I grew up in the usual church routine but never really had a personal faith. And with many volleyball tournaments on the weekends, I often had to miss church. I always felt like I had to choose between my sport and my faith, and I felt guilty that I had a lot of weekend games. … Read more

Winning medals in two Olympic Games was a great thrill! What made it even more exciting was to be able to be there along with my brother, Ben. Our last matches in Munich finished almost at the same instant. As I finished defeating the East German, I quickly looked to watch as Ben pinned the … Read more

I was born into a broken family. My parents were separated. Their priority was to make money and they didn’t even have time to show love to me or my siblings. As a young boy I was looking for a hero, a person whom I could look up to. I admired people from the Silver … Read more

I grew up going to church, and my parents were believers with a strong faith in God. In eighth grade, I accepted Christ while on a trip to Georgia. I knew I needed Christ to show me the way, and that’s when I made Him the No. 1 point in my life. Getting involved with … Read more

In his book Travels with Charlie, John Steinbeck states, “I am in love with Montana, if Montana had a sea coast or if I could live without a sea coast, I’d live there.” I grew up in Montana and loved it, as well as, something else — I loved sports, all kinds of sports. Sports … Read more

My childhood goal was to be like my uncle. My dad’s younger brother was the European wrestling champion. I looked to him as my role model and wanted to become a wrestler like him. Little by little, this dream of mine began to come true as I got good grades in school and trained at … Read more

Part of the motivation for coaching is to help kids reach their dreams. It’s about the quest for excellence – being as good as you can be. God gives us gifts and He wants us to use the talents He gives us. Wrestling is something that found me, and the harder I work at it, … Read more

One man who has contributed to Indonesia’s dominance is Hendrawan — both as a player and as the current national singles coach. Born in a small town in East Java into a badminton-loving family, he started playing at the age of seven with his father as his first coach. He remembers watching the first Olympic badminton … Read more

My story starts off rather unremarkable. I grew up with three brothers in a middle class home in Burnsville, Minnesota. I was baptized as a baby, and as a child I went to Sunday school each week. At some point in high school my family got too busy to make time for church each Sunday. … Read more

I grew up going to church,; my parents would take me every Sunday. When I was 14 or 15, I started dating the girl who would later become my wife, and I started going to youth group with her. I really liked it. I learned that I could have a personal relationship with God through … Read more