It can be challenging, awkward, and even scary at times to share your faith with your co-workers. Often, the hardest part of it all is knowing what to say. Thankfully, God has given each of us a unique testimony that can shed light on what God has done in our lives and may inspire others to seek out the God we serve. In this podcast, Tarah Nupson, Women's Soccer Goalkeeper Coach at the University of Minnesota, talks about the power of a testimony and how she has gone about sharing her faith in the workplace. A new episode of the Uncommon Podcast is released every two weeks. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, right here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out this week's episode, and be sure to follow our podcast to get alerts when new episodes are released! Curious about Uncommon Sports Group and what our ministry has to offer? Contact us to learn more here! Do you want to join the largest community of future Christian leaders of the college and pro sport industry? Apply to join here!

It is well known within the college and professional sport industries that networking, building relationships, and finding a mentor are vitally important in a young professional's career journey. But, the challenge for a young person is actually knowing how to go about the process of landing a mentor, developing new relationships, and stewarding existing ones. In this episode of the Uncommon Podcast, Deputy Athletic Director at Middle Tennessee State University, Lee De Leon, discusses the value of mentorship in his career journey and how to go about building relationships with present leaders within the college and pro sport industry. A new episode of the Uncommon Podcast is released every two weeks. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, right here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out this week's episode, and be sure to follow our podcast to get alerts when new episodes are released! Curious about Uncommon Sports Group and what our ministry has to offer? Contact us to learn more here! Do you want to join the largest community of future Christian leaders of the college and pro sport industry? Apply to join here!

Have you ever wondered if you can be a successful sport industry professional, and a successful husband or wife? The answer to that question is a resounding yes! Associate Athletics Director of Strategic Marketing with the University of Alabama, Dan Heck, and his wife, Courtney Heck, are a tremendous example of this truth. While it can be challenging to navigate a relationship with the long hours, constant travel, and unpredictable schedule, a long-term relationship within the sport industry is possible! Catch the in-depth podcast with Dan and Courtney on this subject with the player below! A new episode of the Uncommon Podcast is released every two weeks. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, right here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out this week's episode, and be sure to follow our podcast to get alerts when new episodes are released! Curious about Uncommon Sports Group and what our ministry has to offer? Contact us to learn more here! Do you want to join the largest community of future Christian leaders of the college and pro sport industry? Apply to join here!

Uncommon Sports Group was first erected in a graduate school classroom by its founder, Drew Boe. From this project, it became a small non-profit known as Managers On A Mission and has since sprouted to become Uncommon Sports Group. In this inaugural episode of the Uncommon Podcast, the Founder & Executive Director of Uncommon Sports Group, Drew Boe, shares about the inception of the ministry, and where it's headed in the future. A new episode of the Uncommon Podcast is released every two weeks. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, right here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out this week's episode, and be sure to follow our podcast to get alerts when new episodes are released! Curious about Uncommon Sports Group and what our ministry has to offer? Contact us to learn more here! Do you want to join the largest community of Christian future leaders of the college and pro sport industry? Apply to join here!

Before arriving on our trip to Kenya, several things made me quite anxious. You’re probably thinking things such as— traveling clear across the world, contracting some illness, leaving the country for the FIRST time, new culture, leading sports camps to kids who speak a different language.....but that wasn’t it. “Why was God calling me on this mission trip? “ I had barely started pursuing a personal relationship with Him, I surely didn’t know the Bible as well as the other members that were going, and I felt unequipped. {John 13:7} These anxious feelings immediately vanished the first day as the children of Huduma burst out the classroom doors with arms wide open, racing to receive a hug and play with the equipment we brought. Playing sports, praying, and worshipping with the people of Kenya who speak a different language, living an entirely different lifestyle has been incredible! We sometimes struggle to understand each other, yet our motives are the same. We are praying to the same God and worshiping the same Father. Through all of the barriers and difficulties of being in a different culture, we are able to connect through sport, laughter, and a love for Jesus. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; Rather, serve one another humbly in love” - Galatians‬ ‭5:13‬ ‬‬ Learn more about the USG Academy, Impact Weekends, or membership! If you have any questions, contact a USG staff member here!

This past weekend, Uncommon Sports Group took a team of 13 students to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the annual AD’s 4 Christ conference. Our students had the privilege of hearing from incredible guest speakers, such as former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer and the assistant AD of Development at the University of Louisiana, Hans Malebranche. Each guest speaker provided insight on how to be successful in the sports industry as a follower of Christ. Our students also were able to do some amazing tours at Lipscomb and Vanderbilt’s basketball facilities. USG’s own Matthew Dompreh gave our group a tour of Vanderbilt’s football facilities and stadium! The weekend was capped off at Ethos church and outreach in small groups after service. Each group passed out impact bags to people who needed help around the city and a plethora of amazing conversations happened! If you prayed for our group, we thank you and prayers we’re definitely answered as our students were able to grow spiritually and professionally this weekend! Learn more about the USG Academy, Impact Weekends, or membership! If you have any questions, contact a USG staff member here!

