SCORE BASKETBALL
IMPACT 2011
Thank you for your prayers, your participation in trips, and your financial support throughout our first year of ministry. Your participation allowed us the opportunity to share the "word" of Christ and the "love" of Christ with people in the United States and overseas. It was truly a blessing to serve with the many different athletes, coaches, and parents that traveled with us, but the greatest blessing was to be able to serve with Becky (my wife), Faith Ann (my daughter), and Andrew( my son). I pray that you will enjoy the short video and take some delight in knowing that none of this would have been possible without you. We say "THANK YOU"!
SCORE Hosts Clinic in Antigua
SCORE International partnered with Mid Continent University to provide a basketball and soccer clinic in Antigua. The clinics were done in conjunction with the Antigua/Haiti World Cup Qualifier match. Over 600 athletes participated in the event which culminated with a city wide rally in the soccer stadium. Local club coaches as well as former World Cup coach Hannibal Najjar worked along side coaches from the U.S. to provide sport specific skill instruction. During the training sessions coaches took the opportunity to teach life skills learned through sport as well as sharing what having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ meant to them in their daily lives. Following the skill instruction the coaches joined the athletes in the stadium. Ron Bishop, the founder of SCORE International, shared his experiences as a athlete and a coach. He told the crowd of how difficult it is to make a team. The sacrifice, commitment, and self discipline required by an athlete in order to have a chance to be selected was great. Then once you make the team, how difficult it was to get into the game. He contrasted that with what it takes to make God's team. That making God's team was simple. It was a gift. All they had to do was accept the gift...... to accept Jesus Christ. God truly blessed the message as hundreds made decisions to join the "winning" team, God's team. We were able to encourage them to go and be an impact player in the game of life. Food and t-shirts were given to the athletes and coaches that participated and SCORE donated over 100 basketballs and soccer balls to the local teams.
SCORE International hosts Liga Teresa Duran
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| Teresa Duran and David Conrady after win at Bryan College |
"This is the first time SCORE has hosted a team in the United States. We are very excited to have played a part in bringing this exceptional team to our area and for them to have the opportunity to experience our culture first hand" said the founder of SCORE International Ron Bishop. "For over 27 years SCORE has taken teams overseas. One of the exciting things about this group is the fact that they have all played against our teams while we were down playing in their country. So they know who we are (SCORE International) and what we are about".
National Basketball Director David Conrady said the goal of this trip was twofold. "Obviously we wanted to give these ladies the chance to experience the game in our country as well as our culture, but our main purpose was to show them the Gospel "lived out". Through playing against our teams in the Dominican they have had the opportunity to "hear" the life changing message of Jesus Christ. We really wanted them to "see" what that looked like on a daily basis. One of my favorite quotes says to share the Gospel each day and when necessary use words. They have heard the "words" of Christ; we wanted to show the "love" of Christ".
The team played 6 games going 4-2 against Bryan College, Covenant College, Chattanooga State, Motlow State, Truet McConnell and Tennessee Temple. When not playing or practicing the ladies had the chance to experience some of the best Chattanooga has to offer. With Gene Fitzgerald as the trip leader, they visited the Tennessee Aquariums, the IMAX Theater and Rock City, they watched practice at UTC and Lee University, they took in the UTC vs. Furman football game, they watched the Lady Mocs and Mocs exhibition basketball games, they attended Chapel service at Chattanooga Christian School and Temple University, they visited New City Fellowship Church and White Oak Baptist on Sunday, and they shopped. On November 2, each team member was recognized by Hamilton County in a special ceremony during the County Commissioners meeting.
Each day we provided the team with a devotion speaker. Each speaker was able to speak Spanish. "It was important for us to get people in front of them who could communicate directly to them, without the use of an interpreter" explained Conrady. SCORE was able to provide each team member with their own copy of the New Testament in Spanish. Gene Fitzgerald commenting on the trip said “I don't see how it could have gone any better. God really did a work in the hearts of these exceptional ladies. When I gave them the New Testaments there wasn't a dry eye in the room".
This trip would not have been possible without the support of Tennessee Temple who provide rooms for the ladies, New City who provided the vans for transportation and White Oak Baptist who provided the use of their bus, the Coca-Cola bottling company for providing assistance with drinks and tickets to area attractions, several area restaurants who provided discounts to meals, and Gene Fitzgerald for his tireless work putting this trip together.
