A version of this feature first appeared in Concordia University, Nebraska’s winter edition of the Broadcaster magazine. The complete issue can be found HERE.
In the spirit of the 2023 Christmas season, the Bulldog baseball and women’s soccer programs banded together and filled 80 gift boxes worth of goods, necessities and toys earmarked for less fortunate children around the United States. This thoughtful gesture stands out as one of many examples of the service-oriented mindset fostered by Concordia’s Bulldog Council of Student-Athletes (BCSA), a program founded by the Concordia Athletics Department in the spring of 2022.
The program pulls in student-athletes from each of the campus’ intercollegiate sports while endeavoring to strengthen Concordia’s overall Christian community. Headed by assistant women’s basketball coach Tae’lor Purdy-Korell, BCSA helps equip Bulldog student-athletes as Christian leaders within their team settings and the community at large.
Says Purdy-Korell, “After almost every conversation we have, someone seems to come up and say, ‘Wow, that really resonated with me. I feel like that’s really going to help our team.’ That’s mostly through the discussions that we have, not necessarily what myself or (Associate Director of Athletics) Angela (Muller) provide as a topic for the speaker. The impact really comes through conversations with other student-athletes about what they can take back to their teams.”
For Concordia Athletics teams, winning on the scoreboard is a byproduct of what happens behind the scenes. BCSA is one of those outside-of-public view entities that leads to the Bulldogs earning such distinction as 2023-24 GPAC All-Sports Champions. The program is meant to empower student-athletes and allow them to grow in their faith and subsequently share in that faith with their teammates and community members. During the current 2024-25 academic year, BCSA is made up of 25 student-athletes and includes faculty and staff representatives Dr. Tim Pruess and Dr. Ed Hoffman.
Once every month, BCSA representatives meet in person and engage in a chosen topic, which could range from leadership styles to life skills to relationship building within the context of a Christian environment. During the fall 2024 semester, Concordia men’s basketball coach Ben Limback spoke to the group about “ruthless elimination of hurry” (and the need to limit screen time) and Bulldog volleyball alum Marissa Hoerman covered the topic of nutrition. Once the speakers conclude their remarks, BCSA reps tackle and make sense of the most essential themes.
A BCSA rep from Concordia Lifting Sports, sophomore Nolan Graupmann felt something click in his mind while listening to Limback. Said Graupmann, “One of the things he mentioned was attunement and how well we understand and relate to our teammates. Coach defined attunement as ‘the ability to sense and respond to someone else's emotions without using words.’ The concept of attunement has had a big impact on me as a leader, helping me to motivate teammates and notice when they may be struggling. When they are having a good day, I can feed into that energy, and it radiates throughout the team. I can also notice when someone might be having a rough workout and be there to motivate and encourage them.”
What Graupmann described is exactly what Purdy-Korell and athletic administrators Devin Smith and Angela Muller hoped would come out of BCSA – the action of putting into practice the wisdom inspired from face-to-face conversations between peers that experience similar highs and lows. Already a strong leader, Tessa Blough of the women’s tennis program stands out as an inspiration to her fellow student-athletes at Concordia. Blough continues to serve as the BCSA rep for women’s tennis.
At the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year, Blough ventured to New York City to accept the honor as the NAIA’s National Arthur Ashe Award Winner. The award recognizes student-athletes for superior leadership and sportsmanship qualities, as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. Blough has overcome a disease called lupus for the past nine years. The disease occurs within the body’s immune system and attacks tissues and organs. Thankfully, Blough has found effective ways to manage it, and won’t allow it to keep her away from the game of tennis. Those are the unique set of experiences Blough brings to the table in BCSA discussions.
Said Blough, “What I love most about the BCSA is the passion and commitment all us leaders have to our teams and to Concordia. We are able to come together once a month, learn from coaches and faculty, take away insights from Tae'lor or Angela and learn from one another on the best ways to empower and support our teams. I have learned so much as a representative, but one thing that has stood out to me in which I hope it has helped me be a better leader is the importance of checking in with teammates and building trust and relationships with them.”
Another benefit to BCSA is how it brings athletes from other sports programs together for a common purpose. Within BCSA exists the initiative, “Bulldogs for Bulldogs.” When paired together, athletes from the baseball and women’s soccer programs decided to join in with a campus project to package Christmas boxes for children in need. Each team on campus is grouped with one other team for the purpose of community and campus service. Teams that are paired up must attend at least one event of that corresponding team during the academic year. In addition, teams are expected to attend at least one non-athletic campus event such as a theater performance or concert.
In other service projects, Concordia athletes, motivated by BCSA, have picked up trash in city parks, visited nursing homes and supported ventures such as foster friends and the Blue River pet rescue, in addition to other outreach within local communities.
Said Purdy-Korell of the BCSA’s approach to service projects, “We encourage them to take ownership of this, think outside the box and organize it themselves. It’s mostly on them to take care of it and come up with different ideas. When you pair two teams together, it’s a lot of people. They have to come up with something that can handle that many people and be beneficial to the community. I think it’s really cool because they have to communicate with each other and do something that’s bigger than themselves.”
From the feedback she’s received, Purdy-Korell says that the student-athletes particularly enjoy alumni speakers who can relate to their experiences. The BCSA has also hosted speakers such as campus pastor Ryan Matthias and local Fellowship of Christian Athletes coordinator Tony Ways. A point Matthias has driven home has been the idea of owning your Concordia experience from a faith-based perspective. Meanwhile, Ways speaks passionately “about filling your bucket and having confidence in the Lord.”
As Purdy-Korell says, “We hope through those discussions we have as a group they can take back ideas to help their teams.” The stated purpose of BCSA is not only to help Concordia’s athletic teams thrive but also to challenge Bulldog athletes to become more well-rounded people and followers of Christ.
“I am honored to have this role because I have always been someone who loves to uplift others, to bring people together and learn new ways to be better and improve,” Blough said. “I believe through BCSA I have been able to bring a lot to my coach and team on the best ways for us to grow together and we are blessed here at Concordia to be able to talk about our Savior Jesus Christ and the best ways to bring Him into our teams.”