2013 Swordsmen Basketball has begun!

The athletes have been practicing hard,
honing their skills,
and learning to work
together as a team.

This afternoon both teams will be traveling to Mass for a "preseason" holiday tournament.  They will be playing games today as well as tomorrow. 

 Pray for the athletes and the coaches, for safety, God honoring play, and good team bonding.

Regular season games start after the Christmas break. Home games will be played at NE College once again this year.
 Hope you will come out, watch a few games and cheer for our Trinity Swordsmen!

Lady Swordsmen Volleyball Seniors

#5 Cassidy McKinnon ~Libero (defensive specialist), Team Captain
Cassidy has been part of the team for 4 years.
Being part of a team, Cass says, has taught her "how to work together with others in order to succeed" as well as helped her keep in shape. 
She also plays spring soccer, enjoys running, and has been playing piano for several years.
A couple of her most enjoyable/memorable moments from volleyball are the team bonding overnights in Maine, and beating Dublin.

#7 Lindsey Willett ~Outside Hitter
This is Lindsey's second year on the team.
Being part of a team, Lindsey says, has allowed her to "create friendships with girls she may not have had the opportunity to otherwise" and she will "miss every single one of them next year"! 
  Lindsey has been playing piano for 11 years, she also plays hand bells, sings in the choir, both school and church, and wants to be a cosmetologist.  Some of her most enjoyable/memorable moments from volleyball are the team bonding overnight excursions, the pasta party food fight, and Coach L's goodies. 
"Beating SMCA, Victory and Dublin was definitely memorable this season"!

#12 Kaeleigh Sparkman ~Outside Hitter, Team Captain
Kaeleigh has been part of the team for 4 "awesome" years.
Being part of a team, Kaeleigh says, has helped her "realize that any talents I have are God given and I need to give Him the glory for anything he does through me."  "Preferring others above myself and being more physically/mentally disciplined" are also some benefits of being part of the team.
  Kaeleigh plays basketball, spring soccer and softball.  She also plays violin, hand bells, and sings in the school choir. She enjoys reading, working out and pasta.  Some of her most enjoyable/memorable moments from volleyball are being with teammates and getting to know each other, singing Disney songs, and calling graduted seniors on first game day. Kaeleigh also has enjoyed the team bonding overnights in Maine and getting new game day shirts.

#15 Carrie Andrews ~Setter, Team Captain
Carrie has been part of the team for 4 "amazingly, awesome" years.
Being part of a team, Carrie says, has taught her to "do my best in everything."
 Carrie also plays basketball and spring soccer for the  Lady Swordsmen. She plays piano, and enjoys baking, spending time with family, working out and chocolate! 
Some of her most enjoyable/memorable moments from volleyball are talking as a team, winning games, Maine team bonding overnights, pasta parties and tournament parties.

TCS vs LCS Volleyball

Trinity traveled to Laconia Christian School for the last regular season game.

 

 
  The Lady Swordsmen played 
with confidence and focus, 
leading to a 5-0 win today.

They showed improvement 

at the service line, 

proving if they serve with 

confidence they will be successful

Coach and Mrs. Coach with Mushu (aka Squishy Duck)

 

The Squishy Duck Award 

went to Heather for her 

serving, passing, 

court position and for 
using her hands to set!

"I was encouraged and excited,

 looking for them to continue 

this play into tournament"

  --Coach Oxford                  

Lady Swordsmen at SMCA

The Lady Swordsmen started out flat and 

struggled to find their rhythm, 

losing to SMCA in 4 sets.

The Squishy Duck Award was given to Caroline for 

her ability to keep calm in a tough set, and stepping up 

her game while playing in her first full rotation.

 "We encourage the girls to 

learn from this experience, 

and to strive for excellence 

both personally and 

as a team"

 --Coach & Mrs. Coach

Trinity girls volleyball plays Dublin at NEC

What an awesome match! We started slow but with some help from the bench, the team was re-energized!

After losing the first 2 sets to Dublin, 

25-22 and 25-15,

The Swordsmen came back to win it in five! 

25-16, 25-23, and 15-6.

The Squishy Duck Award was presented to our two middle hitters: Carolyn and Jules for their outstanding contribution to the team effort.

Of note was the most dramatic spike of the season, delivered by Jules, the first of many to come.

"After seeing them struggle in the first game it was great to see them not give up and pull together, for a great team victory". --Coach Oxford

Coach L inspired the team after Thursday's loss with these words: "Without losses, we wouldn't appreciate the wins as much"!

Our next match is Tuesday at South Merrimack...don't miss it!

