians that happen to be athletes. It might be a hockey player, it might be a basketball player, it might be a rugby player. We are we are Christians who happen to play this sport. So what that means is that our sport is not the source of significance. The sport is actually our tool to impact lives. And so when an athlete steps in, one of the biggest challenges every athlete faces is thinking that their stat line defines them, thinking that their their status on the team, where they're at on the roster, what people think of them, what the scout says, like that is who they are. And they internalize this as an identity statement that I am my performance or I am what other people think of me. And what we do in this book, the mental side, and in many of the other things that we've created, is that we actually separate that and change the perspective to understand that that's not who we are. We're not defined by our performance as athletes. We're not defined by what others think. We are who God declares us to be. And he declares that we're deeply loved, that we're totally accepted as followers of Jesus. We are absolutely significant, we're completely secure, we're entirely new, we're purposefully sent. He declares many declarations about who we are. We're forgiven, we're new, we're justified by faith. This is who we are, and therefore we step into our sport free where we can actually compete for Christ and not for ourselves, where we can actually step in free, where I don't need my stats and the coach's opinion to define my significance. So therefore, I'm I'm free no matter what happens. And this actually sets me up in such a way where my performance elevates significantly because I'm no longer playing for the approval of men. Now I'm competing for Christ. And if I'm competing for Christ, my motivation goes up. Love starts to drive me rather than fear. Uh, my my anxiety starts to get dealt with by the trust in the Lord, and therefore I am just set free to chase after the vision he's put in my heart. My motivation, my effort, my intensity, my focus, my determination, everything elevates. Mental toughness elevates, everything elevates as an athlete when I go from competing for myself to competing for Christ. And that is the point of winning in your heart and your mind is you can't do that by just having a good stat line. You have to have a heart transformation and an internal change that leads to an outward, uh, outward shift in performance. It's inside out.
SPEAKER_04:I love that inside out. You talked about heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I think, you know, just relating it to myself, different times in my life, you know, my heart has been right, my my soul has been right, I'm good in my mind, but I'm not strong physically, right? So, and I or my diet is off, and then I'm thinking, well, why am I not aligned? Like I everything else is good. I'm, you know, worship nights are great. I'm reading the word, I'm treating people well, but you know, I'm I'm not sleeping well because my I'm eating all this horrible food, right? Walk me through that process of working with maybe athletes or people, you know, post who are just connected to sport, right? It could be a trainer, it could be a play-by-play guy, it could be, you know, people who are just trying to become aligned, and the importance of having all four, because I've just recently realized the importance of diet and exercise, how the Lord wants that for me as well. It's not just read the word, have good relationships, be diligent, all the other areas. Like, how how important are all four of those together to becoming aligned with Christ?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, it's I think it's great. If we don't have our health, then we spend a lot of time sick and we spend a lot of time not having energy in the mornings. We have like the physical side to life is vital. It's it's massively important. I sleep better, I feel better, I get sick less often. I I have way more energy and clarity and focus. I don't, I'm not dependent on on substances or coffee or sugar to get me through my day. Like I am clear in my thinking. I am strong. When I'm physically healthy, I I become a better servant of the Lord. So I and as an athlete, like you're never gonna make it to the highest levels if you're not investing in your physical strength, your speed, your skill, the way that sports are today, you have to be just strong in every capacity to make it to the highest level. So, yeah, like the physical side is important, but this is honestly where a lot of athletes kind of focus majority of their efforts, and then they go to the mind to where they just try to think better thoughts. Where I'm finding a lot of uh breakthroughs in athletes' lives, starting with my own, but then into a lot of the athletes that we work with is actually when you go beyond that into the soul and into the heart aspects of life, which is where we start to deal with uh anger and unforgiveness and bitterness and pride and jealousy, uh, the fears that we've hung on to, the lies that we believe, that I am a failure, I am not good enough, I am defined by my past. So many lies that people can live under, and myself included, starting with me. And this with this dismantling of these lies and getting the toxicity out of our soul so that we can then get the truth of God's word in. This is where health comes from the inside. And you combine that now with the physical strength on the outside, and you got a victorious, confident, strong warrior, whether they're an athlete, whether they're a teacher, a businessman, whether they're a chaplain, whether whatever they do, you are a victorious warrior that walks into the world in strength when you have all of it together.
