Last month was Pastor/Chaplain Appreciation Month and we took time to feature some of our new chaplains with Soccer Chaplains United this year. Well, we’ve added so many new people that we thought we’d carry on that we couldn’t contain into just one month and we love our volunteer chaplains because they serve so willingly and so well without renumeration or much glory.
Today, on the podcast, it’s part two of my interview with Jason Rollins. Jason is volunteer chaplain to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC since February of this year. He’s replaced long-time chaplain Kurt Trempert who had to resign last year to take a new church leadership role. In part two, Jason and I discuss more of his work in following on from friend Kurt and we also get into some girl-dad talk and play a game of Crosses with Rev. It’s a fun bit for the next 30 minutes that we hope you’ll enjoy.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-11-06 00:00:002024-10-22 12:44:04Chaplain Appreciation: Meet Chaplain Jason Rollins – Part 2
October is Pastor/Chaplain Appreciation Month. All month long we’re featuring some of our new chaplains on the podcast because we really appreciate our volunteer people who serve without renumeration or much glory.
Today, on the podcast, it’s part one of my interview with Jason Rollins. Jason has been serving as volunteer chaplain to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC since February. And here, in part one, Jason shares a bit about growing up in Quito, Ecuador and how he got connected into doing the work with the Switchbacks. If you’ve got 30 minutes you’ll enjoy hearing the beginning of Jason’s story.
From the Touchline is a short-feature (10-15 min) podcast with Rev Brad Kenney, Founder and Executive Director of Soccer Chaplains United and Volunteer Chaplain to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. Rev Brad and occasional guests touch on various issues around the topics of faith, family, and football (soccer).
Also, don’t forget that you can listen in our app, SoccrChapUtd,in the Apple and Google store.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/From-the-Touchline-Cover-Art.jpg15001500Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-10-30 00:00:002024-10-22 12:36:30Chaplain Appreciation: Meet Chaplain Jason Rollins – Part 1
When Jason Rollins heard that Kurt Trempert was stepping down from serving as the volunteer chaplain to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, he politely asked, “Who is filling your spot?” But, to be honest, he didn’t give it much more thought — he wasn’t ordained, isn’t a pastor, and has never been a “chaplain” before.
But as the search continued for a volunteer chaplain to serve the team, there were a number of barriers present for several of the other candidates, namely the issue of being able to commit to the time involved in serving as a team chaplain. As several candidates dropped off due to busyness, we re-opened the search and after consulting former chaplain, Kurt Trempert, Jason is one of the people that we encouraged to consider applying.
I love working with athletes and building relationships through the vehicle of sports. The position of chaplain for Switchbacks FC began to grow on me because of the combination of soccer and that opportunity for building relationships…
Jason, on his growing interest in the role of chaplain
Despite Jason not having served as a chaplain before, his work and service for some 20 years in education and his current role as Athletic Director for Colorado Springs Christian Schools came across to the interview team as a tremendous preparation point for serving as volunteer chaplain. In addition, Jason’s willingness to pursue a licensing and commission pathway with the Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) and potential explore an institutional chaplaincy training program helped open the door of possibility for serving in this capacity.
Jason was also previously known to myself (Brad) and others at Soccer Chaplains United as he has led several mission teams to Quito, Ecuador. Born and raised in Quito with missionary parents, Jason has returned several times ,taking soccer gear through our Community Project programs in 2017, 2019, and 2022. Jason also has participated in the Soccer Chaplains United 2021 MLS Cup Watch Party and is a good friend of former chaplain Kurt Trempert.
Jason recently completed a Mental Performance Mastery Coach Certification. It’s part of his passion and gifting to help individuals in sport to achieve the best out of themselves. This, in addition, to several coaching certificates in soccer and certification as an Athletic Director, have positioned him to serve young people in sport for a long time.
My wife knows I love working with athletes, while mental performance coaching is different from chaplaincy, I imagine there is some overlap with helping athletes find and discover resources from within themselves, their faith history and backgrounds (if they have one), and from family and community to help them play, perform, and be well-rounded people.
Jason, on possible applications and translations of his mental performance coaching into chaplaincy
Jason has a professional proficiency in speaking Spanish that will help to serve his time with the athletes. In addition, as Jason serves as a volunteer chaplain there remains more opportunity to build the chaplain team serving the Switchbacks organization for the future.
We are excited to see the chaplaincy transition to Jason prior to the season start. We want to ask our supporters to pray for his work with the Switchbacks organization.
Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of our partners to carry out our work of developing chaplaincy across all levels of soccer. Please consider making a contribution today to help us continue growing our chaplains and our work. Click the link below to make a gift or check out our Donate page for different giving options.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/rollins-head-shot--e1707782624553.jpeg537862Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2024-02-19 00:00:002024-07-08 23:45:19Rollins Getting Rolling, Set to Serve Switchbacks FC As Chaplain
It’s always great to get updates from the different trips and teams that Soccer Chaplains United has helped equip. I wanted to share an email update that came to me and Cory Jones comes from Nate Taube, along with a few photos.
Cumbre Alta team members pose
Good morning Brad and Cory, I just wanted to personally thank you for all the gear you sent down with Jason Rollins. Your generosity with Casa Deportiva Cumbre Alta is fantastic. As I’m sure Jason has told you, we are a small soccer club here in Quito. Our goal is to share Christ as we reach the highest levels of Ecuadorian soccer. We are able to do so because of people like you who continue to partner with us to provide a great experience for our players.
Our players come from diverse backgrounds, but the majority come from low resourced homes. Whenever we are able to hand them a pair of cleats, a warm up top, shorts, whatever, their faces light up. We are able to tell them that we only do this to show Christ’s love. It just opens doors for us to continue to pour into them. And you guys are a part of that. So thank you. Thank you for your generosity.
Although not identified, we assume that Michael is here in the middle, wearing brand new compression shorts that were part of Soccer Chaplains United’s Community Project for Ecuador earlier this year.
I’m attaching a couple of pictures of the night after we had given away a bunch of the compression shorts you guys sent down. They guys LOVED them. The next day they all came to practice wearing all their new gear. Thrilled. We have a tall skinny player, Michael, whos legs really didn’t fit into the compression shorts, but he wore them with pride anyway. They wanted to get their picture taken showing up their new shorts and their (for some) non existent leg muscles! We had a blast.
Thank you for partnering with us. Thank you for caring about Cumbre Alta and the work we are doing here. Thank you. Nate Taube
It is always wonderful to hear these stories and see the gear and equipment that we send to the far reaches, be used to point people to Jesus Christ.
I want to encourage you to consider making a gift — for children like Michael and for leaders like Nate. When Soccer Chaplains United is able to send gear with short-term mission teams, it makes a huge difference! We do send used gear, but we also use a portion of every dollar to buy new soccer equipment — things like soccer balls, whistles, and certain youth sizes that we don’t normally receive. We also occasionally will help to pay shipping costs to get gear to teams and organizations.
You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community from the selectable funds.
Thanks for helping make a difference along with Soccer Chaplains United and these churches, schools, and short-term teams.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/compression-shorts-2.jpeg9601280Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2019-07-05 13:11:462019-07-05 13:11:49Cumbre Alta Compression
Two years ago, a group of students, parents, and sponsors from Colorado Springs Christian Schools (CSCS) headed to Quito, Ecuador. Their mission trip team partnered with Inca Link Ecuador and their soccer ministry, Cumbre Alta. Inca Link has a massive vision — they desire to reach the 300+ million youth in Latin America with Christ’s irresistible love. The national Inca Link organizations do this through evangelism and discipleship, training leaders, connecting people, and compassion ministries. They are devoted to helping the least of these in Latin America.
This year, a group of students who attend CSCS will again be looking to come alongside and serve the needs Inca Link has in their ministries, specifically in Ecuador. Jason Rollins, CSCS Athletic Director and coach of both the girls and boys soccer teams will again lead the team in Ecuador.
Part of the trip will include the CSCS students working with Casa Deportiva Cumbre Alta. CDCA is dedicated to reaching the highest level of Ecuadorian sports as the teams look to share Christ with those in their sphere of influence. They look to grow their soccer academies to be attractive to others in Ecuador and share about Jesus. Much of this is done through the success of the CDCA First Team. In their debut season last year, the First Team finished third, one spot away from being promoted to the next tier of Ecuadorian soccer. This year they hope to push into the top two and win promotion to the fourth tier.
Our First Team is our best team, regardless of age, which will be trying to reach the highest levels of Ecuadorian soccer. The more athletic success our First Team has, the more the public will recognize Cumbre Alta and want to send their children to play in our Academy and club teams. As we reach the highest levels of Ecuadorian soccer, our goal is to help our players, and those who are in the clubs sphere of influence, take their next step with God, whatever that might be. We do this through team devotions and prayer, and through one-on-one time with our players.
When you support Soccer Chaplains United a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals or organizations, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
A CSCS student from 2017 talks with several Ecuadorian boys.
https://soccerchaplainsunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ecuador-flag-922x614.jpg614922Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2019-05-15 08:49:592019-05-15 08:50:02Ecuador on the Horizon
Timothy Project: Year To Date Project Award Recipients Summary In Pictures.