This weeks Tuesday & Thursday volleyball games

The Lady Swordsmen traveled to Somersworth 

on Tuesday to play Tri-City. 

Captains leading devotions on the way to the game

Trinity took the match in

 three sets; 

25-10, 29-27 & 25-16.

Great all around team play,

with the subs getting 

more playtime.

Because of they have been working so hard, subbing them into the game was seamless!
  
"We notched up our offense, which bodes well for the future"! --Coach Oxford

Squishy duck was awarded to Sparky for her focused aggressive play.

Thursday's Home game was against Victory

It was an exciting match with 

both teams swapping wins.

Trinity took the first and third sets

 25-19, 25-19

Victory won the second and fourth sets

 25-19, 25-23

Victory won the tie breaker 

15-12

  

"The team struggled from the service line, otherwise it was a very good game. They played solid offense and we were pleased 

with their communication." --Coach and Mrs. Coach

Squishy Duck Award went to Taylor for her strong setting efforts 

along with a couple back row spikes she ripped down the line.

Lady Swordsmen at Dublin

For those of you who were unable to get to the match on Friday at Dublin, 

you missed some exciting volleyball! 

Dublin came out on top, but only two points separated

 the teams in each set; 25-23, 27-25, 28-26.

Regardless of the score, the coaches 

on both teams were thrilled with the level of play! 

  "I was encouraged by the hitting

 and blocking by our girls"

--Coach Oxford

Home or away....

we are truly thankful

 to all who come out to support the team!

Sports . . . More Than Just a Game

 Growing up, I lived for sports.  It didn’t matter the game—I was in!  All in!  The thrill of victory, the rivalry between opponents, the desire to succeed, and the cheers from fans were, at the time, what fueled my drive to compete.  It didn’t matter the season or the sport; I wanted to play.

Through my high-school years, I was privileged to experience what many would see as success.  But I can clearly remember an empty feeling that would overwhelm me after the cheers from the fans had ceased and the awards had been handed out.  I remember thinking: “This is it?  This is what first place feels like?”  Yet, despite this feeling, I would push for the next achievement—I would train harder, go to another camp, join another league—in order to experience what I thought was the thrill of victory.  Little did I know that my imagination had created an illusion of success that could never be attained—no matter how great the accomplishment.

Unfortunately, my desire back then was driven by wrong motives.  I wanted to succeed so that I could look good; it was all about me.  It was not until I was in my college years that I began to grasp a bigger purpose for athletics.  A purpose that is far superior to any human accolades or earthly achievements—a goal, that once understood, leads me to proclaim that, for the believer, sports are much more than a game.  I have come to understand that sporting events provide the believer with scenarios for glorifying God.  Every athletic opportunity for the Christian is an opportunity to magnify our great God.  Let me highlight just a few of the opportunities that God, in His grace, has allowed me to experience through my athletic endeavors—opportunities that I pray and desire to be seized each and every time I participate in an athletic contest regardless of whether I am a contestant, referee, coach, or spectator.

• Athletics can serve as an opportunity for the believer to maintain the body that God has given to us.  Remember, there is some profit in exercise (1 Tim. 4:8).

•  Sports venues provide occasions for Christians to develop godly habits.  Hard work (Col. 3:23), teamwork (Phil. 1:27; Rom. 12:16), punctuality (Eccl. 3:1), proper response to authority (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17), perseverance (2 Cor. 4:8, 9; 16-18), loyalty (Jn 15:13), self-control (1 Cor. 9:22; Gal. 5:24, 25; Prov. 21:23), and the list could go on.  This can happen in one of two ways.  Either an existing positive trait will be built upon, or a negative quality will be revealed through athletics that can then be corrected and replaced with the God-honoring quality.  Sports, in my opinion, are one of the best opportunities for this type of discipleship—but we will save that argument for another blog post.

• Building on the previous point, athletics allow us a venue for God’s children to display a Christ-like life.  Don’t forget, we are to be distinct from the world and this “otherness” can be used as an attractant to the Gospel (Mt. 5:13-16).

• Sports allow us avenues for quickly and easily developing relationships.  Friendships established with other believers provide outlets for demonstrating the commands and patterns of the New Testament (Acts 2:42; Heb. 10:24).  On the flip side, athletics allow believers to, almost effortlessly, build bridges into the lives of those who need Christ.  As this happens, we have the opportunity and obligation to carry out the Great Commission (Mt. 28: 18-20).

But, as any athlete knows, opportunities must be exploited.   Nothing is gained if a defender gives us a shot and we fail to take it.  There is no advantage to be had if we neglect to execute a swift counter attack.  The same is true with the spiritual opportunities that await the believer.  There will be no eternal gain as a result of our sports if we are not intentionally seizing the opportunities that are placed before us. 

