June 26, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. – When Morgan Springer ended her playing career with the Ole Miss Rebels volleyball team following the 2011 season, it was as the all-time digs leader and one of the top defensive players in the Southeastern Conference over the previous four seasons.

She posted 1,631 digs for the Rebels as the starting libero for four years. And though her playing days in a Rebel uniform are over, Springer has found another way to continue to serve through the sport she loves.

An active member in the Ole Miss and Oxford communities in her time at Ole Miss, Springer is now on the west coast as one of six interns selected to participate in an outreach internship through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Springer is participating in a form of ministry through outreach work via volleyball camps in the area through what the Louisville, Kentucky, native describes as “relationship building that’s very volleyball centric.”

While the internship is focused mainly in California, she will also participate in a pair of big trips, heading down to UCLA for a volleyball camp and also coming back east for a volleyball camp in the Carolinas.

“The community here has been awesome,” Springer said. “There are so many young Christian athletes from across the United States and coming in from other parts of the world. Right now, we’re doing lots of mentoring and outreach work.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before.”

One of the most poignant moments so far in the internship came when Springer was afforded the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a pair of sisters who came to one of the youth camps. One of the sisters was blind, and Springer watched as the other sibling spent the whole day with her visually impaired sister helping her experience the day the other youth were having at the camp.

“It was amazing,” Springer said. “Here were these two girls and the one spent the whole time with her sister. She let her pick what activities she wanted to try, what she wanted to do and she served as her eyes to help her the whole time. She took the time explaining what the activity was and teaching and helping her with what to do and how to participate.”

Springer has been working alongside five other young women and other interns who have gathered from across the country. The opportunity has given her the chance to work with Olympic athletes, professional athletes from overseas and just “regular people” who have come to give of their time through FCA.

The internship runs through August 1.