Shannon K. has been on staff with Athletes in Action for nine years. The Palm Springs, California, native and Cal State Fullerton graduate has just moved into role of Associate International Basketball Director in Xenia, OH. She is a certified athletic trainer and recently served in that role with the AIA Women’s Fall Tour team.

 Why did you come on staff with AIA nine years ago?

I came on staff to minister to athletic trainers. All the athletic ministries focus on the coaches and athletes, but they miss a huge part of the athletic team in trainers. Since I have been on staff I have been working with AIA Basketball and have also developed a love for basketball and ministry to the women who travel on our teams.

What does your new role look like?

In my new role as the Associate International Basketball Director, I will oversee the set-up of our women's international teams, which includes recruiting coaches, players and athletic trainers for those teams. I’ll also work with AIA international and country directors with the set-up of overseas tours. In addition, I will help with operations of International Basketball, such as database training, overseeing team budgets, and training our new staff on systems that set up international tours.

How many Fall Tours have you traveled on? What do you love most about Fall Tour?

I have traveled on eight Fall Tours. My favorite thing is being able to work with the athletes for 5-6 weeks, because in that amount of time you get below the surface and get to know what is going on inside of them. In addition, we typically play 12-15 games in 20 days. There comes a point at the end of the tour when the athletes start living out the AIA Principles because they don't have anything left physically or emotionally to compete at such a high level. It is at this point when I start seeing the Holy Spirit play basketball and the athletes go to a new level in their relationship with the Lord. I also love to travel and see new places.

How is Fall Tour special in the lives of the athletes?

Besides what I mentioned above, we are able to play top NCAA Division I teams in the country and have a unique opportunity to minister to them. We share a pre-game meal with most of the teams we play which creates a good opportunity to talk with the athletes. During this time we share about our relationship with God and introduce AIA summer opportunities. I have talked with several athletes over the years who got involved with our ministry as a result of our Fall Tour team coming to share with their team. It is encouraging to see fruits of our labor.

Tell me something random about yourself that people may not know.

I won first place at a county fair for an art project that I did in high school. I was in an arts and crafts class where we painted Indian art work on gourds (an Indian form of art) and I entered a couple of my pieces in the fair. I won first and third place. In addition, I was able to sell a few of my gourds and started getting several requests to make more but had to stop so I could concentrate on school.