Living Boldly for Christ as a Pro Athlete

Katie Cousins is a pro soccer player who just signed to play with the Angel City Football Club. Katie also works at Snowbird in-between seasons. She is a long-time friend of Brody and SWO, so we wanted to check in during this exciting season. 

Brody sat down with her to discuss how she uses her gifts as a platform for ministry, to bring glory to Jesus. Pray that the Lord would use her to impact those she connects with through her new opportunity. 

• Angel City Football Club

Transcript – Part 1

Welcome to no Sanity Required from the ministry of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters, a podcast about the Bible, culture and stories from around the globe.

Last year we did a study, this was tied to several events that we did at Snowbird, but we did a study on the book of Daniel. We walked through Daniel at Red Oak Church and then at our college event at SWO, we looked at Daniel and we considered Daniel’s resolve. There’s this moment at the beginning of the book of Daniel where it says Daniel resolved and then that becomes a recurring theme. So the idea is this man Daniel lived with deep conviction, resolve, courage, but also a great deal of grace and kindness and compassion. And so it’s not this bravado, this obnoxious, aggressive Christianity where the call to courage is a call to be rambunctious or combative to secular ideas or to secular institutions or to worldly kings and rulers. It’s more what we see in Daniel is a resolve to be faithful to the convictions of of his faith, a resolve to be silent when needed, to speak when needed, but to have wisdom that Jesus talks about wisdom and grace and humility, but also strength. And this also aligns with New Testament teaching that we are to, Paul writes to the Romans that we’re to submit to earthly kings and rulers, recognizing that God is ultimately ordaining and guiding governments and kings and rulers and prime ministers and presidents and dictators and monarchs.

So we should submit to them, we should respect them, but we should only fear God. Peter would write that we should respect and honor the emperor, we should fear the Lord. And Paul elsewhere from Romans 13, Paul also writes that as much as it is possible, we should live at peace with people. Peter writes that we should always be ready to give an account. And so the scripture lays out for believers this balance of, hey, you can be salt and light, a city on a hill, a light in the darkness, and there’s a time to be a person who takes a stand, who speaks with boldness and clarity, but there’s always this call to humility, to gentleness, to a firm resolve, but also to be kind to others and to be salt and light. And today’s guest is Katie Cousins. We had Katie on about a year ago and at that time Katie had just wrapped up her a season, a soccer season. She’s a professional soccer player and she had just wrapped up a season playing in Europe. Iceland to be specific, to be precise. European soccer culture is just massive. It’s huge and even women’s soccer there is probably more well supported and attended than it is even in some of our more soccer friendly cities and markets.

Katie had had a super successful season overseas, but the ultimate goal was to play in the women’s at the women’s professional ranks in the US. So women’s soccer equivalent of Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, the NASCAR Cup Series. So sorry, I got, like a lot of you probably, I’ve got a little bit of weather effect in my, you know, like I’ve got sinuses. So I apologize for that. But women’s soccer at the most elite level would be women’s professional soccer in the US. And so that was her goal ultimately. Well, she achieved that goal. The Lord opened the door for her to do that because of his grace and kindness and favor and her hard work to review for those of you that maybe didn’t hear that. And I would encourage you to go back and listen to that episode from a year ago. Be kind of crazy listening to it now that we’ve got the the, you know, the second part of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story. Katie. Katie’s career was Stellar leading up to this point. She was a 1990. I’m 90.

There was no 1990 anything. The 2014 or 15, I think 14. Gatorade National Player of the Year for high school women’s soccer. So she was the number one player in the U.S. as a high school senior. She played for an elite club team out of Richmond, Virginia. Her high school team was in Forest, Virginia, but she played for an elite team out of Richmond. She went on to the University of Tennessee. She could have played anywhere she wanted to, pretty much. She chose University of Tennessee and became a multiple time All-American, multiple all SEC, Awards. And then she also was instrumental in leading that team to the best season they’d had. And they made it to the elite eight of the NCAA tournament during her college tenure.

And I’m not reading this, I’m doing.

This from memory, so bear with me. During her college tenure, she was in the World Cup, the under 20 World Cup. So as a 19 year old, she took a red shirt from her second season at Tennessee, played on the national team. She had played on the high school national team. In Mexico City prior to that. And so then she made the under 20 World Cup team, played in Papua New Guinea in the World Cup for the US, came back, finished her college career, was poised for the draft, and that was the COVID year. So there was no soccer anywhere. She was, at that point, I think her and her agent were looking at some of the European markets, particularly a team in Spain that it looked like she was going to play for. And then the entire season got canceled. So Katie took a year off. She’s off trained, worked, she bases her off season, she bases home out of here. She actually lives in our home with us and this is her base of operation. She loves Snowbird, is committed to the ministry here, loves helping teenagers, young people, loves serving. She’s such a servant man.

She works in the grounds department. So splitting and stacking firewood, running a weed eater, running a leaf blower. This is an elite professional athlete and she’s just got that mentality.

We love her a lot.

We’re proud of her. But the Lord had opened the door last year before last, the year after COVID, so a year off, which is detrimental to a professional sports career. But she was able to get picked up by a European team, had a standout year, and then was picked up by the Los Angeles team for the next, she got a two-year contract to go play for Angel City Football Club. Going into that, I think she was in negotiation and talks with several US clubs, but she ended up at Angel City. Well, Los Angeles is super progressive and women’s soccer in Los Angeles is the tip of the spear when it comes to progressive activism. You don’t see a ton of activism in a lot of men’s sports. You’ll see some. There was, you know, there’s, I think maybe in the area of racism, you’ll see some activism. When it comes to social issues and causes.

But.

For what women’s soccer, it’s almost like it feels like a lot of times it’s activism based, kind of over the top, I think. And if you’ve ever had that experience where you’re like, hey, you’re an athlete, and this could be an NBA player or soccer player, whatever, you’re an athlete, shut up and play ball. You’re getting paid millions to play ball.

Or whatever it is.

Stop with the activism already, you know, like, and I understand there needs to be, you know, the people that have a voice need to use their voice. And so I don’t think that, I don’t think that, that professional athletes should be silent on issues that matter. They should use their voice. I do believe that. And I feel like we tend to run to extremes as, as humans. And so throwing the baby out with the bathwater would be, you’re a professional athlete. Just play soccer and don’t talk about issues that matter. Just be a dumb jock. That’s not what I’m saying. But at the same time, I feel like there needs to be moderation in use your platform to tackle issues that affect all people that matter, issues of equality and poverty and things like that. I get it. And even for someone who’s, who’s very convicted in, in their own personal, like, like their own personal set of values and convictions, they want to talk about the things that matter to them. I get that. And for someone who’s really motivated by issues of the lgbtq ia plus, you know, like those issues that are related and pertaining to that.

They want to use their platforms for that. I get that. But there needs to be some moderation. And it’s kind of like this. The world of women’s soccer is, like, activism based. It’s more activism than it is soccer.

It feels like, and.

Maybe I’m off on that. And if I am, then then I would stand corrected. But it just feels like every time you turn around it’s well, this is pride month. We’re celebrating the rainbow. We’re like it and I don’t know. I’m rambling right now, but but Katie going out to to play for this club. We knew this was going to be a thing and we had long conversations about it. You can hear it if you go.

Back and listen to that episode from a year ago. And so she got out there and.

Because of one post from a major league baseball player who was, who was refusing to wear the rainbow flag during pride month on his jersey or his hat. And he was actually one of a few guys for the Tampa Bay, baseball team that, that was like, no, we’re.

Not going to do that.

And here’s why we have this conviction and we’re not going to do something that goes against that spiritual moral conviction. And, and Katie, Katie responded, you know, to that with affirmation. And then she was really, really, really persecuted and ridiculed because she simply affirmed or supported this, this player’s decision not to wear the rainbow flag. In turn, she was not going to wear the rainbow flag, which was going to mean she didn’t even dress out. She, she wouldn’t even be allowed to dress out and So it turned into a lot of, a lot, a lot, a lot of heat and persecution, specifically, particularly at the, you know, in the social media circles. Katie took a beating, man.

They, they tore her up like the.

