December 2009 Dave Pond

In 2005 Francie Ekwerekwu was a three-sport star at Arlington High School in Texas. She was a homegrown talent with a passion for track and some All-District hardware that displayed her volleyball and basketball skills as well. It took much prayerful consideration, but the 5'11" honor student decided to accept a volleyball scholarship to the University of Oklahoma—the equivalent of a Montague turning Capulet.

Why? According to Ekwerekwu, the reason was simple.

“That’s where God told me I needed to go,” she said. “And looking back, it’s definitely been the best fit for me.”

Over the past 3.5 years, the genial Texan has become a true “Boomer Sooner,” capturing the adoration of Oklahoma fans as a tireless on-court leader. But outside of the court spotlight—in the locker room, on road trips, in the weight room and cafeteria—that’s where Ekwerekwu’s efforts bear the most important fruit as she propels her teammates and coaches into deeper relationships with Christ.

 

Francie Ekwerekwu – #11

Class: RS Junior Hometown: Arlington, Texas Height: 5-11 Position: Middle Blocker Honors: • All-Big 12 Freshman Team (2007) • Academic All-Big 12 (2008) • Led the Sooners in kills in 2008 • Named MVP of this season’s UT-Arlington Invitational

“Volleyball has given me such a wonderful platform from which to share Jesus,” Ekwerekwu said. “My teammates look to me as a spiritual leader, and every chance I get I try to feed them God.”

Each week, the redshirt junior shares Scripture with her coaches and teammates and gathers the team for prayer sessions during road trips and before games—a rather significant accomplishment in this era of political correctness. It’s a blessing that not only helps bring team members closer to Christ but also to one another in relationships and experiences that transcend kills, sets and digs.

“I love the fact that I can show them a different part of me other than ‘Francie the volleyball player,’” Ekwerekwu said. “No matter where we go, I take my Bible. We usually get different roommates every time we go on the road, so it’s an opportunity for us to really share with one another about our lives and about God’s Word.”

It hasn’t always been easy, said Ekwerekwu, who was raised by her mother, Robin, in a single-parent home along with her two brothers, Rob and Brad, the latter of whom played wide receiver at the University of Missouri.

At the age of five, Ekwerekwu’s parents split, and her mother began taking her children to church. “That’s where I really started to understand what God’s love was about,” she said.

Ekwerekwu accepted Christ at a young age but admits she didn’t truly understand His love until her junior year of high school. That’s when she became friends with several of gospel superstar Kirk Franklin’s children.

“I started hanging out with them, going to different events that Kirk was involved in, and I really got to see what it was like to truly live your life for Christ,” Ekwerekwu said. “Kirk tries his hardest to live for Christ every single day, and his kids do as well. He became a role model for me as a second father figure and helped me to understand what it meant to
strive to be Christ-like every single day.”

As many college students do, Ekwerekwu battled homesickness during her first year in Norman, a challenge compounded by another new experience: riding the proverbial pine. She was fourth on the Sooners’ depth chart behind an All-American middle blocker and two other players with collegiate experience.

“It was really tough, because I went from being a starter in every sport I played in high school to playing only one sport in college and being the last member of the roster,” she said. “It was really humbling, but God pulled me through it and stuck by my side every single day. Looking back, that’s all I needed.”

The experience proved, Ekwerekwu said, to be a blessing in disguise.

“At first, I set out every single day to prove my coaches and teammates wrong—to let them know that I should be out there on the court and that I was good enough to be a member of the team,” she said. “But when I recognized that it was going to be better for me to go into it with the mentality to prove God right instead of proving them wrong, that’s when things really started becoming uplifting.”

Redshirting the 2006 season also gave Ekwerekwu an opportunity to get involved in Oklahoma’s FCA Huddle, where she learned to view herself from a biblical perspective beyond the one-dimensional view many sports fans have of elite athletes playing at the professional and college level.