 

Opportunities abound in abundance.  Opportunities that will lead to eternal rewards—the kind that don’t leave me with the empty feeling of high-school days, but rather a satisfaction of knowing that God has been glorified through my participation in sports.  Let’s be ‘all in’ for the right reasons.

Soccer Recap

On Tuesday, the Swordsmen traveled to Victory.  The guys demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship and finished with a 6 - 0 win.  Scoring was once again spread out with David and Tol each placing two in the back of the net and Taylor and Dan tallying one each.

Yesterday, South Merrimack travelled to compete against the Swordsmen.  The Swordsmen started strong, tallying two goals (Taylor and Jonathan) within the first 15 minutes.  SMCA countered and the score was 2 -1 at halftime.  Eight minutes into the second half, South Merrimack scored the equalizer.  The rest of the match was well fought and the game ended in  2 - 2 tie.

"I think we learned a lot this week.  Some strengths were highlighted and some weaknesses revealed.  We definitely have areas where we can improve.  I'm confident that our team will be better and stronger because of the lessons learned this week"  Coach Shaw

An exciting match against SMCA on Thursday

Trinity took the match in four sets: 25-19, 13-25, 25-12, 25-15. 

It was a great volleyball match: with serving, passing, setting, hitting, blocking and digging....

everything that makes a volleyball match exciting to play and watch.

The Lady Swordsmen's team work brought them back a couple times,

when they were behind, once by several points.

"We were so pleased with how the girls stayed together in their 

toughest match of the season so far"

 --Coach & Mrs. Coach  

The Squishy Duck Award went to Jules 

for raising her net game to a new level!

The team squares off against Dublin on Tuesday; 

you're not going to want to miss it!

Lady Swordsmen travel to Victory

Team Devotional heading to the game.

  Such an exciting match against Victory, each set was decided by 4 or less points, 

after several lead changes, 

Trinity's team play and 

persistence led to the win! 

Victory took the first set 25-22. 

Trinity came back strong to take 

the second set 25-23.

Trinity came from behind 19-24 to win the third set 26-24. 

The fourth set proved to be just 

as intense with 

Trinity winning 

the set 25-21.                                                                 

 

 "It was exciting to see the team play together.

No matter which way the momentum was going, 

they continued to play

as a team". --Coach Oxford 

 The Squishy Duck Award went to 

Sparky for keeping a 

cool head, and keeping the team

 in the game at crucial points.

Team!

Prayer after winning the match...giving God the glory!

TCS vs. Tri-City

A big thanks to Julie for taking such great pictures of the soccer game!

Trinity hosts Laconia Christian School

Both teams gather as Coach Oxford prays.

 Many thanks to all
who came out 
to support the team, 
and to the soccer team 
for their enthusiasm!

Trinity took the match 
in three sets;

25-3, 25-15, and 25-10. 

As well as two extra sets;

25-11 and 25-10.

"The team came together and 

played together whatever 

the situation" --Coach Oxford

"I was proud of the teams' focus today"--Coach L

The Squishy Duck Award 
went to Taylor for stepping up her game in a variety of roles on the court.

Starting on the right foot

The Swordsmen soccer started their regular season in stunning fashion by defeating Tri-City Christian Academy by a score of 4-1.  The Swordsmen demonstrated a balanced attack with 4 different players scoring the goals. 

"Winning is great, but being able to honor God before, during, and after the game - regardless of the outcome - is far better than any earthly success we could achieve as a team. One of the highlights for me each game is being able to see the guys take the initiative and commit the game to the Lord - few things excite me more in athletics than when our players learn to give their sports to God."  

Coach Shaw

Seniors Jonathan and Alex prior to kick-off

Congratulations men on the eternal and earthly victories won yesterday.  Keep up the hard work!

Strong start for the Lady Swordsmen!

 Trinity won the game in three sets,

 25-15, 25-10, and 25-19.

 Passing and teamwork were solid.

  

 The squishy duck award went to Lindsey

 in recognition of excellent all-around play, 

and her series of hard driven serves. 

"It was an overall team effort, where everyone stepped up and contributed" --Coach Oxford

                                                                                                                TEAM!

Season Openers Tomorrow!

Our athletes have been working hard

 the last few weeks
 preparing for the season.

Trinity Christian School's Girls volleyball team will travel to play

 Tabernacle tomorrow.

 
 

The Swordsmen soccer team

 will play at home 

against Tri-City.

Come on out and support our athletes!