The Angel City fan base tore her up. And then that, even the team turned on her. And only a few teammates really made her feel supported. And we were walking through that with her. We were on the phone with her daily. And in texting with her a lot. And the whole experience came to a head during two days of inclusion training. And during that time of inclusion training, there was a lot of pressure put on Katie to capitulate, to admit that she was wrong and unloving and hurtful, and to change or alter her stance on these things. And she just, with quiet and gentle resolve, the resolve of Daniel, the resolve of Esther, the resolve of those who have been persecuted even unto death. She said, I’m gonna. I’m gonna keep my mouth shut. I’m gonna smile and be the best friend and teammate I can be, but I’m not going to capitulate to. To a social. To a socialistic, activist based. Ideology or what have you. And she didn’t, she held firm and just took the ridicule. And so I wanted to sit down.

With her and walk through what this last year has been like.

And I hope it’s my prayers that this will be an encouragement to those of you that have been through something like this, that have been ridiculed, that have been persecuted, and that this would be an encouragement to you. And that you would stand firm and stand fast and be resolved to be a salt, to be a light in the darkness, to be salt in the world, to be salt and light, and to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And when you face persecution, to not feel like you have to jump at that persecution and be overly defensive, you know, to not feel like you’ve got to roar back and that there is, there’s, you don’t, there’s like not just fight or flight, it’s not just, well, I got to run away and hide, or I got to roar and fight. It’s you can resolve to stand firm in place, be immovable. Paul says to the Corinthians, be steadfast, be immovable, be abounding in the work of the Lord. And you can put your hand to the plow and endure and withstand whatever, whatever hardship comes. I hope that Katie’s story will encourage you to that.

And please pray for Katie because she’s going to continue to live in this world she has left. Her contract was terminated with Angel City recently and she signed a new contract to go back to Europe to play.

And I think it’s gonna be a.

Refreshing change for her. But pray for her that the Lord would continue to give her opportunities for the gospel and then the strength and resolve to take those opportunities and to stand firm and to be steadfast. I hope you enjoy our conversation. I hope it’s an encouragement to you. Thank y’all for listening to no Sanity Required. Let’s get into this conversation with Katie.

I wish I’d have gone back and listened to our, our conversation from last year because that’s a year ago.

Yeah.

And, wow, a lot happened in that year. It’s crazy. I was, last night we went to Laili’s game. Laili’s my 17 year old and it was their first basketball game of season and they played about hour and a half away. He played a Georgia school. And we drove down and it made, and, I mean, I was thinking last.

Year, the same time.

Yeah, same exact week. Her first game was. But that was at a Georgia school, a different school, but it’s still North Georgia. That was at Fannin County High School. And we, I remember driving. I can still remember going down spur 60 Highway.

Yep. Talking about.

Talking about. Yeah.

Okay. You’re going into the Lions Den here. Going to LA. It’s not just LA, it’s professional women’s soccer in LA. It’s the tip of the progressive spear. The tip of the activist spear, like progressive activism. You can’t go, there’s no place you can go and be further out front with that.

And.

I mean, I even think we said, it’ll be interesting to see where we’re at a year from now.

Yeah.

Because we, I, we talked about, like, kind of knowing what I’m getting into.

But I don’t, I don’t, I didn’t.

Expect what happened to have happened. Yeah, I expected some of it, but not all of it.

Well, I think I, we’re gonna get into that for listeners and, and give you kind of, and a lot of our people, because, I mean, I talked about it on here. A lot of people were praying for you and. Praying for that situation this past summer. But even though we talked about it, I remember distinctly even saying, there’s no way you can totally prepare for this. Because whatever you’re preparing for, whatever you’re thinking, it’s going to be worse or harder or different. There’s no way you got to go walk through it. It’s kind of like when we do Swiftwater Rescue training, you teach somebody how to do something. But then we do this thing called the strainer. A strainer is when, I mean you’ve been on the river enough, a strainer is when you’ve got, imagine a tree has fallen across the river and you can see that tree on the surface of the river, but you do not want to float, if you fall out of your boat you do not want to float into that tree because you don’t know what’s under it. It creates a straining effect and that’s where people will get tangled and drown.

The last drowning I remember on the local river was a strainer. A guy went under the undercut rock and created a strainer. And we do this swift water rescue training where we take people and we go into, at the Nantahala River, where we put in the left side of that peninsula is coming out of the power plant. What’s coming off the bottom of the dam, that’s the cold water. What makes the NanahalE River so cold is that water coming in right there, the right side of that peninsula, that surface water just coming from the NanahalE River. And it’s cold, but it’s not like iceberg cold. And so the way you make a strainer is we take a big piece of PVC pipe, like 8 inch, like septic line size PVC pipe, that would simulate a tree log or limb. And run rope through it and tie the rope off on either side of the river. And it’s tied off so that that pipe is just bobbing in the water. So you’ve got a six foot piece of pipe that’s bobbing on top of the water tied off to either side. And it slides on that rope and it simulates kind of a log or a limb that would be floating in the water.

And then you have to jump in the water and swim into that and you go feet first and you let yourself go under it. And I’m acting this out for Katie, but y’all can’t really see this. But if you can imagine, you go as if you’re gonna go under that piece of PVC pipe and you hold your arms up by your face, like kind of, you put your hands under your chin and you catch your armpits with your elbows going over it. So the water is coming over your head. From behind. Okay, so you’re holding this, you’ve got your arms around this simulated log. It’s a piece of PVC pipe. It’s unstable. It’s sliding back and forth on this rope. It’s bobbing up and down in this swift water. Your feet and legs have all gone under it and you’re holding it by your armpits. Now you have to do a maneuver where you do basically a muscle up. You pull yourself back up and over that strainer. So that your feet are as far under it as they can go, but you got to pull your body back up and over it. And the reason for the exercise is you never want to go under a strainer.

You don’t know what’s under there. So we go through, we explain it to people like, this is what a strainer is like. This is how it works. This is what it’s going to feel like. But there’s things you cannot know until you experience it. And so it’s like, For one, the water temperature is 38 degrees. You can tell somebody how cold that is and they could have even taken an ice bath. But swift current water at 38 degrees is just you can’t prepare for that.

It’s different when you get in.

It’s different when you get in it. And then you go so you’re already struggling to your lungs constrict. So you’re struggling to breathe even with your face above water. You’re struggling to breathe because everything’s constricting. And then when you hit that strainer, the water is now hitting the back of your head. Well, this is what you can’t prepare people for.

The most sensitive to cold piece of.

Your body is right in the back of your skull right here. There’s a nerve cluster at the top of your, you know, like neurologically, this is proven. Like when people do ice treatment, it’s very important to get that part of your head under the water, otherwise. You don’t get the full effect. So you’re in this strainer, this cold water is hitting dead center back of your head, just coming around your face, you’ve got one little air pocket, you’re under the strainer. You fail the course if you slip and go under the strainer. You’ve got to pull yourself up and over it. And it’s crazy how many people fail because they get in there and it shocks them and they just come unglued. Or you’re familiar with the long swim, you’ve got to jump in off that same peninsula and do a three minute float or swim downstream. And then when you get to the finish point, you got to turn and do an aggressive swim to the side in a current. And people by that point, a lot of times are in there, they’re in almost like hypothermic and you got to go pull them out.

So we were driving to this basketball game a year ago and we’re going through all these scenarios, but it’s like you got out there and you got in the strainer and it was there’s no way you can fully prepare, but there is a way to be prepared. And that’s a life of walking with Jesus.

So let’s walk through.

Let’s walk through what that experience was like. Just kind of walk me through overview of when you got to La, what it was like initially. How did you mesh with the team on the front end? Like, when you first got there, how did you sync up with folks? What were your initial interactions like?

Yes, so I moved there mid January and preseason started February 1st. And there was, I think, 24, 25 players at the time. And, you know, we spend a couple.

Hours a day with each other every single day, especially in preseason.

And it was fine. You know, I started off with an injury. I had that overuse injury in my hip. And got a quick surgery on it, got it fixed, no problem since, but.

Put me out for, I don’t know.

Two, two and a half months, not getting to train that much and wasn’t in rotation for games. But it was going great. I built friendships with people. I had a teammate from college on the team, which was really helpful in the long run of everything, having her there.

Yeah, it. It was going great.

Which is why.

I think with everything that happened, it was kind of like a stinger. Just losing a lot of friendships that I had.

But yeah, brand new club, so there’s a lot of excitement for the club. Playing in that home stadium is really, really fun.

It’s a fun atmosphere.

We were playing decent soccer as well. So overall, for the first probably six months out there, it was going good. We found a good church that I enjoyed being a part of and had community with.