This summation in photographs are of the project award recipients and the gear they were able to take with them. In these photographs you’ll see a few of those to whom the gear was donated, you’ll see some pictures of the gospel going forth, you’ll see the gift of playing a sport that has no language barrier so both the gringo and the native play together and you’ll see bridges being built.
Thus far in 2017 CrossTraining’s Timothy Project has partnered with seven different teams who have crossed outside of USA and into countries all over the world. These teams consist of teenagers, coaches, some curious sojourners, some seasoned travelers and some novice. Some are athletes who love the sport and some not so much. But all of them have gratefully taken the gear donated by the Rapids organization and lovingly and carefully redistributed it to those who will probably never get to see a Rapids game played.
This is a series of photographs showing soccer gear donations, locations, and organizations but the stories behind all of it are why the Timothy Project continues. There is a greater purpose of just moving donations from storage boxes to the world, out of America and into the world and that is why the Timothy Project exists. Join us, will you?
To support future Timothy Project ventures, please use the Donate button to make a secure PayPal donation. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and to cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
#TPT
Save
Save
Save
00Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2017-08-17 06:00:382018-01-30 11:05:15Timothy Project: Year To Date Project Award Recipients In Pictures
Timothy Project: Year To Date Project Award Recipients Summary 2017 – an editorial.
I joined the CrossTraining team February 1 with little knowledge of the professional soccer industry. While soccer filled large amounts of my weekly schedule, it was barely a hint at the caliber of Major League Soccer. My soccer experiences included sitting in comfy folding chairs on the sidelines while visiting with other soccer moms, growing relationships and evaluating how our sons were progressing through the season.
I had gleaned insights and perspectives from Chaplain Brad Kenney over time as he shared about CrossTraining, the Rapids and his passion for chaplaincy. Those gleanings did not leave me star struck with famous players or a Rapids super-fan but instead moved my heart toward the undercurrents of CrossTraining’s purpose. I was enthralled with the mission of CrossTraining. My teen years provided large amounts of exposure and involvement with professional athletes through my father’s business. But the angles are different, then it was business, financial; here it is empathy, support, love. Both focused on the individual player but for different purposes.
I was asked to join as the Timothy Project Coordinator. The Timothy Project is the piece of CrossTraining that takes the ‘stuff’ of the MLS and spreads it throughout the world as gifts of blessings. Since February I have had the joy of watching immense amounts of soccer gear move from CrossTraining headquarters to far corners of our world.
Thus far in 2017 CrossTraining’s Timothy Project has partnered with seven different teams who have crossed outside of USA and into countries all over the world. These teams consist of teenagers, coaches, some curious sojourners, some seasoned travelers and some novice. Some are athletes who love the sport and some not so much. But all of them have gratefully taken the gear donated by the Rapids organization and lovingly and carefully redistributed it to those who will probably never get to see a Rapids game played.
This is a summation of the project award recipients and the gear they were able to take with them.
Valor Christian High School – 27 team members – Costa Rica. Donated gear included soccer balls, cleats, jerseys, training shorts, socks.
Liberian Institute for Empowerment – Thomas Fahn, missionary to rural Liberia. Donated gear: 20 size 4 balls, 30 size 5 balls, 100 cones, 62 pairs of cleats, 30 pairs of trainers, 10 inserts, 10 sliders, goal keeper set, 10 jersey/short sets for a complete team.
Valor Christian High School – Nairobi & Kitale, Kenya. Donated gear: 2 One World Balls, 4 soccer balls, 40 jerseys.
Mountain Springs Church & Beyond Survival – Swaziland. Donated gear: 4 soccer balls, 1 One World ball, 34 jerseys, 18 cleats, dozens of socks, two sets of goal keeper gloves, dozens of shorts.
Los Burritos – Nuevo Tantoan, Mexico. Donated gear: 30 jerseys, 6 soccer balls.
This is a list of soccer gear, locations, and organizations but the stories behind all of it are why the Timothy Project continues. There is a greater purpose of just moving donations from storage boxes to the world, out of America and into the world and that is why the Timothy Project exists. Join us, will you?
To support future Timothy Project ventures, please use the Donate button to make a secure PayPal donation. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and to cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
#TPT
Save
Save
00Brad Kenney/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SCU_Seal_Logo-300x300.pngBrad Kenney2017-08-10 06:00:292018-01-30 11:05:35Timothy Project: Year To Date Project Award Recipients 2017 – an editorial
Timothy Project: CSCS Ecuador 2017 is pleased to report the Colorado Spring Christian School (CSCS) Ecuador mission team returned home filled with great stories and memories to share.
