Summer Academy Player Profiles

Cody Snouffer

Although I have played soccer since I was four years old, I found myself really struggling with its true value. Halfway through my collegiate career, I asked God to reveal to me the redemptive power of soccer (if there was one), or to give me the strength to leave the game I love to pursue more kingdom-oriented activities. God opened the doors to travel to Brazil, and to participate in the Chicago Summer Academy. In 10 powerful weeks, God redeemed the game of soccer in my life, and set a new passion and purpose in my heart for the world through this game.

Since that first summer in 2009, I’ve returned to Brazil, studied abroad in Spain, and ministered in both Honduras and Cuba, incorporating sports ministry as an incredibly valuable tool for both sharing the Gospel and training coaches and players to reach their peers. I was also able to serve in the Academy's Leadership Training Program in 2011.

But it hasn’t stopped there! Currently, I am serving as an intern with MAI in Charlotte, helping in their Urban Eagles program. Urban Eagles seeks to place players and coaches in marginalized and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in order to form relationships with kids and their families. Love is our motivation, discipleship is our method, and empowerment is our goal for each and every life we touch in the Urban Eagles. Soccer practices, tutoring, Bible studies, trips for ice cream, playing video games, music, and simply sitting and talking are just a few of the ways we are seeing God at work, changing lives!

Following the Lord’s leading, we hope to launch the Urban Eagles in Chicago during 2012. I am sure of one thing - "we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13-14). May we be agents of His goodness and His love!