In the pre-injury, you felt like you’re going to go in there and compete. You’re obviously working from, you’re one of the younger players, less experienced on the national stage or the international stage, but you’re coming from a smaller market in Europe where you’d play the year professional ball after having sit out a year following college because of the COVID year and soccer stopped everywhere. So you’re kind of having to work from behind.

Yeah, I. Yeah, I went in thinking, okay, I. I will be behind knowing who my teammates were and them having.

Experience in the league, but, yes, thinking I can go in and compete and.

Earn me some playing time, knowing who I am as a soccer player and.

Thinking that I have a good chance to contribute a lot.

And then the injury happens so that puts you so far behind to and you missed the first two and a half months. Yeah, now you’re so so by the time you’re Green like to play it’s it’s April.

I don’t think it was until May It was it was late. It was late because I had about Completely healthy and available. I had about three weeks and then.

And then what happened?

And then June happened.

Yeah, so so walk us through that. So.

People who don’t know the NW Cell celebrates Pride Month in the month of June and most almost all teams will do the Pride game and.

So.

I, you know, going into that morning, so we found out the day before.

Game who’s on the roster and who’s not.

Because you can only roster 20 people. Well, you always have a squad bigger than that. And so going that morning, I remember being a little anxious about it because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be on the roster or not. And if I’m on the roster, okay, now I have a decision to make. We’re gonna wear these jerseys with the rainbow numbers and.

It’s gonna be a big celebration and.

You know, I ended up not being.

On the roster for it so it’s like all right.

Well I don’t have to worry about it and just show up and cheer on my teammates and then that same day in the afternoon. I’m just scrolling on Instagram and I saw that post by Jason Adams for the Tampa Bay Rays. That’s the baseball team. Yeah and he, he’s a relief pitcher for them. And they had just had their own pride night game. And him and a group of guys, they had an option to wear, I think, a hat and a patch with.

The rainbow colors on it, and they chose not to.

And so he, he speaks up for.

This group of guys making a statement about it, and I just thought, wow, this wasn’t.

This was a good, it was a good post. So I just not thinking anything of it repost to my Instagram account.

Okay, let me, let me just read Jason Adams quote. It’s a hard decision because ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here. But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe not that we look down on anybody or think differently. It’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior. It’s not judgmental. It’s not looking down. It’s just what we believe. The lifestyle he’s encouraged us to live for our good not to withhold. But again, we love these men and women. We care about them and we want them to feel safe and welcome here. So that was his quote and then like everything blew up like here’s here’s a comment from MSNBC that came out right after that raised picture Jason Adams homophobia undercuts every message of welcome on pride night you know Tampa Bay’s are renowned throughout baseball for exploiting market inefficiencies to find every advantage so they can fill the competitive team with a small market payroll so he starts in this article by talking about, you know, how competitive, how they’re able to compete.

But then he begins to undermine, you know, basically what he’s doing is. But this Adams guy is not really that good. He just, he’s, he’s discrediting him. So then it’s, he’s calling him a homophobe. When what, what Adams quoted was, hey, I’m a Believer. We love everybody. We’re not here to judge anybody. But I’m going to celebrate something that contradicts what I believe Christ has called us to. And you simply, yeah. Affirm that.

So I see the post and I’m like, oh, I feel the same way. I love my teammates. We’ve been friends for six months.

This is how it is.

This is exactly how I feel.

So I think it’s a respectful, decent.

Post and just popping on up my story and then didn’t think anything of it. And, I don’t know, within an hour or two, my phone is just blown up. Through because, you know, you get notifications.

If someone messages you.

And mainly my DMS were blowing up.

With just people sending me nasty stuff.

And so after about, I don’t know.

An hour and two, I was like, I gotta get off.

Because like we said, you can prepare for situations, and I knew I’d probably get some hate for going to Los.

Angeles, being in the league for being a Christian. But that was not something I was.

Prepared for and would maybe have thought I would have handled it a little better, like, mentally. But once it started happening, it got to me good. And after, yeah, a couple hours logged off, I got somebody to log in for me.

They were deleting everything so that eventually I would never see it.

I’m now constantly on the phone with you guys back here.

Just life just blew up.

I think that was a term I kept using. Hey, life in LA just blew up for me. What’s the phrase?

Yeah, we were even, you know, it was middle of summer camp here and it was crazy. We were starting each worship service, you know, 700-800 people in the building. Every night and we’re starting each worship service with prayer for you in that situation. I mean, a lot of people were dialed in, but you’re getting that prayer support. But the physical Geographic location, you’re in the thick of hostility. Like you’re surrounded by hostile, you know, you’re in enemy territory as far as your representation of the gospel. So that weekend, you’re in Louisville. You know you’re gonna see some snowbird folks, which turns into that two-day visit or 24-hour visit here. The hard ride back to the airport. I remember talking to you that night about how hard it was on your.

Way back to the airport.

By the time you got to LA, it was super late. While you were in Louisville, you wrote this, and this is raw and fresh because this was in the thick of it. Why don’t you read that?

So I titled it the Craziest Week of My Life. And it says, A human wanting to be faithful, many humans hating the truth, more humans pleading to the Father on.

Behalf, simple respectful posts, many offended and hurt, attacked on the socials, public and private, My God preserves my life.

The boss said, Don’t come sitting at home alone. Glad in the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I.

Lift up my soul.

A human in turmoil, heart hurting and tears that fall. For your, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call. Ignored, hated, rejected, it’s not me, it’s.

My God they trod.

For you are great and do wondrous.

Things, you alone are God.

Obedience I seek, teach me your way, O Lord. That I may walk in your truth. My heart isn’t trustworthy, so unite my.

Heart to fear your name.

Mine runs a million different directions, remembering who my God is brings me still. Merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in.

Steadfast love and faithfulness. They reject, I submit.

They turn to feelings for love and truth. God, you are love and truth. Help them understand.

You lead, I follow.

I give thanks to youo, O Lord my God with my whole heart and.

I’ll glorify youy name forever.

It’s cool to read it now. I mean it was cool to read it then and I have that you wrote me a copy and I’ve got it saved but it’s cool to read it now looking back and just knowing the faithfulness of the Lord. So you’re everything’s blowing up and you’re getting a lot of hate on social media. But then at what point then does it do you like, when you get to a team meeting or practice that day, is that when it’s like, oh, gosh, people are treating me different?

Yeah.

So, you know, that was a Monday. It was after I’d seen my team. So it was after practice, all this happened. So I’m not around anybody on my team. We have a game on Tuesday. Well, I’m not on the roster for it, so I’m like, okay, well, I’ll just see him at the game. And then through a couple of conversations with people in my organization for the club, they, you know, they can’t tell me, hey, you can’t come to the.

Game, but they can. They did highly encourage, hey, maybe you should stay home for the game, for your safety. And so I’m like, I guess I’m not going to the game for your safety.

And because I was like, well, okay, my teammates aren’t happy. Obviously, a lot of fans are not happy with me. But I can go to the game. I don’t really have to be around my team locker room.

I can just stay up in the.

Box and just come out and watch them because I wanted to.

They were my teammates.

And I meant it when I said that, you know, I really do love.

These guys and want to support them.

But so I ended up not going to the game on Tuesday, went over to the pastor’s house, hung out with his family, watched the game on TV. And then Wednesday we had off, no practice. And then Thursday we traveled to Louisville. And that was also crazy because I’m, you know, I’m not on the roster for the previous game. And then I’m thinking, okay, well, I’m not traveling Louisville. And I remember us talking and y’all were trying to figure out, okay, can we send somebody out to Los Angeles to come spend time with me that weekend while my team is gone?

And Wednesday, I get a phone call.

From my coach saying, Hey, we got an injury.

You’re traveling with the team to Louisville tomorrow. Are you serious?

Like, you guys messing with me? They’re like, no, you’re coming. So we’re gonna have a Zoom call tonight. This is Wednesday night, and we’re gonna.

Tell the team and just kind of.

Quickly address what happened. So we have a Zoom call, and she’s kind of addressing it. We’re like, all right, Katie’s posted this, but this is our job. We need to be professional, respectful of each other. We’re going to Louisville. She’s coming.

Let’s just go get the job done.

So Thursday was the first day I saw my team.

We had early morning practice, and then we were going right to the airport to fly Louisville. And I remember riding with a teammate, and we sat in the parking lot. I sat in the parking lot for probably. I don’t know, five, seven minutes. I just couldn’t get out of the car.

I was so sick to my stomach, so anxious about it.

