Sports Camps
Sport is a universal language that bridges cultural differences in any society and empowers youth and children with positive outcomes. Sport has the capacity to bring communities together regardless of nationality, race, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, religious background, age, or gender. Sport builds relationships, shapes character, and fosters resilience. Most beneficially, sport is a great common denominator, opening doors for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ across any societal barriers. And the team concept found in sports, can organically give young people an experience of how they are designed to be a member of the body of Christ.
Breakaway, partnering with communities around the world, utilizes sports ministry as an effective tool for reaching young people with fresh expressions of the Gospel in just about any context—from under-resourced and underdeveloped communities to first world post-Christian societies.
“Sports Camp in a Box”
Our sports ministry has proven to be a catalyst for evangelism and sustainable disciple-making movements. Sports camps have been effective in helping churches foster community outreach to youth and families, galvanize church planting efforts, develop next generation leaders, and serve the marginalized. Our turnkey sports camp model is referred to as “Sports Camp in a Box” because of its adaptability and flexibility in fitting into any missional context. We work with the local church by shaping the camp uniquely around each church’s outreach goals or ministry objectives.
Running a week-long sports camp such as an intercultural sports camp, or “American Sports Camp,” can be a highly attractional outreach event in your community. It has the capacity and potential to reach many unreached youth and entire families with the Gospel. Some of our staple sports are flag football, ultimate frisbee, traditional baseball, and Baseball5.
Contact us for a FREE sports camp promotional kit, with more details and logistics about running a sports camp as an outreach in your community.
“Sports Clinics on the Go”
Sports clinics as youth outreach have tremendous flexibility and can be used to “go” to those who can’t come to you. They can be utilized as daily outreach events and are highly customizable for any time period (full day, half day, 3-hours, or 90-minutes), and can be used to run shorter sports “demos” at multiple venues throughout a week. We’ve run sports clinics in schools, community centers, neighborhoods, church gyms, refugee camps, prisons, juvenile centers, and much more. Clinics are great alternatives to run the sports ministry if you don’t have the capacity to run a full week-long sports camp, and the Gospel can be tied in with each sports demo.
“We invited Jimmy Larche and his team (Breakaway Outreach) to come and minister with a baseball camp. It was an excellent week not just of sports, but the spiritual input into the young lives of children in this community was immense. Jimmy preached for us on a Sunday morning service and was very well received and blessed us as a church both with his testimony and the preaching of the Word. I would have no hesitation in bringing Jimmy and his team back, they do an amazing work to reach children and young people with the gospel. They have great hearts to serve the local church they work with.“
Pastor Matt Davis (Living Hope Belfast Church, Shankill Road, Northern Ireland)
The Local Church
Our heart is for serving the mission of the local church. Therefore the American Sports Camp is designed to supplement the local church’s ministry wherever we serve. We don’t mobilize coaches or mission teams from America that have a “Messiah Complex,” or self-serving agenda. We mobilize team members who are ready to humbly serve your church family and the people in your community you are trying to reach for Christ.
Given tremendous flexibility, our sports ministry camps/clinics can be facilitated in various ways:
🏆 As a multi-sport or intercultural sports camp, or “American Sports Camp” (baseball, flag football, ultimate frisbee, basketball, etc.)
🏆 As a standalone sport camp, such as “Baseball Camp” or “Basketball Camp” or “American Flag Football Camp”
🏆 As a day camp during school holidays, or afterschool sports clinics during the school year
🏆 As a “hybrid” model alongside of English camp or existing VBS (Vacation Bible School)
🏆 As an outdoor camp or indoor venue
Benefits for a Host Church/Community
➜ It reaches youth, children, and families with the gospel (evangelism & discipleship)
➜ It’s a universal language that builds cross-cultural partnerships
➜ It creates positive perceptions of the host church in its community
➜ It helps churches build stronger ties in their communities
➜ The cross-cultural aspect appeals to seekers and the unchurched
➜ It’s a catalyst for new membership classes, follow-up events
➜ It develops new leaders within the church
➜ It develops encouraging relationships with Christians from other cultures
➜ It kindles missional enthusiasm within a body of believers
Breakaway camps are never ‘isolated’ hit-and-run experiences for young people, but always catalysts for long-term mentoring and youth development initiatives. When it comes to evangelism and discipleship, we don’t see two ‘mutually exclusive’ gospel economies; we think and aim for both sides of the same missional coin. Both Good News ‘beginnings’ and Next Step spiritual growth ‘pathways’ are always built concurrently into the very structure and framework of our cross-cultural partnerships.
—Jimmy Larche (Global Director)
What Typically Happens at a Sports Camp?
⚾ Athletic development (coaching stations and skills training)
⚾ Scheduled times for head-to-head games
⚾ Team Times for small group Bible discussions
⚾ Language teaching (optional English camp hybrid model)
⚾ Chapel time (worship, testimonies, gospel presentations)
⚾ Morning devotional time for leaders
⚾ Parent day or community BBQ for entire families
⚾ Awards ceremony for participants and families to attend
“Together with a team from the United States, Jimmy Larche has served our Sportwoche (Sport Week), in which children and juveniles participate. This is an annual evangelistic project organized in a high-rise district of Berlin. I have been impressed with Jimmy’s leadership in the cross-cultural context as well as the encouraging nature of his sermons. He has blessed our young staff while displaying a passion for Jesus and the advancement of the Gospel. We pleasantly appreciate his ministry!”
Swen Schönheit (Senior Pastor, Berlin, Germany)
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Will the sport camp model work in my community?
ABSOLUTELY. Sport is a universal language and overcomes barriers anywhere on the planet.
What kind of venue is needed to run the camp?
Our sport camp model is adaptable to any playing surface, indoor or outdoor, and can utilize large areas or confined areas. Essentially, the sport camp is adaptable to any size venue.
What if our church doesn’t have athletes or coaches?
No problem. We offer credentialed coaches that can do all the skills training, while your people can focus on the faith components and spiritual connections such as teaching and facilitating Bible discussions with youth.
What if our people don’t speak English?
No problem. We can work with you to designate translators for the camp.
When is the best time to run a camp?
It all depends on your context. Some camps are run during the summer. Some are run in the Spring or Autumn. Indoor camps can be run during the cold winter break. Camps can also be run during the school year as part of an afterschool program.
Can we run a hybrid sport and English teaching camp?
YES!!! We run sport camps, English camps, and camps that are a combination of both.