Jason Rollins, CSCS’s Athletic Director and soccer coach, wrote to CrossTraining sharing few of the experiences the team had.
“Our time was fantastic and the whole team had a great trip!
We had the opportunity to pass out the pull overs to each of the players on the Cumbre Alta team. Numerous players on the team struggle to even get to practices and games because they cannot afford the 25 cent bus ride, so the pull overs were a very special gift for them. In fact, 3 days after we passed out the pull overs we were driving around town and saw one of the players walking along the street with his pull over on…so they were definitely a hit!
The girls Cumbre Alta team chose to pass them out to the girls as a reward/prize. They’ve struggled with consistency with attendance so they used the pull overs as an incentive…and with the girls team it was also a special thing to pass out.
We gave some of the soccer balls to a French after school program in a very poor community and also gave a couple soccer balls to some kids we connected with on a dirt field close to where we stayed. These kids were in heaven!
I gave the dvd’s with testimonies to the coaches so they could hand them out at appropriate times.
Thank you again for your donations. It was a blessing for us to be able to give them away!”
If you would like to make a contribution to future projects like these please note Timothy Project in your donation. Please use the Donate button to make a secure, online donation either using PayPal or a credit card. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and to cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
CrossTraining, through the Timothy Project, was able to provide:
30 soccer balls
a ball bag
approx. 80 jersey/half-zip pullovers
cones
water bottles and carriers
80 The Prize DVDs
Rev Brad Kenney, CrossTraining Executive Director shared about some of the exciting ways that God had pulled some of the items for the project together,
It was interesting because Coach [Jason] Rollins had requested water bottles and carriers and we don’t normally get those types of things. We weren’t sure that we would have enough funds to purchase those along with the soccer balls. But the week after we started praying about this project, the Colorado Rapids athletic trainer took me to a room in the stadium and said, ‘Can you do anything with these?’ The room was half full with coolers and water bottles from the past season that were just sitting there. It is a great reminder of how good God is and how in His kingdom — He lets nothing go to waste.
Rev Kenney and Colorado Springs Switchbacks Chaplain, Kurt Trempert, were both on hand to deliver the Timothy Project items and to pray over the team and gear. Trempert, who grew up in Quito and coaches the girls soccer team at CSCS prayed in English and Spanish for the team. He shared,
You all know that Ecuador is very close to my heart and I am excited that you get to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people there.
Please keep the team in your prayers as they travel and minister and serve.
If you would like to make a contribution to future projects like these please note Timothy Project in your donation. Please use the Donate button to make a secure, online donation either using PayPal or a credit card. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and to cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
Timothy Project: CSCS Ecuador 2017 will feature a soccer team from Colorado Springs Christian Schools (CSCS) headed to Quito, Ecuador mid-June. The team will partner with Inca Link and their soccer ministry, Cumbre Alta. Soccer players and their parents who attend CSCS will be working to serve the needs Inca Link has in their ministries. One of those groups is the semi-professional team Cumbre Alta. It is a team driven to compete at the highest level while focusing on ministry and discipleship.
Jason Rollins, CSCS Athletic Director and coach of both the girls and boys soccer teams, expounded on Cumbre Alta and its objectives within the Quito communities,
Jason Rollins, CSCS Athletic Director, soccer coach
The soccer players also work with youth to connect with them through different programs, church outreaches and youth soccer teams. The goal of Cumbre Alta and Inca Link is to develop talent within youth soccer players while building relationships. The ultimate goal is to disciple and nurture a stronger relationship with Jesus.
In addition to supporting the team, CSCS players will have the opportunity to train along side Cumbre Alta. They will also interact with the youth soccer programs Cumbre Alta and Inca Link have established.
Cumbre Alta team logo
The final group we will serve will be the local orphanage with which Inca Link has partnered. We will do different projects at the orphanage and interact with the kids who live there and have very little. The students of CSCS will have the chance to pour into the lives of dozens of children in Quito who live in poverty, are orphaned and are high risk.
If you would like to make an additional contribution to this project please note Timothy Project in your donation or if you would like to support future Timothy Project ventures, such as this one, please use the Donate Now link to make a secure PayPal donation. Your financial gift helps to secure additional equipment, sponsor a missionary or organization in an outreach effort, and to cover associated costs of providing bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
Essential Website Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
Other external services
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
Privacy Policy
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
