Daily Deacon

Athletes in Action // Rachel Hirsch

Tuesday nights in the Rovere Room bring together a mixture of students who share the same beliefs and lifestyles. This group of students is known as Athletes in Action (AIA). AIA is an organization made to help sports minded students live their lives with a connection and relationship with God. AIA is an organization all around the world, but the Wake Forest program has touched the hearts of many.

Milessa Callicot, a former Wake Forest women’s basketball player and new AIA intern said, “this is a place where students involved in athletics come together and can really be vulnerable around each other.” Callicot talks about this place as a safe community for students to really delve into their connection and relationship with God through their sport.

Students are encouraged to get out of their comfort zone, while learning how to trust and rely on God. As a student athlete here at Wake Forest, Callicot remembers just how much this organization helped her through her injuries. “AIA helped me realize that God had a plan for me and that [basketball] isn’t the rest of my life” Callicot said.

Meetings are held every Tuesday night where students come together to worship. Students who aren’t involved in athletics are also free to attend these events. A unique aspect to AIA is the fact that these students can have all different religious backgrounds and don’t need to be strictly Christian. Students aren’t forced to change their views or anything about themselves.

Lindsay Kerr, a former track and field runner at Wake Forest and AIA intern, talks about AIA as a safe environment where students can go to hangout with a purpose. “AIA is a refreshing place where students can go to learn what God is and a place that isn’t church and is just very different” Kerr said. It helped her understand her religion better and took the pressure off when attending Wake. She encourages others to realize who they are competing for when playing their sport.

Callicot and Kerr describe this organization as a community that really makes the students feel like they have a safe place that feels like home. Their biggest mission is to help students connect with God through the language of sport.

Caroline Wootten, a junior on the woman’s soccer team at Wake Forest, described her experience at AIA as her second family. “AIA is a place that really just feels like home. It has been such a safe haven for me ever since my freshman year,” Wootten said. It is a place where she goes to love and be loved.

It was hard for Wootten to form words on what AIA has done for her and her career at Wake Forest. It has shown her how to live her life with a greater purpose and how to truly love her religion. “It has introduced me to the most important people in my life. It has given me mentors and best friends” Wootten said. She explained how this organization has given her the most confidence that she has ever had.