Rod Underwood is the head coach of Chattanooga FC which plays in the NISA (National Independent Soccer Association) - part of the third tier of professional soccer in the United States. Rod also serves on Soccer Chaplains United's Board of Directors. A few weeks ago, as part of one of our board meetings, Rod shared with the board his personal life mission statement and I was encouraged to try and get Rod onto the podcast to share more. Today, on the Soccer Chaplains United podcast, From the Touchline, in part one, Rod joins me to talk about his origins of learning to play soccer — beginning with mom helping to coach all the way to his days as a professional

Greg Navitsky, chaplain for the past few years to Valor Christian High School Boy Soccer, has announced that he is stepping back from the chaplaincy role which he has held since 2020. Despite Greg stepping back from the chaplaincy, he has expressed his desire to stay on with Soccer Chaplains United in a consultancy and writing role for the time being. During the last two years of soccer chaplaincy, it has been an immense and precious gift to hold space for students, coaches, and parents. If the last two years has taught us anything, it’s that being an incarnational presence in others lives is what our souls ache for. I believe the work we do is crucial and having Kingdom

It's not often that I preach a Sunday morning message at church — it actually never has been. As a hospice chaplain for some four years, and a pastoral care pastor for six my main moments of speaking or preaching have tended to revolve around a funeral or memorial service. Well, hopefully, next Sunday morning's opportunity to preach at partner church Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (located in Denver, Colorado) won't feel like a funeral or memorial service! A week ago, one of my daughters asked me how work was going. "Well, there's this sermon that I am trying to study and write and prepare for..." They could tell that it was weighing on me. I tried to explain that while it

Erick Jiménez, who served as chaplain for El Paso Locomotive FC, for the past couple of years has moved on from the chaplaincy to the team. Erick, a native of El Paso, Texas most recently served as Minister of Discipleship at First Baptist Church of El Paso but his move to a different church in Richland Hills, Texas has meant the end of his time as chaplain. Erick began serving as chaplain during 2020 and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. His ministry included meeting with athletes via zoom and encouraging them through an extremely difficult period of time. Erick shared with me some of his thoughts on his time serving as El Paso's chaplain: Getting to know you

We reach the end of episode five and lesson number 40 in our Lessons from Lasso series. Coach Lasso is saying "goodbye" to Michelle, his wife, while the two are standing out in the rain. It's a tearful moment, because Lasso is also saying goodbye in another sense — relationally and maritally. It's at this point that Lasso is mad at himself — he once promised himself he would never quit anything in life. What do we do with the vows, the oaths that we make in life? Usually the result of some painful or hurtful moment — we swear that we won't do that again. We won't make that same mistake that our parents made. We won't let anyone hurt