More than 280 college athletes in town for Athletes in Action Ultimate Training Camp

BY KELLY LYELL • KellyLyell@coloradoan.com • June 1, 2010

Connecticut's Maya Moore, the two-time national player of the year in women's basketball, and more than 280 other top college athletes have been on CSU's campus last week and again this week working on a part of their game that they said often is overlooked.

They're taking part in two week-long Athletes in Action Ultimate Training Camps, learning how to incorporate a spiritual dimension into the sports they play.

"Me, personally, as an athlete, I always separated the godly aspect and the sport aspect," said Aaron Henry, a free safety on Wisconsin's football team. "I always kept the two separate, but when I came here to the camp, I found out you can intertwine the two. God has given you an ability, and you should worship him and you should praise him through your athletic ability."

Athletes in Action is a national Christian organization aimed at college and professional athletes with a mission statement that reads, "Building spiritual movements everywhere through the platform of sport so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus."

The camp has been held annually on the Colorado State University campus since 1981, said Jeff Prior, the AIA coordinator at CSU. The Christian organization, funded through private donations, rents dormitory and meeting rooms and athletic facilities and equipment from the school.

"This is the best thing we do in AIA in terms of changed lives," said Prior, who ran the camp for 18 years but is turning the reins over to Jon Detemer, an AIA coordinator at Arizona and this year's camp director.

More than 140 athletes from 50 or so colleges across the nation participated in last week's camp, and a similar group is on hand this week, along with 18 interns and 25 staff members. Both camps were full by March, Detemer said.

The athletes begin each day with a Bible lesson, then participate in various athletic competitions to learn to apply that lesson to their sport. Athletes meet in small-group settings in the evening, where they learn how to share their faith through the example they set.

To read more go to:  http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100601/SPORTS/6010330/More-than-280-college-athletes-in-town-for-Athletes-in-Action-Ultimate-Training-Camp

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