Faith Matters: Teaching Kids Faith Through Sports

The league is called Upward and it's not about winning or losing because they don't keep track and for the younger kids they don't even keep score. In Upward it's about faith and how much it matters.

They meet every Saturday morning in the gym at Agape Church. They come from different communities, churches and walks of life. There are about a hundred coaches, five hundred players and cheerleaders. They're learning about being good sports on and off the court.

Olivia Wheeler says she likes, "dribbling with one hand." Owen Simmons says he's got one thing on his mind and that is to "try to make a goal."

Five-year-old Rohan Aggala says his game is about making sure he remembers what his mother says, "I always like to get the basketball because my mom always tells me."

Upward's Agape leader Montie Mansur says they use sports to teach faith. "It's a tool that we can use to introduce kids to Jesus Christ. We can use that as a tool to introduce them to a positive life experience. We can use that to draw folks in and we can help them to live life together."

At half time the kids take a break from the game but not from learning. A referee at one of the games gave a lesson during half time saying, "If you're facing challenges today I want to encourage you to trust God to help you and help one another."

And the kids seem to get the message. When asked about God, Devin Campbell says, "He can help me and He can make me brave."

Savannah answers with "you can't just keep everything for yourself. You have to give."

Rohan believes, "He helps you."

There is a registration fee for Upward which pays for uniforms and an end of the season gift. Basketball season is wrapping up but they are already gearing up for soccer and they still have a few slots left.

If you are interested you can log on to their website by clicking here.