Over the weekend of May 21st to 23rd, 2021, USG was in Atlanta with Team 25 of the USG Academy! This Impact Weekend was fruitful in building connections between our members and networking with some tremendous southeastern sport organizations. Friday was dedicated to Gallup CliftonStrengths Training and Bible studies. We then started Saturday off with some guest speakers, visited Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion, and spent the afternoon at an Atlanta Braves game. Our staff and students had an impactful outreach event Sunday morning as we distributed impact box content to people in need throughout the city. We were able to pray for many individuals and witness seeds of the Gospel begin to grow! Our sessions on Saturday also featured a few guest speakers from the sport industry who shared advice on both career and faith. Here are a few key takeaways from our guest speakers! Dan Heck - Assistant Athletics Director, Marketing & Fan Engagement, Auburn University Athletics: Dan Heck and his wife, Courtney, spent time with us Saturday morning! Dan shared his journey to a lasting relationship with Christ along with some powerful tools he uses to stay grounded in his faith in the busy, ever changing industry of collegiate athletics. Keeping his identity and priority as a follower of Christ are key ways in which he anchors his life and work. As future leaders in the sport industry he encouraged us in the value of relationships and intentionality. To have confidence in yourself and those on your team to delegate authority. Chase Hudson - Manager, Group Sales at Atlanta Hawks: Key points Chase focused on with us were integrity and dedication. Integrity: are you going to do it the right way? Dedication: are you committed to your craft? As a sales manager, Chase spends much of his time building relationships and networking. He walked us through a mock phone call, which helped give the team a 'visual' of how to build a sales networking relationship in less than five minutes. He encouraged us to always be prepared for an opportunity, keep our network top of mind, have gratitude - Hand Written Thank You Notes! - and surround ourselves with people who are smarter and wiser than us. You never want to be the smartest person in the room! Learn more about the USG Academy, Impact Weekends, or membership! If you have any questions, contact a USG staff member here!

Our first Impact Weekend took place in April 2021 in Miami, Florida! We started off the trip at Hard Rock Stadium, where we received a tour and met with members of the Miami Dolphins organization. They shared about their faith and career and gave great advice on living out their faith in the sport industry. Our second day was full of tours, guest speakers, and networking! We started off the day at FIU football, where we toured the facility, ate Miami pastries, and listened to his faith journey. We then headed north to Boca Raton to see Florida Atlantic University's men's basketball facilities and hear from past USG mission trip member and present Director of Men's Basketball with the Owls, Ben Gonzalez. The day then ended at the Marlin's game, where they defeated the Giants in extra innings. Day three was our last day in Miami, and we started off with breakfast on South Beach. We then hit the beach to evangelize to those enjoying the beautiful day. We engaged in many conversations about Jesus and planted seeds in their hearts. Our group ended the trip with some time at the airport, eating dinner, and saying our goodbyes. Member Testimonial "I really grew this weekend spiritually and professionally through everyone on the team and we met throughout the weekend. Everything we did, saw, and experienced helped me grow more than I ever thought I could in one weekend. I'm so thankful to be a part of the USG family!"- Kevin McNamara, Accounts Payable Clerk with the San Diego Padres Learn more about the USG Academy, Impact Weekends, or membership! If you have any questions, contact a USG staff member here!

We had a great talk with Darlene Santore who is a life, leadership, and mental edge coach for the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL. She gave some great insight into the mental aspect of life while sharing how she lives out her faith each day around the world's most prominent athletes. Watch here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-gLo13qfQXit7R4IRhsYBQjaTdBvWGfj/view?usp=sharing

This past summer we had a great talk with A'ja Wilson on her championship mindset and the way she keeps Christ at the center of her life. Watch here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KCEPeQppxqzdq1K-LKOlszPoYD7S1f2D/view?usp=sharing

