The size of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FCA, has exploded in the past four years.

The kick off meeting, a pool party, on August 19th  was at sponsor Lauren Breite’s parents’ house. Meeting earlier than normal, the students arrived around 6pm and and swam for an hour before splitting into groups for student-lead bible studies.

Four years ago, when the class of 2015 entered high school, FCA had a grand total of 11 members, but at the pool party they had a turnout of 60 students who wanted to get involved.

“I liked seeing all the students from last year, seniors, juniors and sophomores out there having fun and encouraging each other. I really liked seeing the freshman, a lot of which I hadn’t met before and they seemed like they clicked with everybody and they felt welcome” Breite said.

One of six FCA student leaders, senior Rachel Bohrer is just as excited as Breite for the upcoming year.

“It’s always really big the first time so it’s cool to see a bunch of new freshmen coming in… and a bunch of upperclassman now who had gone to the meetings last year,” Bohrer said.

Along with larger numbers than in the past, FCA is trying a new method of integrating old members with the new members through a Mentor and Mentee system, according to senior Elise Thomas. This system directly connects an underclassman, mostly freshman, with a returning member.

New and old, all students wanting to strengthen their relationship with God while having fun with other students are welcome to any FCA meeting they can attend.