Preparing for the future
For players, the words “Bethel football” mean far more than wins, records, and success.
By Annika Carr, reporter
A good football team isn’t the end goal, good men are. Good sons, brothers, friends, husbands, and fathers. A community of Christian brothers being raised up for what comes after college.
Football doesn’t last forever, but the lessons being taught will.
“We’re training for something more,” Jordan Diaz, senior defensive back said. “It’s more than your football career and school, it’s more about everything after that, cause that’s such a small portion of your life than who are you going to be for the rest of your life.”
Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.
Part of training for something more means Friday team chapel. Each week after practice, the team huddles in the endzone free of pads and helmets for worship and a testimony from one of the graduating seniors.
They welcome their weekend, arms around each other, souls bared to the Lord and to each other, with a song:
“Lord prepare me / to be a sanctuary / pure and holy / tried and true / with thanksgiving / I’ll be a living / sanctuary for you.”
“Christ is the foundation of the program as a player and as a coach,” assistant coach and Bethel football alumnus Brady Bomsta said.
To be rooted in Christ is to be rooted in love, and there’s no shortage of love on the team.
“Any guy on the team, you look around and you see that embodiment of we’re here because of our love for football, but we’re also here because of our love for the King too,” Jaran Roste, senior quarterback said.
This love goes all the way to the top. Roste remembers that head coach Steve Johnson, “told me he loved me in ninth grade. He tells everyone he loves them…That stuff’s just not normal, not only in football but in life.”
It’s this love that makes a team a family. A family that celebrates everything together and mourns everything together. Each accomplishment gets reposted to dozens of players’ Instagram stories and the same happens when a family member is in need.
“Learning to love and to jump in and deal with the goofy stuff that happens, that’s what makes this a great program,” Diaz said. “When people do that and they care enough to show up to everything and want to make themselves better for the team, I think that’s the biggest deal.”
“If you allow yourself to be vulnerable to the point of you’re committed to something that you’re not as concerned about what you’re going to get out of it,” Matt Teigland, senior running back said, “You’re just committed to it because it’s a good thing and good people are around it, then you’re going to get so much more out of it than you could even think that you want.”
“Bethel is a special place and Bethel Football is a special program.” — Paul Swan, Assistant Coach
This love from coaches and teammates is part of what changes lives. Multiple players have expressed how different of a person they are now as opposed to who they were freshman year.
“We often tell our players that Bethel Football will change your life if you let it,” assistant coach Paul Swan said. “Bethel is a special place and Bethel Football is a special program.”
It’s why players come back as coaches, “I have always wanted to come back to Bethel and give back,” Bomsta said. “The coaches that I had shaped me into the person I am today. I wanted to be able to encourage and mentor young men into becoming good sons, friends, brothers, husbands, coworkers, etc.”