SPEAKER_00:It's that time. It's Dave's favorite part of our podcast. It's rapid fire questions. Dave, are You as fired up as I am.
SPEAKER_04:I'm always on fire for rapid fire.
SPEAKER_00:On fire for rapid fire. We should get shirts that say that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. Have a little uh have someone voice it on fire for rapid fire.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly. Except in like that um like monster truck voice rapid fire, fire, fire. Anyway, uh Gary, rapid fire questions. Are you ready? I hope so. Come on. Okay, Gary, if you got a favorite sports moment that you've participated in, what was it?
SPEAKER_03:Game seven, 2015, uh playing for the Allen Americans. It was our first ever uh pro championship that I got to be a part of. Uh, just the entire uh experience of that, like the what happened basically backtracking to that moment was uh the ECHL and the Central League had merged. And that year we were a central hockey league team that joined the ECHL. And so there was uh like a dynamic of like which league is better, and here we were, you know, making our way, you know, pretty good in the league. We almost won the league, actually, from a from that standpoint. And there was there were some people that weren't super happy about it. So there's drama kind of happening on the CHL, on the ECHL front. Uh, we go into the playoffs and we we find ourselves in the Western Conference Finals against Ontario. Ontario at that time in the ECHL was hands down one of the best teams. They were phenomenal, and they were actually winning three to one in the series. And we were uh we actually were going into the third period of game five, losing three to one. And it was in this moment, I remember being a captain of the team thinking, like, what in the world do I say to my teammates in this moment? And I just watched as our team was bonded, they stood together, no one turned against each other. It was an incredible, incredible uh just time of resilience and strength and belief. And we end up coming back in that game in the third period. We win in overtime. Uh, then we we play game six, we win game six, we go to game seven back in Allen, we win game seven. Uh, so now we're in the finals and we're playing South Carolina, and it was an absolute electric series back and forth. One team would play amazing, uh, they would lose. The other team, the next game would play amazing, they would lose. It was like just this the series back and forth. And we find ourselves in game seven against South Carolina, uh, with all the all the chips on the line for this one game. I'll I'll never ever forget the emotion and the excitement that we felt uh going into that game. And we we went out, we played our hearts out, we ended up winning six to one, and we won our first ever ECHL championship, at least for me. It was the third in a row for Allen. It was my first, and it was unbelievably fun.
SPEAKER_04:One of many championships that uh you've won according to your elite prospects. Ironically, I already had that page open. That was a year that you scored how many goals?
SPEAKER_03:50. Well, I would say 50. They say 49 on paper, but I I think I had I had one or two more. I might have gone off my foot. I just didn't get the credit for it. So I I say 50, but technically 49.
SPEAKER_04:All right. So that wasn't my real question. Here's my actual question. You had 10 players and double-digit goals on your team, uh, four of them in 20 or above. Do you remember who the other three guys who scored 20 in up were on your group?
SPEAKER_03:On my team in Allen?
SPEAKER_04:Yep.
SPEAKER_03:Shaq Costello, uh, Gregor Hansen.
SPEAKER_04:Um something I'm not able to do is what this guy's last name would be. Something that you're not able to do. I'm using my my hand motion on the video right now. Something that I don't have the equipment. Yeah, that's the one.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, there you go, Jack Home. I was one, I was thinking, I actually, he was the first guy I thought of. Uh he's he's a coach now, actually, in the NCAA. I I didn't know if he was on our team that year or not. I was thinking back in all my years. I played with Jack a bunch, he's phenomenal. I just didn't know if he was on our team that specific year or not. So good.
SPEAKER_00:Dave, you just got to switch the combing motion to your back instead of the top of your exactly.
SPEAKER_04:Nobody wants to see my back hair, but you know what?
SPEAKER_00:I remember going to a Bible camp one year with a guy, and he was a he was a power lifter, and he said one time he was like, Oh boys, I'm gonna lose like 15 pounds this summer. And one of the guys said, Dude, you can't shave that much back hair off.
