The weekend of November 19th-21st the USG Team headed to Tampa, FL with the most recent training cohort! The focus of the weekend was learning to live out the core values of USG: Called, Committed, and Connected.
We kicked off the weekend with a "Play to Your Strengths" training session, supporting our students as they explored their Strength Finder Profiles. We discussed the importance of learning how to work in a team with others who have different and complementary Strengths.
We spent the rest of the evening at TopGolf where we enjoyed some friendly competition, a great meal, and quality bonding time.
As the day came to a close we split into prayer groups which was a powerful time of prayer and vulnerability for some of the team's students.
We had a packed schedule on Saturday! We started with a dive into one of USG's favorite passages of scripture, Acts 2:42-47. This study, "The Fellowship of Believers", covers the four qualities of believers in the Acts 2 church: relentless devotion, heartfelt affection, sacrificial giving, and contagious joy.
The Bible study was followed by a tour of the University of South Florida Athletics facilities. Tara Arnold, the Executive Administrative Specialist at USF, gave us a great in-depth tour of the entire athletic complex and we wrapped up with a Q&A session.
Our next session was at the Tampa Tarpons Baseball facility at Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees spring training facility.
At the Tarpons, we learned from a panel of industry leaders: Doug Gilchrist, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Chaplin, David Adams, a former professional baseball player and the current Tampa Tarpons Manager, and Justin Watson, a current Wide Receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What a crew!
Everyone left this session feeling on fire, with a renewed sense of purpose, passion, and confidence to be a light for Christ in the sports industry!
After the panel, we made it back to the hotel for some downtime before jumping into our next session on outreach. We reviewed the SHARE Life and GOSPEL models for initiating spiritual conversation. Then, we headed into the city with a collection of Impact bags which we handed out to those in need. This provided us with the opportunity to pray for those we met.
After the outreach, the team gathered at Harpoon Harry's for a great seafood dinner and lots of laughs. The day ended at the hotel. We walked through how to write and share your testimony in 15 seconds and discussed the writing of a life purpose statement.
Sunday began with commissioning from Matthew 13:1-23, the parable of the sower:
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”
Together we attended Radiant Church at their Heights location for the Sunday morning service. Being able to worship together as a team was a great way to wrap up a truly powerful weekend!
If you'd like to experience our USG Academy and a USG Impact Weekend, please contact us. Uncommon Sports Group exists to provide faith-based training to future leaders of the sport industry. If you're interested, you can learn more about our member benefits here. We hope to hear from you soon!
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