Blog
The Power of the Beautiful Game

The fall soccer season has been a bit unusual. Unusually good. We’ve won plenty more games than others expected and our level and style of play has impressed those who watch. It has been filled with highlight moments on the field and lots of post-match expressions from happy players.

In particular, my guys love one specific thing on our schedule: a now annual weekend trip and tournament in Chicago.

It’s filled with playing games in vans on the drive over, plenty of Chicago style pizza, hotel pools and hot tubs, and 2 competitive matches on perfect grass fields against some of Chicagoland’s best teams. We even hit up Portillo’s for chocolate cake shakes on the way home to Grand Rapids.

This tournament also has a different focus that connects with our program and the faith that drives our athletic activities at NorthPointe Christian. We resonate deeply with its goals to serve and meet the needs of others in our communities while also getting a chance to engage and connect with soccer programs that might be different from our own.  This year we had a chance to play against CHICAGO SULLIVAN in our second match and our time together on and off the field quickly became my highlight for this year’s adventure in Chicago.

Many of the players on Sullivan are refugees and have remarkable stories of how they ended up playing soccer at a high school in the Windy City. They have an obvious love for the beautiful game that is apparent for all who watch them play. Our team loved the chance to be together on the field playing the game that connects us and helps to build new relationships. Our team’s deep involvement in responding to the issue of malaria in Africa only served to open our hearts more to the real life challenges of our opponents.

We ended up taking pictures together before and after the game. We even prayed for one another after the match despite the differences in our public and private school settings. And we experienced more than just another victory for our team record that day…we were filled with joy that God had brought us together from across Lake Michigan and across the world to play the game we love and to share that joy with new friends on a brilliant September afternoon.

I walked off the field that day with a full heart and a joyful spirit. To use the gifts God has blessed us with as an act of worship and friendship is truly a remarkable privilege.

And the looks on all of our faces say it all: Soccer is more than just a game…it’s a life connector and a vehicle for love and care and blessing…and we can’t wait to come back to sweet home CHICAGO already next year…