Camaraderie centered in Christ, thriving athletic students and… pizza, anyone? 

The Athletic Center for Excellence (ACE) hosted a pizza lunch for freshman athletes Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m. Many students came for the pizza but stayed for the socialization and community as senior ACE interns, Becca Bolster and Nick Brass, welcomed the herds of hungry freshman athletes. 

Bolster, a senior psychology major and track athlete in her fourth year of collegiate sports at Franciscan University, understands the struggles of being a freshman athlete. “It’s definitely difficult to have to balance social life with academics and sports,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of people help me along the way, and so to be able to help my fellow teammates has been a great blessing and very rewarding.”  

The goals of the ACE program are centered around empowering student-athletes in four key pillars: academics, athletics, faith and wellness. ACE emphasizes healthy self-care and developing time-management skills, encouraging success for athletes on and off the field.   

Senior shot putter Nick Brass reflected on the uniqueness of sports at Franciscan. “[I’ve] never been on a sports team like this before. In high school, I was part of track, football and wrestling where you have that brotherhood, and it’s a good thing, but when it’s centered around Christ you can just do so many more things together.” 

The athletic department also promotes an active faith life. When asked what he most enjoys about Franciscan sports, Brass answered without hesitation: “The community we can foster centered around Christ.” ACE hosts retreats, Bible studies and service opportunities for student-athletes. “It’s so cool to watch how you can grow as a community together and follow Christ,” Brass continued.  

Community is a central aspect of athletics at Franciscan. Reflecting on the camaraderie among FUS sports teams, freshman volleyball player Logan Nickey said, “I like how all the teams do a lot of stuff together. So I get to know the other teams better, which I feel like we didn’t do as much in high school.”  

George Phillips, a freshman on the soccer team, shared this sentiment, “My favorite part of being an athlete at Franciscan would be the community aspect. Always getting to hang out with your friends every single day after practice and looking forward to it.” 

Whether it’s organizing study groups and prayer meetings, providing peer mentors and academic advisors or hosting student-athlete nights and pizza luncheons, the Athletic Center for Excellence is working hard to support FUS athletes in every aspect of their lives.