CFCA athlete earns FCA’s leadership award

WEST ORANGE As a high-school senior, Aubrey Muench is busy.

The homeschooled student plays volleyball, basketball and softball through Central Florida Christian Academy. She volunteers with the preteen ministry at Church at the Cross and leads worship in the youth group there. She plays travel softball. 

She’s also an active member of the local chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where she regularly serves. Recently, she was honored for her dedication: FCA awarded her the Central Florida Student Leadership Award. It is a large honor, considering the Central Florida FCA spans across seven counties.

“Aubrey was a very easy nominee because she understands her platform as an athlete is a platform where she can serve and reach others,” said Gloria Solis, FCA Orange County area representative. “As a basketball player, she went with me to help out in a special-needs basketball tournament. She gets the idea that as an athlete she has influence.”

Muench was surprised when she found out about the award. 

“I was a little dumbfounded, honestly,” she said. “I didn’t think it was a huge award, and as I started talking to my parents, I thought, ‘This is a really big award.’ It was through almost all of Orlando.”

Muench has only been involved in FCA for about a year. The Ocoee resident was invited to an FCA all-nighter by a friend, which stirred her on to get involved with the organization. At FCA, Muench often participates in serving at Special Olympics event. The track-and-field competition was one of her favorites. 

“I have a heart for kids with special needs,” she said. “For track and field, we got to time them, and some of those kids are so fast.” 

Since her eighth-grade year, she has played sports at CFCA, and through her time there, she learned to be a leader. Getting involved with FCA just further emphasized her leadership skills, teaching her how to better represent Christ and FCA on the field and court. 

“It made me realize that younger kids look up to you in ways you wouldn’t even imagine,” Muench said. “In sports here at CFCA, we have a lot of young kids. At first I didn’t like it, because I thought, ‘They’re newbies; they don’t know what they’re doing.’ But it gave me open eyes, and I thought, ‘You know what? I was them, and I sat the bench.’ It showed me that it was a leading opportunity to show them that, even though you’re sitting the bench right now, you will get there.”

As a graduating senior, Muench is interested in playing collegiate sports but wants to make sure she can keep her grades up first. She plans to start her higher education at Lake-Sumter State College. A basketball coach in Missouri promised to wait for Muench if she did well in college and felt confident to juggle college and sports. 

Contact Jennifer Nesslar at [email protected].

FCA of Central Florida

To learn more about the local chapter of FCA, visit centralfloridafca.org.