It is with a bit of sadness that we announce that Gustavo Bentos will be stepping down as chaplain to the Charlotte Independence. The season, which has just concluded, saw a strong start to ministry, but was ultimately hampered by increased duties and responsibilities with Gustavo's church Northside Baptist and personal health issues this year that saw Gustavo have to go for surgery to remove a benign mass in his head. Gustavo has brought such a great dynamic to our chaplain team — in addition, to his experience as a professional player, Gustavo's energy and background and bilingual skills were a much needed part of our team. Gustavo now will be able to focus more on his recovery, duties at

It's my pleasure to introduce Rubèn Rodríguez as the latest member of Soccer Chaplains United. Ruben will serve as a chaplain serving on the team working with the Colorado Rapids with the specific aim of serving the athletes and families within the Rapids Development Academy. The DA for the Rapids has approximately 115 athletes and families represented for the 2018-2019 season. Rubèn came and assisted as a facilitator last year during one of the life skill sessions that Soccer Chaplains United chaplains and counselors helped facilitate for the DA. One of the first things that I noticed about Rubèn was his ability to grab and retain the young boys attention as we talked about some important character issues. This, coupled

Well, the boys in the Development Academy (DA) began training in early August and this weekend marks the start of their season which goes through the end of June 2019. For those unfamiliar with the DA, it is an initiative from US Soccer which aims to build elite soccer players by creating a professional environment amongst youth clubs. The DA began in 2007 and has a philosophy of increasing the amount of training, playing less games, but making those games more meaningful by utilizing international rules and standards. Last fall, the DA expanded to create an academy system on the girl's side of the game as well. You can learn more about the DA here. There is a fair amount

School is back in session! And in Colorado, this means that chaplaincy takes on a bit of a different vein through high school. For me, 2018 marks the sixth consecutive season of working with the Boys Soccer Program at Valor Christian High School. This year, again, I will serve as chaplain for the Varsity Boys Soccer Team. Valor is one of the top private schools in Colorado and perhaps the country with an emphasis on college-preparatory level work and excellence in all things from academics, arts, athletics, and more. Chaplaincy at Valor, though, is different from chaplaincy amongst professional soccer. Some of the unique aspects of working with the Valor community include, first, the Christian environment and values that Valor

More than a cliché, Soccer Chaplains United has a 2020 vision and it's big. Recently, I was preparing a grant request and as I was dialoguing with friend and fellow chaplain, Ben Dudley in Portland, he suggested the catchphrase could be more, especially with how we are poised to grow. Since changing our name last year, we have seen increased opportunities to explore the development of chaplaincy across all levels of the sport. Whether at the youth club level or all the way up to the professional leagues, our aim and vision is to grow chaplains to serve the thousands of soccer clubs and organizations. It's a huge vision. Maybe it's too big! So for this next year, as we