During Christmas break, two students decided to revive Simpson’s inactive chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

The group dissolved last year after it ran into trouble due to a lack in organization of leaders and dwindling membership.

Sophomore Curtis DeVetter, current FCA co-leader, decided to start FCA up again for the spring semester. Over Christmas break he sent out an e-mail to see if anyone else would be interested. A small group of students got together and planned to have meetings every Wednesday prior to Campus Worship from 8 to 9 p.m. in the basement of Smith Chapel.

Another co-leader, freshman Tim Delaney, helped with FCA in his hometown and was in charge of leading sessions for his church. He has taken over the responsibility of running the meetings for the Simpson FCA.

The organization gets its message for the week from topics sent to them by the National FCA and a book with different activities and Bible verses.

They begin by conducting a team building activity. They follow up by having a short Bible study and discussion with a focus on teams or how to be a better athlete and Christian.

According to Delaney, FCA offers people the chance to help them get to know God more with others who want the same thing. Because it is a group setting, individuals build more bonds of friendship and get to know their friends better. He promotes the organization as a good way for students to refocus and reconnect with their faith.

“I am guilty of this myself, but we become too involved and busy that we either don’t have the time or forget about our faith in God and what else is important in our lives,” Delaney said. “FCA is for those that get in that position.”

Attendance for the meetings has remained low with anywhere from four to eight people every week. The group plans to work on increasing its numbers, which will allow the group to plan bigger activities.

Human foosball, played on the football field, is one idea currently in the works. Plans for this are just beginning and have not been worked out, but the group is excited about the possibility.

“It would be a pretty big deal, and a lot of fun,” DeVetter said.

Freshman Katie Olson decided to check it out after receiving the e-mail. She is from California and had never heard of FCA, so she showed up for the first meeting and has been going every week.

“We’re still pretty new,” Olson said. “We’re working on getting membership up.”

The organization is not exclusive and welcomes all students whether they participate in athletics at Simpson or not. Both DeVetter and Delaney participated in sports in high school, but do not compete at the collegiate level. Olson is a member of the soccer team.

Delaney points out that adults, as well as students, may attend the meetings.

“This is a group of students or anyone else that wants to come,” Delaney said. “We have it open for anyone, not just athletes. We are more than willing to have coaches, faculty or people from the community to come and have a good time.”

FCA was created in 1954 and is the largest Christian sports organization in America. The group is for coaches and athletes on the professional, collegiate, high school, junior high and youth level.