Heart Of An Athlete

Tanner Gardner
Stanford University
Wrestling

Selected Struggle: ANXIETY

Dictionary definition: “Distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear.”

My definition: “Feeling uneasy about a situation because of pressure or being unsure.”

Who has helped me deal with anxiety? “I look to my spiritual mentors to help me deal with anxiety. If there is something I am struggling with, I can talk to them about it and receive prayer.”

Favorite Scripture that deals with anxiety: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)

Why I chose this verse: “If you told someone that your favorite sports passage was from Philippians 4, most people would think it was 4:13. I originally started reading that chapter every night before a wrestling match just for that verse. But I kept reading the entire chapter as I was dealing with anxiety, and it says exactly what to do. If you really give it all over to the Lord, then He is going to give you that surpassing peace.”

How I deal with anxiety in life: “I was very anxious when I was going through the job interview process this summer for when I graduate in the spring. You may want certain things, but God wants  certain things for your life, as well. So, I applied Proverbs 3:5 (NIV), where it says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.’ If we lean on our own understanding and then we don’t get something, we are going to be disappointed. But if we really believe we are trusting in the Lord, then God will make our paths straight, whether that looks like what we imagined or not. He is going to put you where He wants you to be.”

“...if we really believe we are trusting in the Lord, then God will make our paths straight, whether that looks like what we imagined or not.”

How I deal with anxiety in my sport: “Prayer is a great way to deal with anxiety. A lot of people pray before their matches, but I found it is really important to pray before my practices, as well. Competing against your own teammates can cause anxiety, so when I pray, it takes the stress off.

“I also pray at my matches. I never really pray to win my match; I just pray that whether I win or lose, I compete to the best of my ability and represent God in an appropriate way.”

About the Athlete: Stanford’s Tanner Gardner, a red-shirt senior, is in his fourth season with the Cardinal, wrestling in the125-lb. weight class. Voted by his teammates as a co-captain, Gardner entered this year with 102 career wins, ranking third in Stanford history. With a seventh place finish at the 2007 NCAA Tournament, he became the Cardinal’s second two-time All-American. Gardner also gave the team its first Pac-10 individual title since 2004.

Active in his high school’s FCA Huddle, Gardner enjoys participating in FCA in new ways as a college student. He lends his time and platform to FCA Area Director Clay Elliot and other FCA staff in the San Jose, Calif., area through speaking engagements. “I think having college athletes come speak at FCA Huddles is great for all high school groups,” says Gardner. “They see that you can be a student-athlete and still follow the Lord.”

*For more stories about faith and sport, visit www.sharingthevictory.com, the official magazine of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. 

Photo courtesy of Dave Gonzales