Just like, I don’t want to do this.

I don’t want to go. It was the first time I was gonna see my teammates. It had been days since it happened, and I’m not really hearing much from my teammates about it, so kind of just think worst case scenario with how they think in that situation and. You know, I finally got a car.

And went to practice and then that whole weekend I just kept my head.

Down Stayed to myself in the hotel.

Room what was that when like when you into practice that day?

What was the?

What was the? Describe sort of the atmosphere as it related to you like what you were feeling and then how was that different from what it would have been a week earlier?

Yes, so you know, I’m a pretty outgoing person, and I like to joke. I like to mess around, but obviously at the same time, get my job done on the field. And that is not how it went for me. I was quiet. I was just to myself. I’m not a very anxious person, and I was dealing with a decent bit of anxiety for those couple days. You know, I’ve told you this, my.

Trainers from the minute I walked into.

That room, thankfully for, I mean, weeks they were like this, just trying to get me to laugh and smile and just joking with me, being really extra.

With me just to help me feel comfortable. But just not a lot of interactions with teammates at all, which is not common for me.

And so from your perspective, you’re feeling it, so you’re kind of standoffish. But then your perception of where they’re at, are they giving you the cold shoulder, ugly looks, any comments? What, how did they, how were like, you know what I’m saying? Were they treating you differently? Or was it more you withdrawing?

So, yeah, that, like, the first day, just, I mean, there were no interactions with teammates, really. You know, later on, from my perspective, I felt like there were some interactions in practice and stuff that. I thought, okay, before this incident, this is not, this would have never happened.

And now it’s happening. You know, I don’t know what they’re thinking from their perspective of it, but.

I don’t know from my side, you.

Know, for a few weeks, I’m like, they don’t normally talk to me like this in practice, and now they are.

And I’m reading too much into it.

And, you know, for weeks, I was training so bad.

And I don’t know if it was. It was just mentally something just went wrong, and I just could not kick.

A soccer ball or I just wasn’t training well.

And also just, like, living in this weird tension of these guys hate me or, like, yeah, it was hard to go do my job every day. And, you know, be joyful about it because at the same time, I’m like.

I don’t want to be here. These guys just hate me.

Were they, you weren’t, you weren’t performing well in the field. And so you were getting so, like, some negative, like they’re saying some things that, and you don’t know, is this just in a natural flow of competition? Because this is, we are professional. This is the most elite world of women’s soccer you can possibly step into. This is the best of the best of the best. The cream of the crop is on this field right now. So am I just getting, because I’m not performing at a top level right now, I’m off my game a little bit. They’re, they’re saying things and treat me a certain way. Is it just because of my performance or in your mind, are you, are you thinking, no, they’re treating me different because of where things are right now?

Yeah, I think it was probably a combination of it. And it’s not everybody I had, I had some teammates, you know, every once in a while to check in be.

Like, hey, you good? And you doing okay?

Like we obviously, we see the stuff that’s being posted. It wasn’t just the IMS, it was.

You know, people are blowing up.

They’re blowing up, destroying you.

Like post too that I’ve had in the past going on and commenting a.

Bunch and anything Angel City’s posting. It’s getting commented on a bunch and.

But it was crazy.

You know, I came home that weekend, which was awesome. It was.

Yeah, you got to, they let you come from the Louisville game. So any group of us went up.

Yeah.

Any away game, you can take, you can have the option to stay back and bring your own, you can take your own flight home or you can fly back with a team.

And I was like, I texted my.

Office person and said, hey, Can I know this is last minute, but can I stay back?

Because we have two days off after the game. They’re like, yeah, that sounds fun.

And that was an opportunity for you to come to SLOW.

Come on down.

Just get…

I needed to be around.

Soul rest.

Yeah.

Encouragement.

And so yeah, a group of people came. They picked me up after the game. We stayed at some random person’s house.

And then drove all the way back for Red Oak.

Church that night, which was just. It’s funny, I was writing about it, and I remember coming and I rode with little because she had sound check.

And didn’t have my car. And so I’m sitting on the porch waiting for church to start, and, I mean, just friend after friend after friend has just come up on the porch.

And chatting with me and that.

And I just lost it. I was like, I can’t.

It was just so high on emotion at the moment that I had to.

Step away and just go sit by myself waiting for church to start and.

And then I’m in church and I can’t even sing the songs.

I’m just crying because it was.

I went from this place of just.

Tension, tension, tension to then, like, I’m home with my home church and just a crazy range of emotions and.

Yeah, scenarios and makes you appreciate Community. Yeah, makes you, you know, it makes me scratch my head when I. This may be a little bit of a rant, but a lot of Christians don’t go to church. They don’t have a high value placed on the weekly meeting, the assembling of God’s people. And the writer of Hebrews says, Don’t forsake that. Don’t forsake that. He says, you,’re gonna see some people doing this. You’re gonna have people that profess faith in Jesus that forsake assembling together. And that’s their manner of life. That’s, that’s the mode of operation. That’s how they’re living. Don’t do that. It’s going to be super important that you’re tied and knit into the body of Christ, meaning the local church.

Yep.

As the day approaches, like as, as time passes and the world becomes more hostile towards Christianity, you got, like, I know, I know a lot of people, a lot, not a few, a lot of people that There’s just no, they don’t place any value on coming to church and being with God’s people. Well, I’d rather just, I’d rather watch it on Facebook or I’d rather listen, I listen to my favorite pastor podcast. Well, come on, man. That pastor doesn’t want you doing that. He wants you to go be part of the local church.

Yeah.

Well, you come out of that world. There’s a different appreciation and value for what the local church is. And that’s what you’re feeling that.

Oh, yeah.

Cause I mean, You know, I have my church there and I had community.

There, which was great because I would.

Drive, it’s at least a 40 minute.

Drive to go be with these guys, but I would at least have a place to go and just hang out with people. But you guys here, I mean, you’re.

Equally blowing up my phone for those weeks. On the phone constantly, Marco Polos, people are sending me texts. All the time. I come for a visit. I now have a handful of letters.

I’m walking away with from summer staff.

That I’ve never even met.

And I know you guys were constantly praying. I didn’t even have to think twice about that one. So that, yeah, that was awesome.

Yeah, I have the, I guess it’s a tradition. They let you, you get to have your. Game jersey and give it away. So is it.

Yeah.

Every game you get, you can give your jersey to a fan.

No, you have. You can give away two home ones.

And four away for the season. Yeah, but.

And then whatever you’re left with at.

The end of the season, they’ll also let you keep those.

Okay. I don’t know if I can say this. If not, we can edit it out. But you gave me the one with the rainbow number on it that is now. Adorning my study as a constant reminder of. Of this whole thing. It’s just a good. It’s good. My rainbow. It’s a teeny little Jersey. You’re not a big person. No, it’s a teeny little.

I’m a 5-0 running out about 130. Small person.

A solid muscle, though. A Dynamite package.

Yeah, that’s a good.

I’ve got that in there, and I’m actually overhauling and remodeling all that, and I’m real excited. He just gave me a Tennessee Jersey, so put that up in there, too. And then I have tux Jersey in there. But that rainbow numbered Jersey, that’s gonna, that’s got a special place for me. And I think, you know, just a good reminder of the strength that we draw from the, the fellowship and Community that comes from the body of Christ. That’s what you experience through that, because it, it countered. Everything that you were going through. And, man, it was. I read a lot of that stuff, and it’s just like venomous hatred. But it’s also, you know, you’re in the middle. You’re in the strainer with the water coming over your head. But from the outside, I’m going, these people are idiots. Like, some of the comments I’m reading.

Well, this person’s not even.

That doesn’t even make sense.

These are people, you know, it’s just foolishness.

Look back now. Yeah, I can read it all day and it will not bother.

Doesn’t bother.

Yeah, it does not. I don’t. I was telling Zach maybe this. Just a couple of days ago. I’m like, Zach, one of the biggest things I learned was when it first happened, it got to me so much, and now I do not care. Yeah, I don’t care.

That’s the Lord growing you and, and giving you the, I think, I think it’s important that you, because by not caring, and I don’t care, I say this all the time, like, I don’t care what people think of me, but at the same time, we want to.

Be sensitive to Ministry opportunities or, like.

I don’t, like, there might be somebody that I could have I could cultivate a friendship or relationship with and be able to speak truth and love and hope into their life. But they’re hostile to the gospel. They’re hostile to my worldview. Finding that balance of I don’t care what they think about me in the sense that for my own preservation, I don’t care.

