The Christians in Sport Podcast

Steve Stenstrom is a former NFL quarterback who played six seasons with the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos. Steve was a standout quarterback at Stanford University before being drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1995 This week Greg caught up with Steve ahead of Superbowl LVII to talk about his journey to Jesus, his NFL Draft experience, grieving the loss of...

Karen Kennedy is one of Irish Hockey's most experienced campaigners, with over a hundred international caps including playing in two World Cups. Having retired from the top level seven years ago Karen is now getting back into playing alongside navigating the challenges that come with being the mother of two young sportspeople. Danno caught up with Karen in Belfast to talk about her hockey career -...

"I can do all things through the one who gives me strength." Really? Philippians 4:13 is a popular verse in the world of sport, and it's easy to see why - it sounds like the perfect motivation for sporting performance. But is that what the verse really means? (0:00) - Intro (0:22) - Today's Question (0:45) - Sportspeople are driven people (1:41) - Finding motivation in the Bible (2:30) - Can Chris...

Christmas is a time when most of us stop playing, taking time off work or study and sport to be with family and friends. But what if you're a professional athlete? Christmas is one of the busiest periods for professional football and rugby players, as well as many in other sports. So how can you take time out to celebrate the wonder of Christmas during a busy playing and training schedule? (0:00)...

Michael Johnson is an experienced player and respected coach within English Football. Having played for Birmingham City and Jamaica he moved into coaching after retiring. Since then roles have included coaching England's U21 team for two years and head coaching Guyana's national men's team. Danno caught up with Michael at St. George's Park to chat to him about his coaching career and what it looks...

The FIFA World Cup is well underway, yet the conversation around the tournament continues to be dominated by controversial issues off the field. So how can a Christian respond to Qatar hosting the World Cup? (0:00) - Intro (0:23) - Today's Question (0:32) - Response (1:29) - Know who and where you are (3:13) - We can make God known through both protest and engagement. (4:52) - You could decide to...

Fran Clarkson is the Women's Pathway Lead Physiotherapist at the English Football Association, and recently stepped in as the interim Lead Physio for the England Lionesses. She's an experienced practitioner in elite sport having worked with Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Trent Rockets, and the English Institute of Sport before moving to England Football. Join Danno as he chats to Fran about her c...

Supporting a child in elite sport can be thrilling, but it can easily add strain to family relationships as the time and cost of supporting them becomes part of family life. So, how can you maintain healthy family relationships, and keep Christ at the centre of your family as you support a child in elite sport? (0:00) - Intro (0:23) - Today's Question (1:09) - Response (1:16) - Parenting children...

In the last few years, we have received several similar questions from elite athletes, students and parents of young sportspeople. They can be summarised in a simple question: "Dear Christians in Sport, should I wear rainbow laces?" (0:00) - Intro (0:23) - Today's Question (0:38) - Response (0:48) - What is in the background? (2:10) - What we can affirm (4:36) - What we cannot affirm (8:12) - So,...

Nick Ferraby is a former professional and international cricketer who represented Jersey in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2018. Nick is now an assistant pastor at Jersey Baptist Church. Join Danno as he chats to Nick about his cricketing career, including 18 international matches, his journey to faith in Christ and how he's connected sport and faith in his life. (0:55) - How do your sp...

AskCIS is a new series where we think through the questions you send in to help you live and speak for Jesus in your sports club or team. Today we're answering a question from an elite athlete who's unsure about sports psychology. Join us as we look at what sports psychologists do and how they work before looking at what, if any, reservations Christian athletes should have about seeing sports psyc...

AskCIS is a new series where we think through the questions you send in to help you live and speak for Jesus in your sports club or team. Today we're looking at university sports team initiations or 'welcome socials.' Depending on the culture at your university sports club, the experience of welcome drinks or socials can be drastically different. Here's three tips to help you consider how you migh...

AskCIS is a new series where we think through the questions you send in to help you live and speak for Jesus in your sports club or team. Today we're looking at how you can start well in a new sports club or team. Starting out in a new club or team isn't always easy, so we've put together four tips to help you get off to a good start as you look to share Jesus with your teammates.

