Tyler Turner - Wrestling
Growing up in a small rural town two things were the focus of my life: sports and farming. My parents raised my three brothers and I with strong morals, but we rarely went to church. My junior year in high school I started to explore my options in this small town and I found a group of friends that went to a weekly Youth Group. This was my first interaction with the Bible and hearing about Jesus Christ. My senior year I heard that God sent Jesus to this earth to die on the cross for the sins of this world...mine included...and if I wanted a relationship with God, and spend eternity with him, I had to except this gift from Him. I excepted this free gift and decided to dedicate my life, and all I do, wrestling included, to worshiping Him who gave me the abilities I have. At the University of Wisconsin Madison I am learning what the Bible says in 1 John 3:16, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."
Phoebe Monteleone Turner - Hockey
If you ask me what success means, you might be surprised not to hear me say winning an NCAA National Hockey Championship or achieving other athletic or academic honors. Instead, I have found that success in life translates into having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Every summer my sisters and I attended a Christian sports camp in PA where we came to know what it meant to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ. As I grew up I continued to grow my relationship with Christ as well as in my abilities as a hockey player, but these two aspects of my life never meshed together. I didn't quite know or understand what it meant to be a Christian and a hockey player at the same time.
Life seemed to be going perfectly as I headed to the University of Wisconsin on a full scholarship for hockey. But as I joined the Badgers I found that God's plan for me was not to be the best or “most important” player on the team. This was a difficult thing for me to realize and I struggled during my first season, but God had something greater in store. After attending Athletes in Action's Ultimate Training Camp after my freshman year, I came to realize that sport is a way to glorify God by giving Him my best all the time, despite my circumstances. As my heart changed and I began to listen to where the Lord wanted me to serve my Badger teammates, I finally came to see the victory in Christ that lies beyond competition.
