Beyond the Field- (With Griffin Moore)

By Avery Raimondo

For most student athletes, the field is where they are best known. For Griffin Moore, his impact at Flagler College extends beyond lacrosse. As a senior, one of his biggest accomplishments has been bringing Fellowship of Christian Athletes to Flagler College’s campus.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is a Christian sports ministry that uses sports to build relationships, lead coaches and athletes toward Jesus Christ and encourage growth in faith, according to FCA’s website.

FCA’s ministry goes beyond individual team Bible studies. According to the “Beginner’s Guide to FCA,” the organization operates through four areas: Coaches, Camp, Campus, and Community. On college campuses, FCA uses weekly meetings known as “Huddles,” along with Bible studies, and other events to bring athletes and coaches together around faith and sports. 

The organization describes its broader goal of connecting athletes’ passion for sports with their Christian faith.

FCA also emphasizes an athlete to athlete ministry. This encourages coaches and athletes to share their faith with teammates and their peers. This model puts student athletes in leadership roles within their own teams, schools and the communities around them.

At Flagler, Griffin Moore has worked to turn that mission into a community for student athletes. 

For him, FCA is not simply another place to practice his faith, but it is also a place where athletes from different teams can come together and talk about what they are experiencing both on and off the field.

Growing up, Moore lived in a religious household where his father was a pastor. However, it wasn’t until college that he began to understand the impact of his faith on a deeper level.

“My [college] teammates… were the ones who had invited me to church. I was able to find a place where I felt like I fit in without having to try. I could just be who I am, I found a good community,” Moore said. “I know who I am outside of lacrosse. And knowing what I’ve experienced, I want other people to experience the same level of Jesus that I have felt.”

Before FCA, Moore noticed that many teams had their own Bible studies and small groups to gather with, but there was not a place where athletes from all the different teams at Flagler College could come together and share.

So, Moore got involved. Bringing FCA to Flagler College’s campus. **maybe reword the transition between these two sentences, or make it all one sentence

Now, student athletes from different sports get together during weekly meetings. The group meets every Monday at 7 pm in the Student Center, where students can participate in Bible studies, discussions and fellowship outside of their individual teams.

For Moore, bringing FCA to campus was about creating a space where athletes across teams could connect, step away from their sports and simply be themselves.

“There’s always eyes on me. You want to perform. But I think at the end of the day, our faith isn’t performative…lacrosse is going away, but my faith is something that’s never going,” Moore said.

FCA provides a space where athletes can step away from the pressure to perform and have their identity extend beyond their sport. That sense of support is further shown in research done on FCA. 

Kyle Barileau, in Beyond the Field: Exploring Identity, Spiritual Growth, and Community through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, writes that “the ability of being involved with FCA brings a sense of peace to athletes” and can help them cope with “other life responsibilities” while working through the ups and downs of sport. 

For Moore, that support has become part of the community he has worked to create at Flagler.

Emily Ricci, a senior softball player at Flagler College and FCA leader, has seen the impact FCA has had on student athletes as well as the Flagler community.

“Since FCA has been at Flagler, I have seen communities form outside of our sports that have branched from FCA,” Ricci said. “It has also been awesome to see the community rally behind FCA at Flagler through sponsoring dinners or wanting to participate in community outreach. I feel that FCA at Flagler has brought the St. Augustine community closer.”

FCA’s work also extends beyond its weekly campus meetings. The organization encourages athletes and coaches to take what they learn through FCA and share it with their teammates and the communities around them. This athlete to athlete approach allows student athletes to take on leadership roles and carry FCA’s mission beyond the meetings themselves. 

At Flagler, that can be seen through the community outreach, events that have grown around the organization, and shows how it is connected to the larger FCA community in St. Augustine. 

The Flagler College organization participates in events with FCA groups at local high schools, creating opportunities for student athletes from different schools and ages to connect and learn through their shared faith and love for sports. Local churches have also supported Flagler FCA by sponsoring meals for students, giving members another opportunity to gather and build relationships outside of their weekly meetings.

Ricci said Moore’s leadership in particular has made a lasting impact on both the lacrosse team and the FCA community.

“Griffin has had an incredible impact on FCA. He has been a great student leader and mentor to not only the lacrosse team but those who attend FCA,” Ricci said. “He always makes FCA a welcoming environment to those who have been coming for a while or just started.”

As Moore prepares to leave Flagler, he hopes his legacy reflects not just his accomplishments, but the way he lived out his faith.

“I want people to be able to look at me and see something different, like not doing everything that the world is doing,” Moore said.

With Moore’s college lacrosse career coming to an end, he knows the sport will eventually become a part of his past. But the identity he has found through his faith will remain with him long after he leaves the field.

“Lacrosse is going away, but my faith is something that’s never going away.”