SPEAKER_04:This might be the longest rapid fire segment I've ever got.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but I love it. That's great. Yeah, that's great. Okay, now let's go to some more quicker questions. Gary, you gotta bring one weapon uh into a fight, and it's a one-on-one battle, it's a war. What are you bringing? What's your weapon of choice?
SPEAKER_03:Sword for sure. Sword for sure. I mean, I mean if the guy's coming with with an R like a like a cat, like a big old gun, I mean it'd be kind of nice to come with an RPG or something, but I uh you come with something a little stronger. But I think sword, hand-to-hand combat, you talk about hand-to-hand combat. I'm like, I just want to be a warrior. I want to be a warrior for Jesus, and I think about being a warrior with a sword, you know?
SPEAKER_04:Sword of the spirit, that's a good weapon to pick for sure. Uh in your heyday, and when you were at your athletic prime, how much could you bench?
SPEAKER_03:Uh my height of of things benching 310 was my was my ultimate. That's uh yeah, that crossed 300. That was a big win for me.
SPEAKER_00:If there's one guy that you played sport against that you don't want to mess with, who is it?
SPEAKER_03:I played against some guys in my early days that were super duper intimidating dudes. Um, one guy's name was Kip Brennan. Uh, I would not want to run into that guy. Another guy's name was Mike Scroy. Uh I would not want to run into that guy. He was like a UFC fighter on skates, he was super intimidating. Uh, would not want to end up uh in a back alley with those guys mad at me.
SPEAKER_04:You played uh when you talk about playing the ECHL, the CHL, the American Hockey League. There's a lot of if people are listening to this and more familiar with you know the NHL, there's some incredible markets that you played in that are maybe underrated. Not many people would know about them. What was one of your favorite spots, maybe not only to play in where the jersey, but travel to and experience the hockey hoopla in that city?
SPEAKER_03:Boise, Idaho. My favorite spot. Loved it. You walk in, you all go into Boise, they play downtown, just the setup was amazing. They have a rink inside this hotel kind of, and it's really nice, or it's connected to the hotel, I should say. And just the experience of being downtown Boise. I loved it. Uh, I loved Wichita. We played against them a bunch. I think just the experience of playing in the intrust arena was amazing. Uh, their their fans are really, really intense, and it just made for a really fun experience. Uh, I but yeah, we got to play in some really cool spots. Kansas City's a sweet place to play. The Mavericks where they play, it's wonderful. It's it's professional, it's it's a really nice arena. Uh, Colorado's got a beautiful spot when you play out there where the Eagles play currently. They're in the American League now, but they got an awesome place, really neat. So, all those West Coast spots, I really enjoyed them.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, Gary, we're traveling back in time. Go back and talk to the 13-year-old self. What advice are you giving them?
SPEAKER_03:Hands down, the first thing is you need to come to know Jesus, buddy. You need to come to know Jesus. And here's why, here's who he is. I would tell him all about the goodness of God. Uh the second thing I would tell him is that your worth and value has nothing to do with this sport. You're not defined by this sport. Uh, you're not defined by all that. Uh, and I would tell him also that the anger that you're carrying, because of the way that some kids have bullied you and have treated you, uh, you don't need to carry that anger. It's not wise. And here's how you deal with it: you forgive and you you hand that into God's hands, and I would walk him through that. So those three things. I tell him about Jesus, I tell him his identity has nothing to do with this sport, and I'd help him forgive the people he's angry at.
SPEAKER_04:Gary, I guess my question for you we often ask somebody a scripture at the end, but you obviously have so many resources available, and there's so many opportunities for someone to connect with you. How can somebody find out more? You know, even if they're not in the faith community, they're just an athlete, they're struggling mentally, they want to try and connect. Uh, what's a great spot for somebody to enter in on the novice side? Like I'm I'm just a hockey player, you know, got shelled three different times. I'm a goalie, you know. I I need something to lift me up. Where do I go?