During the first two weeks of June, I had the privilege to travel across the world (literally) to spread the word of Christ. With a 13 hour time difference and nearly 40 hour travel time, I am geographically on the opposite end of the Earth. With this being my first mission trip, I had no idea what to expect. I had the privilege of going with a tremendous team. We attacked each day and grew closer together; I credit them for being a major component as to why this trip had the impact on me that it did. Among the various bible studies, testimonies, and sermons we heard, I had the privilege of going through the book of Job with Cullen and Dan. Job 34 really spoke to me because Elihu, a friend of Job’s, rationalizes why the hardships that continue to threaten Job were caused by his sin. Elihu rationalizes in verse 12 saying “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.” Elihu turns out to be very wrong, however the crazy part is I completely agree with this statement on the surface. Elihu uses this as an explanation for Job’s hardships, unaware of the spiritual battle being waged in which God is not punishing Job but rather boasting of his faithfulness. This instance played a parallel in my mission experience in Uganda. I was able to apply this to my own life seeing that the conventional rationalization of the hardships, trials, and occurrences in our lives in which we think we know God’s plan can very much be a complete misreading by us. Being completely vulnerable with you guys, I like to have a reason or purpose for everything that I do. With that being said, if I do not see a purpose or something doesn’t add up, I’m not afraid to pursue the truth. I’d say I didn’t have the typical mission trip experience, and struggled greatly during the daily evangelism times in which we’d go throughout the village to share the gospel. It was difficult to phrase my words correctly while being concise since a majority of the time we needed a translator, however I  grew more comfortable over time. The big problem wasn’t that it was too hard, but rather it was too easy. On the second day we went out to evangelize, my group was able to lead 7 people to Christ over the course of an hour. Most people would be ecstatic, however I was skeptical to say the least. A lot of these people had never heard of Christ before, and we were sharing this grand story of God’s son being sent to Earth and sacrificing his life for the wrongdoings of all of mankind, and they were just going with whatever we said. I felt like I could have shared the story of Aladdin with them and convinced them to convert - in other words, being an obvious foreigner in their land, I thought they were just being yes men. This thought hit me hard and had me thinking, am I just being a yes man in my own faith? Why should I even believe this story I’m sharing? I struggled greatly with these thoughts in the middle of the trip and ended up sharing it with Coach Jo, one of the team leaders for the trip. I was ready to put a wall up, anticipating that she’d try to convince me with a couple bible verses and assurance. However, she instead encouraged me that it’s healthy to question your faith and rather dig deeper - in the word of God, in books, and in my own meditation. I did exactly that, and although I didn’t have a light-switch moment, over the course of the next week an undeniable peace came over me on the whole situation. I grew deeper and genuinely interested in the word of God, and the work he’s done in the lives of my team members. That test of skepticism was a launching pad to my faith walk and pursuit of the calling God has in my life. Much like Elihu, I had a rational or set belief that fit what conventionally happens. In Elihu’s case he knew that God provides rightful justice, and therefore associated Job’s struggles with his own wrongdoing. In my case, I believed that right away the blessing of sharing the story of Christ and the joy in the lives of those I impacted would help me grow spiritually. That was not His plan. Instead, the ability to share with others broke me down spiritually, forcing me to dig at the roots of my beliefs and regrow in my walk. ​ Keeping an open mind and perspective is everything. This Mission Trip has been life-changing and quite possibly the most important experience of my life. I’m so grateful for God’s incredible plan to send me to Uganda and surround me with believers whom I now consider my closest friends and family. The joy we brought to each man, woman, and child because of Christ truly assured me that no matter where on Earth we live, we serve the same God.

My Managers on a Mission (MOAM) Summer Impact trip experience began through Twitter. I found out about MOAM because they followed me and my reaction after looking at their profile and website was “This is way too good to be true”. I applied, got accepted to attend the Summer Impact Trip to Uganda, and every part of my experience since the moment I showed up at our Summer Impact Team training was just that: way too good to be true. What God has done in providing a community of Christ centered servant leaders, within sport, to grow together in our walk with Him has been surreal. Meeting and connecting with so many other members of sports teams, all attempting to grow spiritually, left me with more energy than I ever have had before for my walk with God. I attempted to approach our team’s summer impact experience without any expectations, and just accept what God had planned for us. I never thought that his plan would include us all coming together to pull our bus out of the mud, running with hundreds of African children away from the rain, myself praying over seven more people as they chose to accept Jesus Christ as their savior, and getting baptized in the Nile. The lessons that he has placed in my life through my teammates, and all the people we encountered on our journey are things I will take with me the rest of my life. Even before our trip, I knew I was in for something special just by chatting with my teammates at training. Each person on the team brought something unique to the table and had a noticeable energy towards trying to grow in their relationship with God. I thought that there was no way that I could match their passion for Christ and was unqualified to be able to go with them on this trip. However, once we all began our journey together I realized that all of us were at different points in our spiritual journeys and no one expected me to be anything but myself. Being able to share in the experiences God was putting in our lives, and how they were impacting each of us, provided me with a tight community to share my faith that I never thought I’d find. Being vulnerable and sharing my true testimony for the first time to a large group of people terrified me. However, the acceptance and outpouring of love they showed me afterwards showed me I don’t have to be afraid to be myself. I can be who I am in every moment of every day because I know that God has placed the experiences he has in my life to be able to connect with and grow with the other souls he places around me. I’m not sure what I expected from the Ugandan people that God has come to place in my life, but I can assure you it isn’t what I found. The happiness of the people here doesn’t come from any sort of materials you have brought them, or resources you have blessed them with. They are happy because you exist and are with them at that given moment of time. They have shown me an appreciation for life, and the people we get to do life with, that I have never experienced. They are far more respectful than any other people that I have encountered in my life. When we would go out and do street evangelism, even if the people we encountered didn’t accept the knowledge we were giving them, they would give us their time and listen. They appreciated us taking time out of our days to spend with them. My journey has been a little bit different than the rest of my teams due to the fact that mine is still ongoing. I am in Uganda till August 8th and God is still using the people here to continue to provide me with lessons each day. The main lesson that I have began to realize is that although my background and where I come from is so different from the people I have encountered here, we still have so much in common. Here they have grown up knowing relational blessings. In the United States we have grown up knowing material blessings. At the end of the day though, we are all people experiencing the blessings and trials that God is placing in our lives so that we may know him better, help others know him, and prepare us for eternity.