The Story Behind Something Spiritual Sports
I didn’t always want to be a sports writer. From wanting to be an Architect, to Spanish teacher and or translator, and many other things before taking that path. My sports writing journey started when a friend in college during my Sophomore year said: “Hey, let’s be sportswriters.” When he said it, something clicked in my mind that said, that’s what I want to be and that’s how it began.
From there I started a blog ranging in topics from teams like the Miami Dolphins, the Florida Gators, the FAU Owls, and the Superbowl. Soon after I started writing for a company isports.com where I wrote about the Denver Broncos winning the Superbowl and other football teams.
Why I’m so passionate about Sports
Because of my love of sports, I tried different avenues to work in sports. I applied to an internship at Fox Sports and I had the privilege of interning there. During that time I learned a lot about tv production in the sports industry. The internship entailed going to Florida Panthers games where I ran the stats to the on-air talent.
In addition, I also went to the Miami Heat games. Some of my duties included walking on the court to hold the light for the cameraman at half time and at the end of the game, as well as hold the microphone for the players to speak into.
The opportunity to go into the Heat locker room at the end of the games and participated in the post-game interviews was amazing!
I stood right next to Dwayne Wade, Josh Richardson, Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, and Justice Winslow while they were being interviewed. Very fortunate to be apart of Fox Sports the year before Dwayne Wade left for the Chicago Bulls, and later the Cleveland Cavaliers. The cool thing was that both the Panthers and the Heat made the playoffs that year.
Other opportunities to write about sports
Another publication I wrote for was the FAU University Press. When I was with the University Press, I had the wonderful opportunity to cover the FAU Owls in a historic season when they went 11-3 and won Conference USA for the first time in program history. It was a very exciting time for me as an FAU alumnus and for the school.
My Disappointment and how God came through
Someone told me you couldn’t make a lot of money in sports writing, so I tried digital marketing. I applied for several jobs and got rejected several times saying “We went with someone with more experience” or sorry “it was a tough choice, but we picked someone else.” I was very disappointed.
The thing about God is he comes through when you’re at your lowest and when you least expect it. Right after I was rejected, God gave me the verse from Isaiah 60:22 “When the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen.” The next verse he gave me a day later from Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch, and be utterly amazed, for I am going to do something in your days you would not believe even if you were told.”
The very next week God moved in a powerful way. In one week, when we prayed at my Monday night bible study to share the gospel with family members. My dad shared the gospel with my brother for an hour and a half that night and on Tuesday I shared with my cousin.
God gives me His plan The Story behind Something Spiritual Sports
On Wednesday of that week, I saw a simulcast by David Platt and God gave me the idea of writing a blog on Christian athletes and coaches. On Thursday, I met with somebody and they suggested you should write a blog and then eventually, down the road, write a book.
Not long after, the name Spirit Sports or Soul Sports evolved into the title Something Spiritual Sports.
I wrote my first article about Ben Gonzalez (director of operations at FAU) and got more views for one post than all the other posts in my other blog, combined! Then I interviewed A J Barbar (Olympic swimmer) and the number of views the post received more than doubled, blew my mind.
I know this is God because of the amount of interest and positive feedback about the stories and the idea in general. Lord willing, there will be many more interviews and Testimonies of how God uses sports to bring Him Glory. Thank you all for your support and I pray that this will continue, and I’m thankful God has given me the vision to do this. The story behind something spiritual sports.
