Many dads love seeing their kids playing sports, and many men like to volunteer with a team, but it can also be challenging. While sports can be a healthy activity that helps kids thrive, it is also an environment that can challenge our Christian values and doesn’t bring out the best in us as dads. Our own issues can easily rise to the surface, and we don’t always give our kids our best.
Former collegiate athletes and current sports ministry leaders Brian Smith and Ed Uszynski have addressed the highly competitive and often secular culture of youth sports. Drawing on over 50 years of combined ministry experience with Athletes in Action, they offer guidance on transforming youth sports into a meaningful platform for discipleship in their new book Away Game: A Christian Parent’s Guide to Navigating Youth Sports.
Dean, Brian, and Ed have a great conversation around a largely unexplored topic, talking about why sports are so important and helpful for youth, how to navigate this world while holding on to Christian values, how discipleship and great parenting moments can happen through sports, and how dads can lead well in this space without losing what’s most important.
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Brian Smith and Ed Uszynski
Brian Smith is the author of several books and has has been on staff
with Athletes in Action since 2008. A graduate of Wake Forest University, Brian has a master’s degree in Theology and Sports Studies through Baylor University. He lives in Lowell, Michigan, with his wife and three kids.
Ed Uszynski is an author, speaker, and sports minister with over three decades’ experience discipling college and professional athletes. He’s written books, articles, essays, and training manuals at the intersection of
faith and sport and is the lead strategist for Content Mercenaries. He has two theological degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Amy have four children and live in Xenia, Ohio.Brian Smith and Ed Uszynski
Brian Smith is the author of several books and has has been on staff
with Athletes in Action since 2008. A graduate of Wake Forest University, Brian has a master’s degree in Theology and Sports Studies through Baylor University. He lives in Lowell, Michigan, with his wife and three kids.
Ed Uszynski is an author, speaker, and sports minister with over three decades’ experience discipling college and professional athletes. He’s written books, articles, essays, and training manuals at the intersection of
faith and sport and is the lead strategist for Content Mercenaries. He has two theological degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Amy have four children and live in Xenia, Ohio.
