No. 6, Jeni Creary, wends through two defenders on the ice.

The sophomore hockey player breaks away. The bundled crowd jumps to their feet. They cheer loudly for the Ohio State University women's ice-hockey team.

With her head up, OSU's top returning forward fakes to the left, then skates right to blow by the final defender.

In the fast-paced sport of hockey, keeping your head up is essential, but not easy. If a player focuses only on their skates beneath them, they will miss the players around them‹both teammates and opponents. By keeping her head up, a hockey player completely engages in the game.

Carrie Gill and Lindsey Ogren‹two of Jeni's teammates—found that the same is true for their relationship with God. Keeping their faith to themselves may be easier, but ultimately dangerous. Meg Akehi—an Athletes in Action staff member—shows the young women how to look up off the ice. She has taught them to talk about their faith with confidence.

In addition to 15 hours of weekly hockey practice, full-time classes, and home and away games, both Carrie and Lindsey agreed to a mentoring relationship with Meg—including regular one-to-one meetings.

"It's great to see their perspective change," says Meg. "Now they're thinking about how God wants to use them on the team." She encouraged the best friends and roommates to lead a Bible study. What started with five or six girls more than doubled by the end of last year.

"Meg definitely got Carrie and me going," says Lindsey, a curly blonde from North Oaks, Minn.

"We didn't really talk to girls about God before that," explains Carrie.

Interest sparked when Meg first met with the team.

One afternoon before practice, amid the smell of dried sweat in their locker room, the hockey players sat at their individual stalls.

Lindsey—her teammates call her Linney—introduced her mentor. Meg explained how she could help them be "total athletes." Their coaches and strength trainers develop the physical aspect, and plenty of others prioritize their mental areas, she explained. "But the spiritual area," Meg said, "is something that no one is going to check up on. Athletes in Action's purpose is to be a spiritual resource." She asked the athletes to write down on a card if they were interested in a Bible study or learning more about having a personal relationship with God.

	Bold Benefits | "There are girls that I might not have talked to about God," says Carrie Gill, "but Meg just went for it." Now, many of those women attend a Bible study in Carrie's and Lindsey Ogren's apartment (above).

To Carrie and Lindsey's surprise, only two girls returned blank cards. Jeni, No. 6, wrote that she wanted to know more about a personal relationship with God, so Meg and Carrie took her out to dinner.

Sitting at a high, round table at Applebee's, Meg turned the conversation to spiritual things. She sensed that Jeni was hesitant, so she backed off.

"I knew this was the first time that Carrie had ever seen anyone share the gospel," says Meg, "so I didn't want it to be a bad experience for her, but I also didn't want to let the opportunity pass." So Meg prayed and, contrary to her laid-back personality, she decided to take the direct approach.

"Jeni, it seems like you're uncomfortable talking about spiritual things." Meg said. "Why is that?"

"I just don't know much about God and I feel stupid about that," Jeni replied. Meg let her know she was there to help her learn. Instantly the atmosphere changed. Meg explained the gospel message and Jeni hung on every word. Later that week Jeni prayed and received Christ.

Because you can always find hockey girls in Carrie and Lindsey's apartment, there are always opportunities to talk about God. One day while helping Shana Frost, a/k/a Frosty, learn the guitar, Meg bridged into her own music about her spiritual journey.

"Frosty was one of those girls we didn't think would want to know more about God," Carrie says. She admits she feared her teammate's reaction to Meg's spiritual conversation. Frosty, a feisty competitor on the ice, had a tough-girl reputation to uphold, but she was searching for answers. Her roommate and teammate, Emily Hudak, was too.

As it turns out, both girls were reading Bibles at night but they hid them behind textbooks to keep it secret from each other. "Me and Em were afraid to come out with our Christianity," says Frosty.

Emily thought people would expect her suddenly to be perfect: "Now, it's not like I understand everything, but I'm learning, and it's helped having Lindsey and Carrie around to ask them questions."

Contact Sport | Lumbering around in pads disguises the stealthy agility players exhibit once they sprint onto the rink.

Carrie, known for speaking her mind, started playing hockey in high school. She knew Division I hockey would be a challenge, but warming the bench started to sting after two years of dressing for every game.

"Meg helped me through it," says Carrie. "She helped me see there's a way bigger part for me, not to score the goals but to influence the girls for Christ."

The head coach of the team noticed Carrie's attitude change. "The key to a team is that everyone plays a role and if they know how their role fits into the team, they can be successful," says Jackie Barto, who recruited Carrie and Lindsey for the Buckeyes' inaugural season in 1999.

While Lindsey, a captain, gets a little more time on the ice, she too has embraced her off-ice role through Meg's help. Lindsey and Carrie now meet individually with the girls in the Bible study, mimicking their time with Meg.

And like a perfectly led pass of the puck, Lindsey and Carrie's teammates have taken off with the girls' example. Frosty even started playing Christian music in the locker room before the games. Some of her teammates objected, but most of the players who aren't involved in AIA or Bible study still consider the changes positive. "The team chemistry is excellent," says April Stojak, a senior on the team, "the best it's been in four years."

And Jeni hopes that can continue after the two seniors graduate. She gives Carrie and Lindsey credit for the spiritual interest on the team. "They have started half our team going to church and AIA meetings," says Jeni. "They are not embarrassed to talk about it. When they're gone, hopefully me and a couple of the other juniors can help pass it on."

While they're used to a fast-paced hockey game, skating at speeds around 25 m.p.h, no one expected such a rapid response to the message of Jesus.

It's an answer to Meg's prayers and a result of her investment in Carrie and Lindsey. "What I've seen happen on the hockey team is ideal," says Meg. "I wouldn't have even hoped for that many girls to want to get involved."

"On the ice," Lindsey explains, "if you have your head up, you're confident that you've got the ability to handle the puck." Meg gave them the confidence to handle the good news of Jesus. "Being more confident makes me more effective," says Lindsey with a contagious smile.

God used Meg to change Carrie and Lindsey's line of vision. Now their heads stay up—and they score.

You can contact the writer at Beth.Bahe@ccci.org.