How it started
"Service is a basic principle of the gospel and there has been Serving the People of Sport (SPS) ministry as long as there has been performance oriented sport. In a real sense the pioneers of SPS ministry were Alonzo Stagg (American Football coach in the 1890s), C. T. Studd (English cricketer and missionary) and some of the churches who founded 8 of the current English Premier League clubs in the late 19th century.
When sports ministry began to develop in the 1960s and 1970s, SPS was part of it with professional sports clubs beginning to appoint chaplains. Baseball Chapel in the USA started in 1973. We are aware of chaplains who served at Olympics Games since 1972 and official chaplaincy to the Olympics was begun in 1988.
The SPS Council first met under that name in Orlando in 2004." |
