I was recently walking through my favorite sporting goods store when I saw a huge Adidas banner that said, “Impossible is Nothing.” I actually had to reread it to let its simple message sink in.

This statement really refers to a mindset. It is a way of thinking. It is an approach to training, competition and life that requires a different way of looking at the challenges we will face: the unbeatable opponents, the unreachable heights, the unattainable records.
 
 

I believe that the single biggest obstacle we must overcome in life is a lack of belief.

In 2005 Francie Ekwerekwu was a three-sport star at Arlington High School in Texas. She was a homegrown talent with a passion for track and some All-District hardware that displayed her volleyball and basketball skills as well. It took much prayerful consideration, but the 5'11" honor student decided to accept a volleyball scholarship to the University of Oklahoma—the equivalent of a Montague turning Capulet.

Why? According to Ekwerekwu, the reason was simple.

Like many young kids, I had dreams of playing professional baseball. As I grew up, I began to realize that wasn’t going to happen overnight and that I’d have to work hard to get there.

What started as a lump in my throat eventually worked its way down into my stomach as I read the ESPN.com headline. Something to the effect of, “Wainwright injures pitching elbow.”

“This can’t be good,” I thought.

Just a few weeks earlier, I had interviewed the Cardinals ace for our April cover story, and, as soon as I read the news, I knew we were going to have to make some adjustments to the magazine, which was already mid-production. But that internal knot wasn’t just the result of professional nerves; it was also the product of personal compassion.

The faint of heart need not apply.

It takes grit to play at Rice University’s Reckling Park on game day in front of 3,000 fans. It takes nerve to battle under the shadow of a preseason No. 1 ranking. Expectations overwhelm, and stomach knots tangle themselves inside even the most tested of athletes. Why? Because players know that a single performance can make or break an entire season.

But really, that’s all hogwash ... and Rice juniors Bobby Bramhall, Joe Savery and Brian Friday know it.

On paper, 15 pounds is just about all that separates John Smoltz, Mike Sweeney and Tim Salmon. All are accomplished, 6-foot-3 major league veterans who have spent their entire careers (all dating back to the mid-90’s) with one club. And if you really want to stretch out the comparison — as any true baseball follower would do — you could add to it the fact that all are right-handed men whose last names start with the letter “S.” Still, to find three men so alike is to contradict the rarity that they are in the league as Christian men serving in spiritual leadership roles in their respective clubhouses.

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“The difference between champions and near champions is the ability to play for something outside of self.” – Lou Holtz, Hall of Fame football coach

What comes first, success or confidence? For most of us, we are confident when we are successful, but how do we get that initial confidence? Can we be confident without the evidence of success? It’s like the old question: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” We want to believe we can succeed, but we need proof. We think we have to actually see David defeat Goliath before we believe it’s possible.

Sheltered from the stark contrast separating the world’s “haves” and “have-nots,” FCA Colombia Director James Oilar was living the good life as a sports club manager in Chicago.

But when a friend asked Oilar a simple question, it took him on a journey that eventually landed him in Bogotá, Colombia, to help lead FCA’s first international Huddle.

The question? “James, what has to happen in your life so you don’t consider it a failure?”

He’s the man who replaced the man. And that’s really all most people know about him. It’s an old axiom in coaching that you should never replace a popular coach because it will be difficult if not impossible to live up to their standard. Indianapolis Colts’ Head Coach Jim Caldwell stepped directly into that situation when his predecessor, Tony Dungy—possibly the most recognizable Christian coach of this era—removed his headset for the final time after the 2008 season.

Last year, as a freshman on the University of Tennessee soccer team, Ali Hall accepted an invitation to an FCA Huddle meeting for reasons that had little to do with spiritual desire (a.k.a. free food). She had no idea how that decision would change her life. Mere months later, she fully surrendered her life to Christ and began living and playing for Him. This season, the sophomore defender is focusing on using her athletic gifts to bring glory to the Lord as she and the Lady Vols take on the SEC.

Carey Casey wants to start a revolution. He travels around the country, rallying and recruiting men to join him and asking them to enlist for the cause. His goal: an army of 6.5 million.

Not to be confused with any militant operation, Casey's is more of an intimate and personal quest: changing the world one championship father at a time.