Dates Set for Super Sports Week
The dates for this summers Super Sports Weeks have been set. The trip to Costa Rica will be July 13-20. We will be taking individual athletes interested in playing basketball, soccer, or volleyball. The Dominican date is July 21-28. Individual athletes will be able to compete in basketball, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and wrestling. The Super Sports Weeks are designed to bring individual athletes from all over the country together to compete against top international competition and share the life changing message of Jesus Christ. The message is shared at their athletic events as well as the many different ministry opportunities provided by the "national" SCORE missionaries. It also provides the opportunity for the athletes of the different sports to grow together spiritually during the evening worship sessions. Click on the SuperSportWeek tab to download our registration form.
Lipscomb University Men's Basketball Dominican Republic Trip 2011
The men's basketball team from Lipscomb University traveled to the Dominican with SCORE for their foreign tour August 10-16. The trip gave the young team from Nashville, TN the opportunity to get valuable game action, the chance to bond through an amazing common experience, and to share the love of Christ with a people that are in desperate need of the"hope" that is found in Christ. The Bison also had the opportunity to experience the unique Dominican culture. It was truly amazing to watch the team grow right before our eyes. On the court, they battled through the physical play, differences in officiating, excellent competition, and on a few occasions even the elements. During each game the team showed significant improvement. Off the court, they showed a tremendous servants heart during the many different ministry opportunities SCORE provided. The team supplied food, health kits, coloring books, t-shirts, and several much needed items to a village in San Pedro and the orphanage in La Romana. The players did an incredible job of sharing personal testimonies of their struggles with being a college student athlete and the difference Christ makes in their lives. Coach Sanderson did a great job of balancing the desire to get the most out of his team and a passion for winning with the goal of sharing the life changing message of Jesus at half time of each game. It is my prayer that the trip will leave a lasting spiritual impression on the lives of the coaches, players, and support staff members just as they left a spiritual impression on the lives they touched of the Dominican people.
Costa Rica 2011 Super Sports Week
We had 3 teams with players from 8 states travel with us July 25-29 to Costa Rica. We all stayed in the Score Villa just outside San Jose. We played games in Naranjo, Los Guido, and San Ramon. We played all of our games at local schools. This gave us the opportunity to walk around on each schools campus and interact with all the students prior to playing our games. The girls team had the chance to play against some of the players from the University of Costa Rica. Another great thing about playing at the schools was the fact we were able to eat meals in their cafeteria. The players got a real taste of Costa Rican food. One of the neat "God" moments happened at the market. We took up a collection of money from the players so that we could go to the market and buy food for a church and a single mothers ministry. We were able to collect 410.00 dollars. The next morning we took the team to the market to purchase the food. We gave some instructions on what we needed and the quantity we would need. Upon checking out, the total for all our food came to 410.19! How cool is that. The players did a great job sharing the gospel at all of various ministry opportunities. We were able to do 3 basketball clinics as well as visiting the orphanage, the church day care, and the single mothers ministry workshop. God did some amazing things in and through this diverse group of players.
Dominican 2011 Super Sports Week
We had over 35 basketball players and coaches involved in our Super Sports Week in the Dominican Republic July 18-22. They partnered with other athletes in baseball, softball, wrestling, and tennis to share the life changing message of Jesus Christ and share the love of Christ through serving the people of the DR. The teams had much success on the court as they played teams from Santo Domingo and the surrounding areas. The highlight of the games may have been getting the chance to play the U16 National Team. But, the greatest impact was made following the games. Our players had the opportunity to share brief testimonies with the players and fans about the difference Jesus makes in their lives. We were then able to offer an invitation to join God's "Team". Our most memorable moments came during our ministry opportunities. We were able to play with the kids and the players provided toothbrushes, soap, and other essential items as well as some shirts, bags, and hats. We also gave out a lot of candy!. But most of all the players gave of themselves.
As the bus would pull up to the places we were visiting the kids would flock to the it just waiting for the guys to get off. As the kids waited they would say "Es Mio" meaning this one is mine. It made me glad to know that as Christians we have someone waiting for us saying"this one is mine". His name is Jesus.
As the bus would pull up to the places we were visiting the kids would flock to the it just waiting for the guys to get off. As the kids waited they would say "Es Mio" meaning this one is mine. It made me glad to know that as Christians we have someone waiting for us saying"this one is mine". His name is Jesus.
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