It’s not gonna, it won’t affect me.

Yeah, right.

That’s right.

I care for this person. I don’t care what they think about me. And I want them to know the truth and know the love that comes from knowing Jesus.

But.

It wasn’t over. You weren’t out of the wood. You get done with that. And I remember having conversations during that, some of those you alluded to were like, Hey, this is going to pass. This is a season. Even if you have to stay, because at one point it looked like you might have an out mid-season to get a trade. But it’s like, if the Lord keeps you here, this is going to be over sooner rather than later, and you’re going to be out of this, and God’s going to have grown you, and then use this the rest of your life. The rest of your life is going to be a platform for ministry, encourage people. But when you get back from the Louisville trip, you come to Red Oak on Sunday night, you have good fellowship with all of us and your faith family. But then you go back, you gotta.

Go right back to it.

Yeah.

I was in town for like 24 hours.

Little was like, I’ll drive you back to the airport. And I remember that whole ride just hating it.

We were talking the whole time, but.

I was just sad. I knew what I was going back to.

I didn’t want to go back to.

It, but, you know, I had to. It was my job, and it’s where.

The Lord had me for the year. And so, yeah, I go back, just.

Going to practice every day, just trying to grind it out and keep my.

Head down and got to come. You know, we had a week off in June, had a week off in July. Both those weeks, he got to come back.

For a week and just spend time here again. One of the.

I mean, you could put this in or maybe not.

I don’t know.

But, you know, we had a game.

July 1st, and we were very down on players. We only had five subs, and you can sub up to five people in a game.

So even if you have four roster.

For a game, you can’t sub everybody.

And so I knew I was gonna.

Be the fifth sub. And if we were up, I was gonna be. We call it time waster. So we’re up at home.

It’s July 1st, the day after Pride.

Month, and I get put in with two minutes left in the game, and I get the ball twice, complete two passes, and then they score on us with, I don’t know, less than a minute left. And I remember again now getting messages.

It’s your fault.

Yeah, just people being dumb. Being dumb and trying to pick at.

Me and hey, this is why we lost the game. You guys put the homophobe on the field the day after Pride Month ended. This is so annoying. Yeah.

Like these people don’t even know me.

Yeah.

That’s the thing. They don’t know you.

Yeah.

And so, We go through the whole month of July. I come here for a week and.

I remember getting a phone call while.

I was here from this woman who works for Stonewall.

It’s like a big and I don’t.

Know exactly what their title is, but.

They do inclusion workshops. And so I get a phone call.

Consulting of some sort. As far as like inclusion workshops, as far as they coach y’all on how to be inclusive.

Yeah, and they work with sports organizations. They work with corporations. And it’s global. Like, this woman is not from America. She’s from England.

And so I get a phone call and she said, Hey, I’m flying over in August.

We’re gonna do a two-day workshop with the team.

And the club, they weren’t doing it.

Because of what happened. They had already planned to do this. It was always in the books. For this to happen this year. And so they planned it for the first week in August. And she was like, I’m just kind of warning you, you know, this topic’s probably gonna come up. What happened? I was like, that’s fine. We can talk about it. And.

She was great on the phone call. She was like, is there anything you need for you to feel comfortable there and safe in the room with everybody?

I was like, no, I’m good.

They love using that word safe. Do you feel safe? Yeah. Safe. And they use the word space.

Yeah.

I’m gonna create a space.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

Now I’m being. It’s going to be facetious. Okay.

So I was good. So I knew it was coming.

Now I didn’t know exactly what this Workshop was gonna be, and, you know, August rolls around. And we have. It was two hours the first day, right out about two hours. And then the second day was three hours, so five hours total. And, man, I remember walking in that.

Room the first day with the May. We had just gone to Starbucks because it was post practice and we had a little bit of time to kill.

So me and May would always go get a coffee or something together and. Walk in a room, we’re laughing, we’re smiling. We sit down right in the middle and then it all just unfolded.

So when y’all walked in a room, where most players already in there, were y’all first in the room?

We were one of the first ones.

So you walk in, you’re just having a good time. You and M.A. you’re drinking your Starbucks and sit down and then people start sort of filing in and you can feel the tension. No, so when the conversation starts.

Yeah, so I don’t know if anybody knew what was gonna go down. I knew the team. We were so as a team we were gonna talk about what happened.

Like I think a week after it happened, but then we traveled, we had.

Off, we traveled again, players left.

It was very chaotic right after it happened.

So then we never sat down. Well then by the time we had.

Time it had been like a month. And I don’t know if anybody wanted to.

And at this point, I’m just kind.

Of trying to forget about what had happened.

And so we go in there, and.

I’m like, all right, these guys are gonna want to talk about this. So we sit down.

This woman talks for 10 minutes. It’s just players and just this woman. So she. She talks about Stonewall. She talks about what she does. And then they had planned for the first day’s topic to be about how to deal with conflict.

The second day was going to be team values.

And so she talks about conflict. Okay, what are stages of conflict?

What are stages of moving out of.

Conflict as a team?

And then just opens the floor.

With.

All right, well, how’s yalls team? How do you guys think you deal with conflict right now?

And everybody’s just kind of sitting there.

And I I going into these meetings.

Are like, all right, I’m just gonna sit silent and not say anything unless I’m asked question or addressed. So I’m not gonna say anything.

And then, yeah, one of the players.

Is just like, all right, well, I’m just gonna.

Throw it out there and was like, Katie posted something harmful towards the LGBTQ community. We never really talked about it and feel like we’re just all sitting in limbo and this really weird tension on.

The team because we’ve never addressed it or talked about it. And then at that point, I now have tons of teammates just kind of.

Speaking into it of just how they took it, how they took the post, how, like, their view on the post, why it was harmful, how it’s affected people, like, on the team.

And I’m just sitting there listening to all of it. I’m like, wow, a lot more people were not happy about this on my.

Team than I thought, because everybody’s chiming in.

Yeah, almost everybody’s chiming in.

And they’re all kind of saying the same thing, affirming that what the last person said.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, you know, I get asked a question every once in a while, like one point.

I don’t. I don’t remember who it was, but I’m not gonna use names anyways.

Someone said, well, we’re all just kind of assuming.

What you believe anyways, because the only.

Thing we go off of is this pre-post you’ve never said anything since then or before then or done anything.

And so this is all we’re going off of. So we just kind of assume what you believe, and nobody’s ever asked or heard, and then they just asked what I believed.

And so I just kept it super simple and just said, well, I believe God’s created man. He’s created a woman and he intended.

Marriage to be between just one man and one woman. And that was it. And then we got into a little bit of, I say we, I stayed silent. They got into a little bit of a theological debate.

Debate what the Bible teaches because what also made it kind of tough was, you know, I have a teammate who, you know, her and her wife go.

To church and believe in the Lord and the Bible and, but would interpret the Bible differently than what we would. And so now they’re getting into debate with what they think the Bible says.

And eventually somebody shuts it down and.

Was like, let’s not put the Bible on trial. It’s not what this is about.

So when, when, like when that, and I remember all this and recapping it that evening and over the next few days, but. I’m trying to approach this like I have no recollection of any of it. I want it to be for people that are listening and don’t know any of this. When that teammate who’s a professing Christian but she’s in a gay marriage.

When.

You said that there’s a debate, are two different opposing sides now debating not including you? Or is it multiple angles attacking you?

I would be the opposing side, but.

Again, I wasn’t debating.

Right.

And so it’s more just- It was a debate, but I was the silent side.

Yeah. So it’s everybody kind of taking a different approach at how to lob a shot at you.

Yeah.

And I don’t know if it was intentional lobbing shots at you, but that’s how it’s going. But that’s how it’s going. Yeah. And so they’re just debating, well, no, this is actually what the Bible teaches and- and, you know, a decent majority in there were like, we don’t know what the Bible teaches. Just being honest.

Yeah.

And, and so eventually someone’s like, let’s just not debate the Bible anyways, because, you know, a large majority of them don’t read the Bible or believe that it’s real.

So I think, like, recapping the first day was just a lot of kind of at me, how people felt about it, why they were hurt by it.

Why it was wrong. I probably said that’s a good way to recap the first day.

Yeah. I mean, I remember at the end of the first day, you were almost not encouraged, but you were in a.

Pretty good frame of mind.

