Personal and sporting fears can be tackled though faith: Peter Browne
Photo above – Former Ulster forward Pete Browne is aiming to help other players through faith with Christians in Sport
Back in June 1976, a group of sports people met at the Park Lane Hotel in London on the eve of Wimbledon, united by the same goal of spreading the Christian faith within their respective sports.
Among their number was Leonard Browne, a former Ireland and Ulster Schools rugby player from Northern Ireland, who would go on to become a Church of England minister in Birmingham after meeting his wife at Cambridge and settling there, Adam McKendry writes in the Belfast Telegraph
Forty years on, Christians In Sport is still thriving and when the time came for Leonard’s son, former Ulster Rugby second row Peter, to end his playing career, the path was there to follow in his father’s footsteps — and he gladly took it.
“Throughout my career, I was in touch with (CIS general director) Graham Daniels and there was no rugby worker then,” explains Peter, who still lives in Belfast with wife Hannah. “We kept in touch and after I turned 30, he would send me a text every so often saying ‘when are you going to come and work for us’!
“You want to do something you’re passionate about and obviously I’m very passionate about faith but also sport. It’s a good fit in that way, and I’m a big people person.
“When I decided to end my career, Graham knew about it and CIS were praying for me. So we had discussions about six months after I finished playing and they offered me three days a week, which I thought sounded great.”
Browne spent three years at Kingspan Stadium after joining from London Welsh in 2015, making 34 appearances for the province before ending his career in 2018 on medical advice after a string of concussions.
But now that he has moved on from the playing days of his career, the 32-year-old is focusing all his energy into his new role as part of the Elite Sport Team with CIS, having taken up the role in early 2019, which sees him work with professional rugby players in the Pro14 and Premiership.
“With such a performance based society, we ask them where is your identity? Is it in your performance, which is something that is so up and down for athletes? Is it in your sport which, currently, you’re not playing at all? Or is it in Christ? So it’s pointing them to that,” he says.
“For us, it’s about understanding that you are not defined by what you do but who you are in Christ. The aim is to point guys to Jesus and letting them see how great He is and that He is the only way to the Father, and the more you think about Jesus, the more you take your eyes off yourself.
“I played 12 seasons as a rugby player, so I know that there are nights where you’re worrying if you’ll get another contract or whether you’ll get in the team or if an injury will be the end of your career. All those things are there.
“But if you have that perspective of I am unconditionally loved through Jesus because I have accepted him, that then changes that. Yes, you still feel those things, but it’s not a fear, it’s a different perspective.”
Christians In Sport operate across the UK, currently connecting with over 450 professional athletes. The likes of former Premier League footballer Linvoy Primus and PFA director of player welfare Michael Bennett are involved with football outreach, while Solheim Cup winning captain Alison Nicholas supports golfers on the women’s tours.
“If it’s player driven, then you’ll see traction. If it’s driven by me, then who am I? I’m a guy who had an okay career and got knocked on the head one too many times,” says Browne.
“The beauty of what I believe Christians In Sport are doing with their elite work is bridging that gap to where guys feel isolated.
“People don’t get the highs and lows of professional sport, or the pressures of it, so hopefully I can relate in that way.
“We want them to know that this is normal, and the best way they can show God is by loving their sport and being examples for other people to see.”
Report courtesy Belfast Telegraph
July 11, 2020
More –
Christians in Sport podcast with Peter Browne
[[] https://www.christiansinsport.org.uk/resources/the-podcast/peter-browne/ ]
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