PCA softball team uplifts opponents with hand-written greeting cards

The Plymouth Christian Academy varsity softball team is taking the phrase “respect your opponent” one step further.

The Eagles are honoring and encouraging their opponents by sending individual greeting cards that contain notes of appreciation, words of kindness as well as Bible verses.

This outreach was truly a team effort, said Head Coach Jori Groen.

“Last year in the off-season I began to meet regularly with the captains (Soleil Weaver, Kallie Brodhagen, and Clara Groen),” Groen explained. “We would brainstorm ideas for various ways to impact the community. We knew we had a solid team, and we wanted to use that for Christ.

“Our mindset on our team is to be the best possible softball team we can be. We work hard, we stay focused, and we practice hard. We do this so that schools will respect us and then we can use that as an opportunity to tell them why we do what we do. Our mindset to be the best isn’t so that we can get the glory, but so that we can give the glory to Christ and point others to Him.”

100% approval from administrators

Writing cards and notes to the opposing team’s is a tremendous undertaking and before they moved forward, they needed approval and acceptance from the school and the athletic department.

“(PCA) was so supportive — from the athletic department to the administrative staff,” she emphasized.

With the school and athletic department on board, the next step was discussing the ministry opportunity with the entire team. On a spring break trip, the team used the time in Florida to discuss and write their first cards.

“They were excited,” said Groen. “We actually wrote our first cards together on that trip. Most of our team heads down to Florida together right at the beginning of the season. We use this trip as a time to get practice every day, but it is also a highly effective team bonding time.

“We play a lot of games together and in the evenings, we do a Bible study every night. We all spent time then writing our first cards together.”

The players love it

Senior Sophia Paryaski loves this ministry and writing the notes of support.

“It feels amazing knowing that we are using our God-given gifts and abilities to further His kingdom and spread His word,” Paryaski said. “It gives us all a greater purpose to work for and lessens the stress of the game at times when we know we are working for something bigger than ourselves.”

Accessing the roster to get opposing players’ names has become easier through current technology — and has made the project easier.

“We are able to access our opponents through the Game Changer app,” revealed Groen. “So, we always have a roster at hand for our opponents. Each girl on our team writes a note to a girl from the other team. She introduces herself, shares what position she plays and then shares thoughtful messages and encouraging words with them.

“I have encouraged the girls to give that player a way to reach them. They either give out their cell phone numbers or access to their social media. We want the girl to be able to reach out if they have any questions or want more information about the Lord. Many of our girls heard from the other players.”

Notes vary depending on opponents

“When we are playing against a Christian school, they gear their notes differently. Rather than sharing the Gospel, they encourage the other player with a favorite verse or give them some type of challenge from something they have been learning in their walk with the Lord. It is more of a sister-to-sister conversation.”

Paryaski enjoys the uplifting project.

“We really enjoy writing these cards,” she said. “It is one of the most fulfilling things to do — pouring into others and going out of your way to encourage them.”

“It was a lot of work all season … especially the weeks where we played four games during the week with tournaments on both ends of that week,” added Groen. “That’s a lot of cards! I never once heard a girl complain about that ‘job.’ They knew the value in it, and at least I think found joy in it.”

Senior Captain Kallie Brodhagen agreed.

“It has never felt like work,” Brodhagen confirmed. “Taking a few extra minutes to find new verses and ones that fit the card is definitely worth taking a couple more minutes and doing some research.”

Opponents’ reactions often priceless

Once the “work” was finished — writing and addressing the cards and including photos the next step was sending them and waiting for the games — and the reactions from the opponents.

“We’ve seen lots of reactions,” Groen said. “They usually thank us. At first, they seem confused but then see their name on a card and it’s kind of exciting.”

Being a private Christian school that has a number of public schools on their schedule did not deter the team from sharing the Gospel.

Some teams and players were encouraged, and some were not.

“There were so many times that our girls would get a message from a girl (from a public school),” Groen shared. “The player would share prayer requests or share that they too were a believer and that they were so encouraged by the witness of our team. There was one girl who shared with my player that they were trying to have a relationship with God, but they kept falling away.

“There was a lot of back-and-forth dialogue with that girl and my player, which was encouraging.”

Positive feedback reassuring for Eagles

The players are thrilled when they receive positive feedback.

“I have received multiple text messages from girls ranging from thanks and appreciation to even some sharing their own faith journeys with me,” Paryaski  said. “I know many of the other girls have received similar messages.”

When the team and coaching staff hear specific encouraging stories from opponents, it can be reassuring and uplifting, Groen said.

“The most encouraging response that I received as a coach came from a public-school assistant coach at their tournament up north,” she said. “We played their team in our first game and the girls gave them their cards after the game.

“Before our next game, our girls were warming up and this coach from that first game came up to me and introduced himself. He said he was there when the girls on their team were reading their cards from us.

“One of the girls read her card aloud so he was able to hear what our player shared. He shared with me with tears in his eyes that he is confident that that was the first time some of those girls heard the Gospel. He thanked me and said that we did in one game what he has been working on doing for 30 years working in the public schools.

“So encouraging! It was a reminder that we have such an opportunity, and we do not want to waste it.”

Thank you to Michael Costello, the author, for sharing this article with SocialHouseNews.com.