You were like, okay, that was rough. That was hard, but, yeah. But it was good. I feel like I finally got to say in the simplest terms, what I believe. And so now that’s kind of behind us. But the second day.

Yeah, I remember. Yeah, I. Yeah, I called you after, and I was going to hang out with the family afterwards, which. Which was great because we talked about Community. I could have gone home to my apartment, been by myself.

But instead I was with these guys just hanging out in community, which was really good.

But the next day, I remember, I.

Don’T know if I was texting you or somebody, but I was like, oh.

There’S no way this day is gonna. Yeah, it can’t be worse than yesterday.

Yep.

So I walk in, and now we’re sitting in a circle. So, you know, at first day, I couldn’t see everybody’s face. I would try. If someone was talking directly to me, I would try to look at them.

But I just couldn’t see everybody’s face.

Well, the second day, we’re sitting in.

A circle, so you can’t see everybody’s face. And.

I think, I don’t think the woman was gonna, she wasn’t intentionally trying to make the whole thing about me again. I think she wanted to talk about the actual topic of team values. But she did open the floor at the beginning was just like, hey, after time of reflection, people have slept on it and gotten to think about it. Does anybody have anything they want to add from yesterday? Well, I thought Camp was going to.

Get brought up the first day, and nobody ever brought it up because I knew my teammates hated Camp. And I knew a bunch of people who are Angel City fans hated Camp.

Because, like, tracking back a little bit, I don’t know, probably two, three weeks after the incident, I start catching wind that you know, I wear my snowbird.

Shirts all the time in my hats.

When I start catching wind, my teammates.

Are just getting mad that I’m wearing this stuff around, like showing up to.

Work every day in my snowbird shirt.

So I stopped wearing it because I know it’s kind of triggering them to.

Be mad at me. So even though I think it’s silly.

I’m like, all right, well, if I.

Can stop wearing this stuff and it’ll make them not mad, then I’ll do it. And so I know these guys hate camp.

Well, that’s the first thing that gets brought up on the second day.

Just, I don’t remember who it was.

But someone brought up of, yeah, I.

Kind of want to talk about this whole camp thing that she’s a part of because, you know, she works for us, she works for them. Pretty conflicting jobs.

We just don’t get why you’d want.

To be a part of both and.

How you think you can be a part of both. Kind of situation. And so then we spent the next.

Three hours talking about, okay, what is Camp? What do I do for Camp?

What do we teach at Camp?

Just everything about it. And it was kind of tough because you guys, I mean, y’all know I love, I come back every winter and.

We’Re at Camp because I love it and. So it’s stunk because they hate it and we’re just coming for it.

Yeah.

It’s kind of like I can take a whooping, a beating, ridicule, say what you want to about me, but when someone says something about somebody you love, that’s what gets you. Even, you know, last night we’re at that basketball game, and there was a point where a couple of kids and even a dad yelled some derogatory things at our team. And it wasn’t even at my daughter, but it was. But I felt my blood pressure just. Yeah.

Because you know them.

Yeah.

And if they’d have been yelling that stuff at me, it wouldn’t.

I wouldn’t even.

They could have yelled whatever they wanted or whatever. I mean, enough of it. And you start to get maybe a little bit perturbed, but. But, like, one little bit targeted at somebody you love and you get that. That gets to you. So now they’re attacking the ministry that you love and that loves you and.

Yeah.

Family to you.

And they don’t know, you know, they don’t know anything about camp. So it was a good opportunity to.

Share with them what camp is, what we teach. But it’s all based off y’all, the statement of faith page that camp has posted, which, honestly, I didn’t know existed.

Until January of last year when I signed on.

Somebody had made a comment about it. Oh, this girl works at this Camp. This is what their statement of Faith page says. So everything is based off of one sentence in that statement of Faith. You know what sentence I’m talking about?

Yeah. It has to do with sexuality and.

Marriage, where it’s listing things we believe.

The Bible teaches is sinful, and they just hate it. They hate and so they’re just coming.

For camp and they don’t know you guys.

Never been, which, like you said, I think that’s why I was getting me.

Because.

They clearly are expressing that they don’t like it. They don’t think I should be a part of it.

And again, it turns to a conversation of, okay, we’re just assuming again.

What it is that you believe.

Maybe you work there and don’t agree.

With what they teach on everything or.

Or maybe you do. And so it came down to, all right, well, like, answer it for us, yes or no.

Do you believe what, like, this Camp has as their statements of faith? And I was like, I do. I believe this is what the Bible teaches.

And there have been other conversations, too, because you know, some people, I never heard any of my teammates say this.

I just saw this with people thinking it’s a conversion type camp and in.

Reference to conversion therapy first for homosexuals.

Yeah. And people thinking that, that I’ve been brainwashed into it. And, you know, I didn’t grow up.

Going to church until I was 16.

So. You know, you gotta throw that out.

Because I wasn’t brainwashed into it.

And then I remember having a couple of conversations of why didn’t get brainwashed by Camp either? Because by the time I knew Camp.

Existed, I’d already been a Christian for.

I don’t know, two years. And then three by the time I.

Started working and.

Already had views based.

On what the Bible teaches, and so. Now you gotta throw that out too. And it never, what stunk is it.

Never really, nothing really ever got.

There’s never any closure that second day.

We, we finished, you know, we tried to and it became a conversation of, somebody made a comment and said, okay, what, like we’re debating all of this, we’re having this conversation, great, but like.

What are, what’s the next steps, what.

Are we gonna do?

About this.

Is there space for Katie to have her views and be a Christian and.

For other people to have opposite views?

And so we talked about a little bit. They had asked me what I thought.

Maybe could be next steps, and I just said something like, if I were.

To you know, say what I thought the team would want. It’d be for me to stop working at Camp, stop associating with them.

And change my views.

I was like, that’s what I am perceiving that you guys will want.

And I’m not gonna. That’s not gonna happen.

Yeah.

And, you know, a couple people were.

Like, no, we’re not trying to change your view or make you not a Christian.

The only thing that was really said.

Is just, are you willing to, I hate this phrase, are you willing to do the work?

Which means try to be open-minded.

Yes, to work, yeah, open-minded to work.

On changing your view of homosexuality. I hate that phrase. A lot because I’m like, I don’t know what else the other. I don’t know what the other work they’d be talking about is. So it did not. It didn’t end very well.

At that point.

I just, you know, you get a group of 25 girls in the same room, it’s people crying.

Emotions are running. I mean, including myself. This is strange, you know, the whole year.

I. I’m not a big cryer at all.

I’m not.

But, I mean, at least for the.

First two, three weeks, I couldn’t. I’d be going about my day. I didn’t even see anything.

And something just hit me. And I’m just sitting there crying.

I don’t know what happened. But, yeah, emotions, you just run in the room. People are upset, people are crying while talking, and I was fine. The whole meeting.

And then both days when the meetings ended. I would go in my car and Mae would come with me, sitting there with me.

She stuck up for you one time?

Yeah, the first day she spoke up and you know, Mae’s not a Christian.

But she, you know, we’ve been friends.

For seven, eight years now. Went to college all together and both.

Played in Iceland together and she just had the argument of I’ve been friends.

With her this long and I’ve seen how she’s treated everybody.

And how she still treats everybody and acts around everybody and.

She’S not saying.

You gotta follow what she follows or anything.

She’s not treating anybody differently or and.

Just saying I don’t get why she.

Can’T have her views and y’all have.

Your views and we just all be on the same team and not be hateful towards each other and if that makes sense.

Nobody really responded.

That was kind of at a time where folks were just kind of chiming in.

Sharon, yeah, the first day.

So when that second day of meetings was over, inclusion therapy or whatever they call it, that was all over. Where did you go from there? I mean, just kind of go back to work.

Yeah, so I go to my car. I’m now on the phone with my mom.

With M.A.

M.A.

Is talking for me because I can’t talk. And I remember my mom getting so mad.

It was really funny.

She was like, do I need to get on airplane and fly over there.

And tell some people off and then pack all your stuff and move you home?

I was like, I don’t know.

Maybe. Yeah.

I mean, at that point, we have very different views. Me and my mom and.

But she was not happy with how the club was handling it because.

One of their main founding core values.

Is in being inclusive.

They’re contradicting. Yeah. So my mom, it’s total hypocrisy.

And my mama say, she told me, she said, okay, maybe I don’t agree with your post.

I’m like, that’s fine. You don’t have to agree with it. But she said, I just don’t agree with how you’re being treated with all this because they’re, they saying they want to be inclusive club, but now. They’re not.

