Polson High School hosted a “Fields of Faith” event sanctioned by the Fellowship Of Christian Athletes Wednesday night at Polson High School.

The “Fields Of Faith” event featured former University of Montana athletes as speakers including U of M cross country and track runner Dillon May, former Lady Grizz soccer player Jenna Castillo and Carlee Bates.

The speakers’ premise of their message was simple: to spread their faith and inspire others.

“For me, I would say God put us on this earth to serve his kingdom and I’ve wanted to use my playing sports and my gifts and abilities to glorify him above anything else,” Castillo, who played soccer for the Grizz, said.

May agreed with Castillo’s assessment of the event.

“When it comes to hardships, I let my parents’ divorce define me early in life,” May said. “I got through all of the struggles and pain that I got from tough relationships. Now, I get to tell my story to other young people and it’s all worth it to help prevent them from going through what I had to go through.”

Mark Rochin, one of the event planners, said he felt the crowd got a lot of value from the guest speakers.

“The speakers were awesome and I am hoping they reached the audience,” Rochin said.

Rochin credited several sponsers, the FCA and FCA director at the University of Montana Rory Christians, and local churches for being able to put on an the elaborate event.

“It is really big planning for an event like this and I would like to thank all of the sponsors that put it on,” Rochin said. “I really feel that the speakers touched a lot of hearts.”

Nationally, the FCA’s “Field of Faith” has grown exponentially. In 2004 it started with 23 fields with a cumulative total of 6,000 people in attendance to 519 fields and 192,000 people in attendance by 2016.

“The event has grown each year,” Rochin said. “The FCA is a big part of sponsoring it as well as the local businesses and churches. This provides thousands of students to share their stories and challenges and provides a good game plan in life.”

Rochin said he felt the speakers got just as much value out of the event as the audience.

“The athletes got just as much out of the experience as the audience did,” Rochin said.