“I began to see that there were other aspects of my life outside of volleyball and that it was important that I not identify myself as just a volleyball player,” she said. “At that time, I wasn’t even playing volleyball, but I felt very important and very welcomed in FCA. That was really key for me.”

Ekwerekwu (far right) with members of the OU FCA Leadership Team in October.

Ekwerekwu poured her heart and her time into FCA, and, shortly after, was asked to join the Huddle’s leadership team.

“It was apparent through her involvement, through watching her life and hearing others share about her walk, that Francie was really excited about Christ and about the ministry on campus,” said Kent Bowles, the Norman FCA area representative. “I really felt that she was the right kind of athlete and the kind of Christian young lady who would excel on the leadership team.”

Currently Ekwerekwu serves on an Oklahoma FCA leadership team that, over the past several years, has included nationally known collegiate athletes such as All-American
women’s basketball star Courtney Paris, Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and All-American defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, the group’s current president.

The Huddle, Ekwerekwu said, offers student-athlete a chance to be themselves and truly focus on Christ away from the ever-present attention that comes with being an athletic star.

“FCA has shown me that everything I do can be worth something to God,” she said. “I don’t play sports, go to school or do whatever else I do every single day for anything other than God, and FCA is something that helps remind me of that.

“It’s been a place that I can feel ‘normal,’ where there are other people like me who are trying their best to balance being a Christian student and athlete,” she continued. “It’s really relaxing and one of the few places a guy like Sam Bradford can go and not have to fight people off for autographs or feel like he’s being
looked at as this huge icon. He’s just regular Sam Bradford, just one of us—a family member. And that’s how I always feel when I go to FCA, that we’re all just a part of a family.”

According to Bowles, Ekwerekwu intentionally brings that mindset and what she learns back to her teammates.

“Francie makes a huge difference on her team,” he said. “You can see her influence in the number of teammates who come with her to FCA. She’s making a real impact and living a godly life in front of them—not to draw attention to herself, but to bring glory to the Lord.”

“When I recognized that it was going to be better for me to go into it with the mentality to prove God right instead of proving them wrong, that’s when things really started becoming uplifting.”

The Sooner athletes’ shared love for Christ also has helped bring life to meaningful relationships that might never have flourished outside of it. During Ekwerekwu’s freshman year, one of her teammates was a devout atheist who refused to participate in prayer, Bible studies or other events that were remotely spiritual.

“That was hard for me because I’d never been around a person who didn’t share my faith who was that opinionated,” said Ekwerekwu, who remains unsure of whether or not the teammate took any of their faith-based discussions to heart. Still, she sees the bigger-picture blessing from the friendship that was cultivated.

 “I just thank God that He gave me the opportunity to share His love with her,” she said. “And I can say that brought me closer to a lot of my teammates who, at first glance, I didn’t think I’d ever get close to because of our differences. But the Bible is a sword, and it can cut through anything for God’s glory.”

This season, Ekwerekwu is turning in another great performance for the Sooners, all while making preparations to trade the court for the courtroom. The academic senior, who started accumulating playing time for the Sooners after her redshirt freshman year and now starts every game, plans to attend graduate school at OU next year while playing her final season for the Sooners and eventually enrolling in the university’s College of Law.

“When volleyball is over, I plan to go professional in law,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll just turn that into my new sport. I’ll be competitive in law school and do all I can to prepare for exams like I would prepare for games.”

Undoubtedly, that includes sharing Christ’s love with her fellow aspiring attorneys with the same passion she’s displayed both on and off the court during her time at Oklahoma.

“People who don’t have a relationship with Christ are missing out on the greatest love that there is on Earth,” Ekwerekwu said. “You never know when you are going to influence someone or help turn him or her toward Jesus. I just try my best every day to represent God and His love in everything I do.”

--For more stories about faith and sport, visit www.sharingthevictory.com, the official magazine of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. To subscribe to STV, click here.

Photos courtesy of OU Athletic Communications