They’re not inclusive.

Yeah.

They’re inclusive as long as you agree with them, which is not what inclusivity is. It is the height of hypocrisy. It’s hypocrisy at its worst because people will say, I can’t be a Christian. I don’t want to follow Jesus because of all the hypocrisy I’ve seen. There is no more hypocritical world than.

The world of.

Progressive inclusivity and inclusion because we’re inclusive as long as you’re walking to the beat of our drum, as long as you’re adhering to our narrative, as long as you’re agreeing with what we say. As soon as you don’t agree with that, then we’re going to deal with you. That’s not inclusivity. It’s like what they’re saying is you need to agree, you need to be inclusive of our views. Yeah, but we’re not going to be inclusive of any other views. I mean, it’s asinine, like. Yeah, but the Lord grew you through. I remember having conversations with you. It’s like, I know. Can’t imagine what you’re going through, but you’re gonna look back at this and you’re gonna see how the Lord’s grown you.

Yeah.

Because I remember talking to y’all, you.

Know, because I would talk with you, Zach. It’s been through a lot. Sometimes on a phone call together, sometimes separately a lot. And I remember talking to y’all after the second day. I was like, I remember talking to you on the phone and being like.

I don’t know if I can keep doing this. This is how it’s going to be for the next two months while I got left. I don’t know if I can do this. I didn’t want to cave in a situation like that.

I’ve been saying it might just be better for me to just pack my.

Stuff and go home and I’ll deal with whatever consequences there are for the club for leaving. And I remember us, you might have.

Said it just, all right, take a few days, think about it, pray about it. And so I did. And I was definitely emotional on the phone call the first time.

And then talking with all of you guys the next week, being like, no, I’m staying. You know, the Lord’s got me here. I’m going to finish the season. I’m gonna still try to be a really great teammate, not let these gods affect my emotions and how I’m acting.

How I’m working. Can I go to practice every day? Try to find joy in it. Try to have fun.

Can I still work hard every day?

And so it was good because After that, it really did change. My mindset changed for the rest of the season where I just want to go have fun, be a good teammate still.

It was a chance for people to see a consistent Christian in that team and outsiders too.

Just trying to be a consistent Christian in that environment.

Well, we don’t know how the Lord’s.

Going to use it down the road.

You finished your time there well and God’s opened up some cool doors and opportunities. I think next year is going to be a lot more enjoyable.

I don’t want to say a better year.

God’s got a plan in every chapter of our lives. Talk a little bit about what’s next, what you got coming up.

Yes, so I, you know, I signed a two-year contract with Angel City and.

I asked before the season was over, hey, I’d like to go back over to Europe. Can we mutually agree to terminate this contract? And they said yes. And.

Originally I had wanted to maybe try playing in mainland Europe and see if 15 would pick me up in January. But I knew I had the option.

As well to go back to Iceland to play for Thróttur and reached out to those guys and they were all in real quick.

Yeah.

And so they sent an offer.

They sent me a contract a couple weeks ago. I finally signed my papers yesterday for.

Angel City to terminate the contract.

Signed the contract this morning for Thróttur.

And moving out there in February.

And now we just got to come up with a mascot.

Katie, they don’t need mascots. They don’t got them in Europe.

Katie’s laughing because I was like, man, why don’t soccer have mascots? But they don’t. And so I was, I had some great ideas for mascots, but I think they’re happy not having one.

Yeah, because they don’t, they don’t grow up with them over there. They don’t, I wish you could explain this to me.

I know, but it’s just, too fun.

To bring it in.

I wish you could have seen my teammates faces last year when I was there, when y’all sent those videos for our cup game, because you were like.

Y’All need a mascot.

And I don’t remember exactly what you said, but you gave it, like, the hammer of Thor.

Yeah, man. Iceland. Come on.

And you were just talking and talking.

And talking on this video, and my teammates are all like, this man’s crazy.

So, like.

The all the NSR listeners think the same thing.

Yeah, it was just entertaining because they’re all Icelandic and that’s not their culture at all. And now they’re listening to this mountain man in North Carolina.

Oh my gosh, they gotta be like.

Going on one of his speels about mascots.

Hey, you wait, we’re getting ready to have, I’m gonna have a couple of guests on here in the next, in the next six weeks. They’re local dudes. It’s gonna blow people’s minds when they hear these guys talk. Kilby and Greg had me send some video of some local buddies of mine, mountain guys, that thick, thick, thick, thick Southern Appalachian accent that people, even people from the South can’t understand. It’s not a Southern accent, it’s an Appalachian accent. And it’s not just an Appalachian accent, it’s a Southern Appalachian. So like, Appalachia, Pennsylvania is different than Appalachia, North Georgia, West North Carolina, East Tennessee. And it’s pretty, it’s pretty funny.

It’s funny, too.

We were talking, I remember what you’re doing. You’re like, man, my teammates, when you.

Were at La and you were here.

Visiting, you’re like, my teammates wouldn’t believe this. We were killing chickens or. I don’t remember what we were doing, but you’re like, they just, it’s a different world, the world they come out of. Even the fact that we split wood and build fires in the fire pit.

You know?

Yeah.

Stuff like that. Just.

Yeah.

Just funny teasing. Because, you know, they all know I.

Work on grounds here and literally work with firewood every single week. And they would tease me a lot. Yeah.

Because it’s so different.

It’s.

When I’m on a team playing soccer.

It’S just such a whole new world and different life then.

Well, you know, when I get to be here.

Yeah. Which is true of pretty. I mean, that’s anybody that comes here for the most part. It’s a unique. This is very unique. What do you.

What?

I’d like to end with a word. First off, everybody go follow. Spell the team you’re going to be playing for.

T. T-H-R-O-T-T-U-R.

T-H-R-O-T-T.

But it might, it might start with the letter P with a stem on.

Top, depending on if you’re looking at it in the Icelandic.

Yes, because that is how you, that letter is pronounced with the, okay, the throat.

And, I mean, people can just follow you on social media. And I would, I would encourage you. So Katie doesn’t have a huge, you don’t, you, you don’t just exhaust yourself on social media, but you got a footprint there. And that’s where I think people could encourage you. I’ve said, you know, we encouraged our people here to, hey, if you’re on Instagram, get on Instagram and encourage Katie and make it known. But that’s also how they can kind of keep up with you and your journey. Instagram is your main social media platform.

Yeah.

So it’d be cool for folks to follow you.

We’ll be following you.

What’s something you’d say you’d encourage somebody as far as You know, you’ve come through this trial now where you’ve gone through something that very few of us will ever go through as far as you have legitimately been persecuted for your faith in the West in America. People say, you know, I’ve heard so often, well, we may not be persecuted like they are in Iran or North Korea, but one day we’re going to be persecuted here and it might be a different kind of persecution. No, you have walked through now ridicule and persecution for your faith. And is there anything How would you encourage a kid that is trying to take a stand for the Lord at school and be faithful to what they know God wants them to be faithful to, or to someone who is in the workplace? Maybe they work as a medical professional, or maybe they work in a corporate setting at Starbucks or an Apple store, where there tends to be a strong liberal or Progressive worldview.

You know, I think a big part of also what was very important through all of it was we talked about somewhere, you know, I had teammates that maybe could have done this with me, but I was. They did it, and I was alone. And so I spent so much time just praying about it.

Like, my Reliance on the Lord became.

So much more because I was doing it by myself.

And then I was just, it made me think about, you know, I went.

And talked to Juju’s FCA not too.

Long ago, and I was just talking to them about the first, I think it’s like 10 verses of Psalm 35, and I think it’s 35, and it’s.

Titled, He’s Not Gonna Forsake His Saints, and it just has like good clear instruction of, Just commit to the Lord. Fret not, don’t worry about it. You know, we still put in work, but like just spending time praying to the Lord, trying not to worry about it. Spending time in His Word, reading. And.

I feel like during that time.

I was spending so much time just with the Lord constantly thinking about it, praying about it, reading about it, meditating on it.

I think that was what helped me so much.

Just get through it, keeping my mind afresh of what the Lord says about me, what He’s done, the attributes of God being, you know, kind and compassionate and gracious and merciful.

I just reminding myself constantly of those attributes of him. I think in his spiritual sense that way, but, like, a practical sense.

I think that is practical. I think that the. I think the practicality of what Christ has provided for us, what the Lord’s given us, is we can meet with him daily.

