Athlete testimonies · UMD FCA
“Audience of one.”
Three athletes · three sports · one day
An FCA project · produced as Regional Marketing Director, FCA Mid-Atlantic
The problem
Patricia, who leads FCA at the University of Maryland, had three athletes she believed were headed to the pros. She wanted their testimonies on film before they graduated and scattered, so FCA would have their stories to share while it still could. Three athletes, three sports, one day.
The approach
There was no trick to it. I made sure we had enough time with each one, about an hour and a half to light it, interview them, and grab b-roll, then move to the next. The thing that gets a Division-I athlete to open up is the same thing that works on anyone: you talk to them like a person, not a highlight reel. All three were humble and easy, no ego in the room. So we kept it clean, one camera, a few slow-motion shots of each of them doing their sport around campus, and let them talk.
The three
Golf
Will Korus
Journals before every tournament: “I want to honor God through how I act on the golf course,” because in the grand scheme, he's playing for something bigger than himself.
Where he is now
A college golf coach at West Virginia.
Soccer
Alyssa Poarch
Tore her ACL twice and came out the other side saying, “I want people to see me as a good person, one who seeks to help other people,” not just a future pro.
Where she is now
Playing professional soccer overseas.
Football
Chad Ryland
A four-game slump taught him that what he does on the field doesn't define him. He plays for an audience of one, and writes “by grace through faith” on his wrist before he goes out.
Where he is now
Drafted by the New England Patriots, now with the Arizona Cardinals.
Three elite athletes, each arriving at the same place: they are more than their sport. That's the film.
The result
It ran on Maryland FCA's Instagram, website, and YouTube, exactly the kind of story-content a communications lead needs a steady supply of. And Patricia was right about all three. We caught their stories while they were still college kids, right before life would have scattered them, and every one went on to exactly what she saw coming, two playing professionally and one coaching in the college game.
What we delivered
Three athlete testimony films (Will, Alyssa, Chad) and campus b-roll, delivered for FCA's social, web, and YouTube.
Have people whose stories you'll wish you'd captured before they moved on?
Every film needs somewhere to land. The Storytelling System is the part that makes sure it does.