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Click Here to Read Part 1 of this series: Expressing Christian Values on the Field
For much of his life, Nick Mancini has had a passion for ice hockey – a passion that seemed like it would never be realized.
Unlike sports such as soccer and football, ice hockey requires equipment, padding, skates, and most importantly, time on the rink. For many people like Mancini, the opportunity to practice this dream is often hindered by issues of affordability and accessibility. At 19, after working countless hours at an Italian restaurant simply to save up for the chance to get practice on the ice, Mancini finally saw his dream realized. What Mancini did not realize though, was that the start of his hockey journey would also mark the start of an even more important journey – his journey towards finding God.
Although the idea of men and women of faith in sports is not a new one, the idea of that a passion for a sport could lead to a new passion towards faith is rather unique. So what was it about hockey, or even athletics in general that attracts individuals like Mancini to something far greater, such as faith?
It is the others that they interact with, including teammates, coaches, and other athletes. As Mancini can attest to, the uniqueness and closeness of athletic communities not only fosters athletic and academic growth, but also has the ability to foster newfound spirituality.
Athletic communities are unique in several ways. Even though athleticism often breeds a culture of supreme competition, it also brings together players all working to achieve the same goal. A araduate of TCNJ’s Class of 2013, and former forward for TCNJ’s varsity basketball squad, Dan Balevski understands this unique dynamic well.
“You are with these people [teammates] every day, and you just get to know them super well,” Balevski
said.
Balevski, already a Christian upon playing for the Lions, recalls how he wanted to utilize the unique relationships he formed with his teammates, to make an impact on the lives of those who he took the court with. For Balevski, this took the shape of taking part in a Bible study geared towards TCNJ’s athletic community.
“I became a member of an athletes Bible study,” said Balevski. “Then in my sophomore and junior year, I became a leader within the group.”
These Bible studies within the athletic community not only allows for players to grow in their faith with other like-minded athletes, but also helps them to stay focused and grounded in both their faith and their athletic sportsmanship.
“Athletic communities have their own culture, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in that,” Balevski said. “Pride is a huge thing, and drugs and drinking are prevalent, although not as much at TCNJ. It is really easy to get sucked into the athletic world. ‘Look how good I am, look how amazing.’ It is important to have a foundation with a Christian community, where they can keep you accountable.”
Although starting out as an outlet to share in their Christian beliefs, the athletic Bible studies that students like Balevski were a part of would soon transform into much more. After Balevski’s tenure on the TCNJ basketball team, a group known as Athletes InterVarsity, or AIV, formed within the TCNJ athletic community.
“I remember the mission was creating a missional community of athletes,” said Balevski. “The idea was that each team would have a Bible study, and each team would have a Christian leading the ‘huddle’, or study.”
The aim of AIV huddles was to not only strengthen athletes that were already Christians, but to utilize the comradery present within the TCNJ athletic world to share Christianity with others on the team.
“It would be hard to change the athletic community from the outside,” Balevski said. “But from the inside, we can spread the Gospel. Athletes can hear the Gospel. The idea of AIV was a movement to bring about change within the TCNJ athletic community.”
Chris Loesser is currently a staff worker for the non-profit ministry known as Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, which AIV is a branch of. A former club college soccer player, Loesser Graduated from TCNJ in 2007. Loesser returned as a staff worker for InterVaristy only a few years later. While serving as the staff worker for TCNJ’s InterVarsity chapter, more commonly known as New Jersey Christian Fellowship, Loesser also served within AIV, helping to lead and draw students in the “huddles”, and helping students explore the intersection of faith and sports.
“Athletes InterVarsity is movement of athletes and coaches here at TCNJ who explore the connection between faith and athletics,” Loesser said. “We believe that teams that connect in powerful and healthy ways off the field will be stronger teams on the field. We check out the life of Jesus, too. Knowing him personally and following Him transforms our lives and our teams.”
Since its foundation, AIV has given space to athletes from many different backgrounds – from those who are sure in their faith, to those still seeking theirs out – all within the context of the TCNJ athletic community. In the space of only a few years, AIV has had life-changing impacts on many of the students that take part and are eager to learn more.
Enter Mancini.
Before playing hockey at TCNJ, Mancini was not a Christian. Although growing up in a Christian setting, bad experiences of going to church in his youth led Mancini away.
“Christianity man – a lot of people don’t understand it,” said Mancini. “And I can say that with a lot of confidence because I was there too. I had experiences with the church when I was a kid. I went to like the stain-glass wooden pew kind of churches that were real boring, and I saw how legalistic it was, and I just couldn’t stand it. It just kind of drove me away.”
Although Mancini did not have a passion for God or faith in general, Mancini remained dedicated to his dream of playing hockey.
“Throughout the years, as I started to play, I started to get better, and all of these things really ended up leading me into faith,” Mancini said. “I was going to go to the University of Connecticut to study, and I was actually going to be playing for a junior hockey team there. After only a year of playing at that time, I was going to be playing junior hockey, which is like a prelude to college hockey.”
Things though quickly took a turn for the worse.
“I started playing in the winter of 2013, and the summer of 2014, is kind of when my life completely crumbled,” explained Mancini. “I got good enough to play on a junior team in that one year span. So I had to not go to UConn and not play junior hockey there because I couldn’t afford it.”
After his dream seemingly came crashing down, an encounter with a pastor sparked Mancini’s interest in the faith that he had rejected earlier in his life.
“And that summer is when I met a pastor,” recalled Manini. “His name was Michael DeFisher, and he showed me Ecclesiastes 3:1: ‘To everything there is a season, a time and purpose under heaven.’”
Although not yet a Christian, Mancini drew comfort from the verse in the midst of the disappointments he was facing, and the uncertainty that awaited him. What happened next, Mancini can only describe as being within God’s purpose.
“In a last ditch effort to keeping my dream alive, I applied to TCNJ to play club hockey and to do all of this, and to study here – Health and Exercise Science,” said Mancini. “The first day that I came to TCNJ for class, I went in to Packer, and standing in the lobby of Packer was Chris Loesser handing out flyers for Athletes InterVarsity. And he was like, ‘we are a group that studies the relationship between being an athlete and following God’, and I was like, ‘Boom, that’s awesome! That’s everything I ever wanted’.”
After his chance encounter with Loesser, Mancini soon found himself plugged in with AIV, as well as being mentored by Loesser.
After spending time during the semester with Loesser and AIV, Mancini found himself going to InterVarsity’s spring retreat known as Basilea. It was at this retreat that his life would be changed forever.
“I got to know Chris that semester,” said Mancini. “He became my mentor which he is to this day. And he got me a full scholarship to go to Basilea. Basilea is where I gave my life to Christ.”
In retrospect, Mancini now understands God’s purpose that the pastor had described to him that summer day.
“And so God kept me from something,” explained Mancini. “He kept me from UConn, he kept me from going to Connecticut, he preserved me, and he brought me here. He brought me to Basilea, and now I couldn’t be more in love with Christ.”
While Mancini was led to faith, his drive and determination for hockey has remained unhindered. Because AIV operates from inside the athletics community rather than from the outside, it is now Macnini’s turn to take over where Balevski and Loesser left off: not only being passionate for his sport, but also being passionate for God, and for the athletes around him.