In the field of sports psychology, few have gained as much professional experience as Tom Bates. Tom cut his teeth working in professional football at numerous clubs including Brentford, Aston Villa, and Birmingham City. More recently, Tom has worked with Olympic athletes across a range of sports including Swimming - coaching Adam Peaty to success in Tokyo 2020. Join Danno for a fascinating insigh...

Sport is brilliant, but it's not always straightforward, it can be challenging to live as a Christian within the world of sport. AskCIS is a new series where we think through the questions you send in to help you live and speak for Jesus in your sports club or team. Competitive sport can't exist without winners and losers, but does God care about the outcome of a match or race? Let's look at what...

The Winter Olympics begin in Beijing on Friday under a mountain of controversy.  Beijing 2022 is not the only event suffering from allegations of human rights abuses and questions about whether they should have been awarded a major sports event. The FIFA World Cup next year in Qatar has also had large voices of opposition due to the poor treatment of migrant workers building the stadiums and accus...

At 19 years of age Jake threw in the towel. He gave up competing as a fighter, but this wasn’t the only life change that occurred during his late teens. Join Danno as he chats to Jake about discovering his gift as a young martial artist, becoming North American and European Champion in Muay Thai, and the compatibility of combat sports with faith in Christ. 

Today's guest is Dr Suzanne Ferreira from Stellenbosch, South Africa. She's won 70 plus medals, through the athletes she coaches, at the Paralympic Games, the World Championships, the All-Africa Games, the Commonwealth Games.  She's been at the Paralympics as a coach in Beijing 2008, London 2021, Rio 2016 and the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in 2006, 2011, 2013, 2015 and...

Danno sits down with Paralympic goal-ball player Anna Tipton (nee Sharkey). She played in eight European Championships, two World Championships and also competed in the Paralympics at London 2012. In this interview she speaks about how she got into goal-ball, the nature of elite sport and its challenges and how her faith shapes how she views her sport and her disability. 

We all get disappointed in our sport don't we? Whether it's from injury, loss of form or not being renewed for another year, sport is full of lows, probably more often than the highs. So we've got four-time Olympian Debbie Flood, and two-time Winter Olympian Adam Pengilly into to chat about their experiences of facing huge disappointments in their sports, and how they've come to process them and n...

The CEO of Skateboard GB, James Hope-Gill joins us today, on the day Sky Brown won bronze at Tokyo 2020 to become the youngest ever British medallist.  In a fascinating short conversation, he explains the distinct culture that skateboarding has, how he's helped form a governing body from scratch and how his faith impacts his work.

The Rev’d Canon Dr. Ashley Null is an internationally respected scholar on the grace and gratitude theology of the English Reformation. He teaches regularly in seminaries and churches in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia.  Meanwhile, Ashley serves as a chaplain to elite athletes and coaches, helping them to integrate the Reformation’s emphasis on the unconditional love and grace of God wi...

In this re-release from 2016 in Rio , ex-athletes Debbie Flood and Adam Pengilly tell us what it is like to compete at the games. Debbie won silver medals as a rower at Athens and Beijing and also reached the final in London. Adam raced skeleton bobsleigh at Turin and Vancouver, winning a world silver medal in between. Here the pair offer an insider’s view on the games and share how their Christia...

A brand new series for Tokyo 2020 as we speak to Olympians, chaplains and coaches about what it means to be a Christian in the pinnacle of all sport. In this episode we speak with Christian Taylor, the two-time reigning Olympic and four-time reigning world triple-jump champion. We speak about: - The impact of the pandemic on athletes - The forming of the Athletics Association to speak for track an...

Michael Johnson joins our podcast from St George's Park a few days after the Euro 2020 final. Jonno is currently an England U21s coach, having held a number of other roles in football after a stellar playing career primarily with Notts County, Birmingham City and Derby County. In this powerful interview we speak with him about: - Systemic racism in sport and society - The encouraging changes in th...