Almost exactly one year ago, it was my honor to assume the role of Director of Athletics at Concordia Lutheran High School. For the previous 20 years I had been both a teacher in the English Department at Concordia and a coach for our football team. I enjoyed the many and various opportunities to interact with students in both the classroom and on the athletic fields.
During this past year I’ve had the privilege of seeing the importance of the role athletics plays in the overall ministry of Concordia, and the impact each individual program has on the student-athletes who participate in them. The argument could be made that there is not a more powerful avenue with which to reach a student with the Gospel message than to do so in the context of an athletic experience.
Concordia has a proud athletic tradition and the 2017-2018 school year was another year of great on-field successes. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- The boys soccer team won a sectional, regional, and semi-state championship and participated in the state finals.
- Both the boys and girls cross country teams won the SAC meet and both advanced to the state meet as a team.
- The girls basketball team won a sectional championship.
- Both the boys and girls swim and dive teams were SAC champions.
- The baseball team won a sectional championship.
- The girls tennis team won the SAC and a sectional championship.
And while all of the above are great and we try very hard to win games, matches, invitationals, and tournaments, ultimately being an athlete or coach at Concordia is about much more. If just winning a post-season tournament was what athletics was really all about at Concordia, then there would be no distinguishing characteristic between this school and any other.
Our athletic department (through each individual team) strives to strengthen our athletes’ faith in Jesus Christ, develop Christian character based on the life of Christ, instill great work habits in all athletes, and teach and stress the importance of academics. These are bold goals and sometimes we fall short. We are, after all, sinful people born of sinful parents living in a sinful world. However, after a year’s worth of observation, I feel confident in saying each of our 21 athletic programs lives up to those standards. They each do a fantastic job of providing for the student-athletes under their care an outstanding, Christ-centered experience. The message of salvation through Christ alone is being shared daily!
As the calendar winds its way toward the end of July another athletic and academic season will soon be upon us. It’s always an exciting time in the life of a high school. I look forward to seeing many of you at our athletic events throughout the course of the 2018-2019 school year.
Tim Mannigel,
Director of Athletics