SPEAKER_03:How do I find it on your great great question? Yeah, I would say that you can immediately go to our podcast, like Dan was mentioning. Look up the Pure Encouragement podcast and start searching stuff on confidence. There's a lot of stuff there. Second is you could go to our YouTube page. We have uh a lot of stuff. We have Monday videos that go out, they're two minutes long every Monday. It's just to encourage and strengthen you. You can start watching those. There's confidence videos, there's trainings that we've done. Uh, that's an easy on-ramp into our community. Uh, but beyond that, if you go to our website, pure encouragement.org, uh, we have groups, we have lots of things that we're doing with athletes and men and women all across the country. It's not just sport, but we have a niche in sport, but there's stuff available. You can get free downloads, uh, free worksheets. There's a lot of stuff available. Uh, we're updating our website, but in that process, uh, there's stuff that's very much there. So if you if you want that, and lastly, if you if you can't find something that you need, reach out to me directly. And I would love to be able to support whoever it is that has a need.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, part B of Dave's question. Favorite Bible verse?
SPEAKER_03:Second Chronicles 16, 9, hands down. I got it on my Bible. I love it. It says the eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout the earth to show himself strong to those whose hearts is completely his. And I yearn to be that guy.
SPEAKER_00:Love it, Gary. You love it. Well, two conditions we have of being on this podcast. One is we get to have you on again, and we're gonna follow up with you and see how pure encouragement is going and how you're doing. Second one is we get a close in prayer. So let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for Gary and for the work that he's doing for your kingdom. And Lord, we just pray that you would watch over him, bless him, guide him by your mighty hand. And Lord, we just pray that you would continue to use him for your glory, honor, and praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_04:Uh well, it's uh pretty easy to draw encouragement from the man of pure encouragement. Pretty contagious guy, and obviously we are an audio platform, uh, but we get the privilege of seeing him on video. Very amicable, very animated, very contagious guy, and and so much there. One word that we didn't draw out of the podcast, and a guy like him we could have talked to for three or four hours in an episode was how we talked about obedience, right? I thought it was just so great to hear that story of obedience and just obeying the steps along the way of what the Lord had been asking him to do. And sometimes we look at you know, the word calling. We've talked a lot about calling on our show and and where that leads, but such an important part of that is just obedience. Doing the small steps every day. You know, small steps are are what often leads to change. It's not this grandiose movement, right? If you want to gain strength, you want to lose weight, you want to make money, people often think this big step is what is required. No, it's just small steps of obedience, and and yeah, hearing how the Lord has weaved his story so perfectly.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think if you listen to the bat last kind of group of our podcasts, you'll hear that theme kind of sunk into a few of the guests, and you hear this like just constant process one day at a time, one step at a time, long sustained obedience. In fact, it's a it's a business principle, Dave, uh, where you don't want to see giant spikes, and then because you're gonna have massive drop-offs, it's consistent, sustained growth. And I think as a believer, we understand that we're human and we're gonna make mistakes, and then there'll be there are times where uh our human nature uh we fail. We do, and that's why we are in desperate need of a savior. Uh, at the same time, God provides us with his truth that allows us to have that growth, and it's over time. It's not uh I would rather have something that's smoked for 14 hours than something that comes out of a microwave any day of the week.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, and you're not talking about a cigarette or a blunt, you're talking about obviously a piece of food, which is very good.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, a meat smoker, I will clarify that.
SPEAKER_04:But yes, I and I I think that's important for maybe if you're listening to this and you're new to church, you haven't transitioned into a relationship with Jesus yet. You you think, okay, well, I can understand the principles of consistency because you're my business and my health all operate in that magnitude. That might be a similar language. And so if you listen to this and you've listened for the first time, or maybe you've listened for a while, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach out to us. Contact info is available online, and uh you can download our podcasts where all podcasts are found, and obviously connect with us on Instagram. And we're getting some great analytics of some older episodes that are starting to spike, which tells us that there is impact, and regardless of what that story is.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think as Dave said, listen, uh, give us feedback. It's encouraging dust, but as you listen, be encouraged.
SPEAKER_04:Just pure encouragement. That's what it's all about today.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, enjoy it.
SPEAKER_01:You've been listening to another episode of the Gospel in the Game podcast. We'd love to hear from you. This podcast is listening supported and would benefit from your feedback.
