Jackson Vercellono (third from left) worked with FCA Hockey's staff led by Rick Randazzo (fourth from right) at its summer camps for the third year in a row.
Vercellono develops in his various roles as spiritual leader with Flames, Club Sports, FCA Hockey
9/29/2023 12:17:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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The graduate forward for the Division I men's hockey team by night assists the Club Sports spiritual development office and FCA Hockey by day.
In addition to shepherding teammates as a spiritual leader on Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team, graduate forward Jackson Vercellono is also working this fall as a graduate assistant in the Club Sports spiritual development office and serving as an area representative for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Hockey.
"I've been involved with FCA Hockey since I was 16 years old," said Vercellono, who was living in California at the time and flew to Niagara Falls, N.Y., to participate in one of its summer camps. "(FCA Hockey National Director) Rick Randazzo picked me up from the airport that day and he has been my mentor ever since. He hired me as a camper intern and now as a staff member, doing administrative work like tracking revenue and expenses. I just want to stay plugged into this ministry as long as I can."
The past three summers, Vercellono has worked at the summer camps, held at the FCA Hockey headquarters in Alexandria, Minn.
"We hosted and had contact with over 500 kids this summer, ranging from 6-year-olds to Junior and college hockey players, and saw over 100 of them be led to the Lord," Vercellono said. "The ministry was booming. We have interns that come in every summer and part of my summer role is being one of the guys who leads those interns and disciples them and helps them to counsel the players on the ice."
Madison Cruzan married Vercellono ('23) on May 13.
This summer, he got to serve with his wife, Madison (Cruzan) Vercellono, whom he married on May 13 instead of walking in his own Commencement. She will graduate in December with a B.S. in Family & Consumer Sciences: Event Planning.
"It was a super fun summer," Vercellono said. "It was my first summer being married, so my wife and I got to do this ministry together. She was volunteering, helping with registration process. She is amazing, and she played a big part in organizing and planning as well as keeping all of the hockey players fed."
One of Vercellono's newest roles is remotely leading a weekly Bible study with a variety of FCA Hockey players now in the Juniors ranks.
"(Juniors hockey) is a challenging time because you're just there to play hockey and it's a very secular environment," Club Sports Assistant Athletic Director Reese Braband said. "Their identity and everything is wrapped up in their performance as a hockey player and Jackson remembers that pressure. He reminds them that their identity is not in their performance, not as an athlete, but their identity is in Christ first."
Around the spiritual development office, which Braband heads up, Vercellono is in his third year working with a group that includes coordinators Josh Graham, an assistant coach on the DI women's hockey team, and Heather Gollnick, the head coach for the triathlon team.
"He joins our weekly meetings and has great input in our events planning," Braband said. "He has a servant's heart and is willing to do whatever is needed, taking administrative work off of me, Josh, and Heather to allow us to do more."
He said Vercellono continues to be a tremendous resource for the DI men's hockey team as a spiritual leader, serving alongside senior forwards Kris Bladen and Truett Olson.
"(The team) will rely on him, Truett (Olson), and Bladen quite a bit on the trip to Finland," Braband said of the team's second mission trip to that country in four years, which is planned for over Christmas break. "He will be one of the first ones to step up and share his testimony or teach some of the children's classes at church or lead the way on the children's activities, as well as engaging with the other teammates."
Since completing his B.S. in Accounting and starting his MBA over the summer, Vercellono has taken on added behind-the-scenes administrative tasks with the spiritual development team.
"It's cool because he's not doing a ministry degree, but he wants to use his administrative gifting to advance missions work," Braband said.
"I've been doing this since my freshman year and my responsibilities have grown," Vercellono added. "As soon as I came to Liberty, I have been focusing on holistic development, working with our Club Sports spiritual leaders. The past couple years, I've been in a work study role. As a grad assistant, I am helping more in business operations, mostly assisting in travel requests for hotels and airfare, and I also work on the administrative side of things. I don't do any leading, but I help organize (spiritual leadership) meetings and help the leaders be better prepared for them."
Vercellono enjoys serving alongside Braband and the team in the spiritual development office just as much as he loves encouraging his teammates in the locker room and battling beside them on the ice.
"I'm so blessed to be able to have this chance to do what I do, to work for Reese, who's a really great example of a spiritual leader, along with Josh and Heather, who are great people. It is a great team I get to be a part of, and that is one of the main things that brought me to Liberty. Stepping into that spiritual leadership role is such an honor, and getting to live it out by loving my brothers each day is awesome."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer Vercellono comes off the ice during this past weekend's series against Minot State at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Chase Gyles)