Yeah.

We can drink from the truths of his word daily. That’s nourishment for our soul, you know?

Yeah, it was day in and day out.

Just constant, constant, constant.

You realize in a different way, in a heightened way, how much you need the Lord daily.

Yes.

How reliant you are on him.

Yeah.

And it’s so awesome looking back now.

On it, being like, man, he grew.

Me so much during that time and, you know, not regretting any of it.

Because he grew me a lot.

And like I said, grew me in a way that drew me closer to.

Him and Reliance on him way more than when I went to La.

And just created habits of, you know, I used to wake up sometimes early and spend time in the word and stuff.

But when that happened, it was every single morning because I needed it and. Now I love that I have that habit and I love waking up in.

The mornings now and just reading. So I don’t know, I think it’s.

Like little things, but it was, I don’t know what would have happened if it hadn’t happened.

Yeah, yeah, I think those are the two big takeaways for me. How much we need the Lord daily, time in His Word, time in reflection and meditation, and how much we need one another.

And.

And how we can go through anything.

If we have that.

And. Yeah.

Good reminders. All right.

Go.

Dragons, unicorns, tigers.

No, you can say Livy Throater.

Go. Livy Throater.

No, no, no.

The saying is Livy Throater. Or you can say alfram Throater. That means, let’s go.

Let’s go. All right, we’re pulling for you. Hey, kick some, make some goals. I know you’re, I know you’re attacking mid.

B-I-B.

Be a boss.

Let’s go.

All right.

Well, thank you, Katie. Thanks so much for taking the time to sit down. And we are going to be praying for Katie and ask all of y’all, all of our listeners to be in prayer for her. Just to, if you have a way of communicating with her, she’s easy to find on social media. Instagram, I think, is the primary platform, but she’s on all platforms. But I think most in the professional, in the world of professional athletics, I think Instagram’s the primary, the number one.

Platform, but Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, all that.

So let her know you’re supporting her and she’ll be encouraged by, I want to read and just closing thoughts here. I want to read a quote from James Lindsay. James Lindsay is a sort of a voice of reason, really, when it comes to issues of social justice or where.

Do you find clarity and common sense.

When it comes to things like critical race theory, woke theory, cancel culture, woke ideology, How do you keep your wits about you? And he just speaks real candidly. He’s pretty bold guy and I don’t know a lot about his faith. I believe he’s a believer. I’ve not studied him a lot, but I have listened to several things he’s done and several things he’s put out and he’s super helpful. Listen, I feel like this sums up Katie’s situation and particularly think back to that moment where Katie spends those two days in the hot seat, literally in the hot seat. And this is, this is what’s meant.

I think, a lot of times. This is, this is what we mean.

When we talk about gaslighting. It’s like this is kind of in that category, that realm. Listen what James, James Lindsay says. The point of the struggle session displayed in all my replies is to get me to confess that the Optics are bad or that I was in some way, however tiny in the wrong. And to get me to injure my friends in the process. Of course, that’s false and wrong. Stay with me. If I lose you here in this Lindsay quote, I’m gonna give some commentary to it. The structure of a struggle session is to create outstanding amounts of psychological, emotional, and social pressure while offering what appears to be a pathway to its resolution. In this case, explaining myself. It’s the same abusive tactic that Mal used and it will not work on me. James Lindsay said that. So let me let me explain what he’s saying there and then read the quote again Basically, when Katie is put in the hot seat and the questions are pointed at her. What do you really believe about marriage? We’ve never asked you what you believe.

What do you believe?

And there’s this sort of like this open arms.

You know what?

Let’s give you a fair shake here. Let’s give you the opportunity to answer. But then the real goal is to move you to a place where you, as you hear yourself say it out loud, you’re ashamed of your position or you feel like, man, I need to just own some of this and apologize and we can move forward. It’s very manipulative. So let me read it again. The point of the struggle session, which in Katie, by the way, in Katie’s situation was that inclusion, inclusion therapy or the intervention that they brought that lady in to run. The point of the struggle session displayed in all my replies is to get me to confess that the optics are bad or that I was in some way however tiny in the wrong and to get me to injure my friends in the process. Of course that’s false and wrong. The structure of a struggle session is to create outstanding amounts of psychological, emotional and social pressure while offering what appears to be a pathway to its resolution. In this case, explaining myself. It’s the same abusive tactic Mal used and it won’t work on me. That’s what James Lindsay said.

And it didn’t work on Katie. She never once admitted to wrongdoing because she had done nothing wrong. She simply supported a man’s stance to live by biblical conviction that has nothing to do with hatred or I’m sick of hearing the word phobia. Homophobic, transphobic. I’m not scared of any of this. I’m not afraid of homosexuals. I’m not afraid of trans people. So find a new word to use. And you could lecture me on, well, phobia means and you can go into your psychological nuances, it’s all semantics. I have no fear of any man. Katie has no fear of any movement. She’s resolved to be faithful to the convictions and principles of scripture that have been played out in her life since she accepted accepted Christ as a teenager. And you’re not going to, she’s not going to capitulate and you can’t play mind games. And people that live with resolve are rooted. That resolve is rooted in scripture and biblical conviction. And I would encourage all of our listeners to live with that same kind of resolve. And maybe to do it. The one thing that was so powerful and, and yet beautiful in Katie’s Journey was she wasn’t roaring at people.

She wasn’t making She wasn’t quoting, she wasn’t going to social media and quoting, you know, right-wing ideology. She simply held the course and loved people well day to day. I think so many Christians right now are caught up in the wrong battle. It’s like we’re gonna fight for our rights. No, we don’t have to fight for anything. We need to live resolved. Daniel did not fight for anything. Daniel lived as a man who was resolved to be faithful to his Lord and he trusted that the Lord would be the one that would give him and grant him the grace and the strength and the mercy to stand firm in the face of persecution, ridicule, ideological.

Assault where Daniel was sent to the.

Babylonian University where philosophy was, and there was a brainwashing technique that would drive.

You to embrace Babylonian ideology and philosophy.

And he stayed stood firm and stood fast. And when the kingdom of Babylon fell after 70 years and in that fall, the Persian Empire came into power, Daniel was still there. He outlasted, Daniel outlasted the Babylonian Empire.

And I can tell you right now.

These activist soccer players, Katie’s faith and her faithfulness to the Lord and usefulness in ministry is going to outlast their career and their effectiveness on the social justice stage. It’s going to because she’s resolved. And this young lady who is today busting, splitting firewood and stacking it so that when students come here in a few weeks to have the first session of winter swo, think sit around a fire, be warmed in the evening through conversation about the things they’ve heard and learned. And nobody, none of them will know that an elite professional athlete made that fire a reality. Katie is simply serving the gospel in the dark, in obscurity, and Jesus speaks to that. He says, be aware, be careful if you do your works before men, because you may receive your reward before men. Well, with Katie, she is using her gifts and talents as a soccer player to honor the Lord and to live.

Faithfully and to live on mission and.

To not capitulate or yield to the world’s demands and ideologies, but to do so gently, with the wisdom and humility of a serpent, of a dove as Jesus instructed. And it’s very encouraging and challenging to me.

We don’t have to be obnoxious to.

Stand firm and to be resolved and to push back against what the world.

Wants to close in on us.

So let’s learn from Katie’s story and let’s pray for Katie and let’s live as men and women who are convicted and resolved to be faithful to Jesus. Let’s love people well. Recognizing that until people see the light, the light that is provided by the gospel, then they’re gonna, they’re gonna live in a deceived and broken state. And Jesus is still the hope of the world. In my, in my personal study, I have that rainbow numbered jersey that Katie refused to wear.

And it is now, it is literally an Ebenezer.

It is a memorial stone in my, in my personal space. That I see daily to be reminded of her boldness and of the resolve of one woman who stood literally alone for a season, held up and supported by the prayers and encouragement of God’s people, but in that struggle session, that inclusion session, she sat alone with no support and God gave her the strength she needed to stand firm as hard as it was. He’ll give you the strength you need today to stand firm and to live for Jesus and to be a loving.

Person but a person of conviction.

Thanks for listening. Excited to follow up next week with a session. If I can bring everything together, I’ll sit down with John Rouleau and we’re gonna talk about Katie’s story and give some further commentary and thoughts on it and how it helps us be aware of what’s going on today and then.

How we might respond to it and.

Apply it in our own personal lives. Thank y’all. Have an awesome week.

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