FCA Kick-Off Prayer Breakfast planned for Nov. 22
MADISON – One of the highly anticipated events on the schedule of the North Alabama Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is set for Friday, Nov. 22 and will be held on the UAH Campus at Spragins Hall. The 2024 Iron Bowl Kick-Off Prayer Breakfast, catered by Chick-fil-A, will be held 6:45 a.m.-7:45 a.m. for students of all ages and will feature two guest speakers.
Those guests include former Auburn football head coach Gene Chizik and one-time player for Alabama and current dentist Dr. Kenneth Vandervoort.
Chizik, who will turn 63 on Dec. 28, began coaching for a Florida high school in 1986 before jumping to the college ranks as an assistant coach at Clemson, Middle Tennessee, Stephen F. Austin, Central Florida, Auburn and Texas. In 2006, he was hired as head coach at Iowa State. In his third season with the Cyclones, the team won their first two games before losing their final 10 games to finish 2-10. In Dec. of 2008, Auburn hired Chizik where he would place a record of 33-19 before he was released after four seasons. His 2010 team finished 14-0 and won the BCS National Championship behind quarterback Cam Newton who won the coveted Heisman Trophy. Chizik earned several Coach of the Year honors.
Chizik returned to coaching for two stints as an assistant coach at North Carolina. He was on staff 2015-2016 and 20222023. In between the tenures of coaching after exiting Auburn, he worked in the media for several organizations including the SEC Network.
Vandervoort is 2007 magna cum laude graduate of Alabama as he was a walk-on linebacker for the Crimson Tide 2003-2007 and later served as a graduate assistant for the Tide. He attended and graduated in 2012 from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. After setting up his private practice he joined the U.S. Navy in 2014.
The Kick-Off Prayer Breakfast for Madison County is actually the third of three arranged for the area. A similar event is set for Wednesday, Nov. 20 in Cullman County and a Marshall County gathering on Thursday, Nov. 21.
Tickets are available including those tickets which are setup as scholarship tickets for local students who cannot afford to attend. For all event and ticket details, visit www. northalabamafca.org or call 256-5093692 no later than Nov. 15.
