There is more to Hope Salzman than just running

It can be easy to be going through life and find an identity – an outward definition of the person – in what you do.

Hope Salzman, a senior at Plainview High School, found herself in that situation. A three-sport athlete, she gravitated toward running (where she found two of those sports, track and cross country) and saw herself as just that – a runner.

“I’d placed my identity in my sport,” Salzman said. “When people would say to me, ‘Tell me about yourself,’ it was always, ‘I run.’ That used to be one of the first things that I would say.”

But a knee injury in her senior year, along with an experience last summer, has redirected her self-assessment.

Salzman was a freshman for Plainview when the track team won State in 2012. She ran with the team in relays as a junior when the Lady Indians won it again in 2014.

Plainview has been a fixture as the state champion in cross country for nine straight years.

An FCA huddle at Plainivew

However, being on top in the sports world doesn’t necessarily translate to being on top outside that world and Salzman’s life had seen its share of challenges. And for Hope, she found a hope in a new setting and through the ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“FCA has had a huge impact on me really,” Salzman said.

“I didn’t grow up in the best home and last year I moved in with a family, the Dillons, and they’re just amazing. And I got really involved in FCA my junior year.

“I went my sophomore year a little bit, every now and then I went, but I was really super-engaged in it. And then last year when I moved in with the Dillons, they host FCA at their house, so we have it every Wednesday night.”

The time spent in the FCA huddles during the school year led to a life-changing moment when the school year was through.

“I got to go to FCA Camp this past summer. And there, I realized that the way I was living wasn’t right. I did some stupid things and I realized that this is not the life that God wants me to live.

“So right there, on June 16, I just gave my life to Christ at camp one night during chapel. And I just decided to start living for Him.”

Hope, with FCA friends who keep her accountable in her walk.

For Salzman, living a life for Jesus entails learning more about Him at FCA and being encouraged with her friends there.

“Since then, I’ve really tried to be as involved with FCA as I can. I know that it’s really welcoming and non-judgmental. It’s not just for athletes, you know. It’s fun and really inviting to people to be able to fellowship with your teammates and your friends from your community and from your school and be able to help them grow.”

Salzman has grown in her faith and now is not just receiving, but also is giving at FCA.

“I get to speak sometimes,” Salzman said. “I got to go speak at the Fields of Faith. I got to give my testimony to students, which was really cool and a big step for me. I had never shared my testimony to anybody before, because I used to keep that stuff in because I was almost ashamed or embarrassed. But you know, I got that opportunity when Drew Beard asked me to come and I came.

“I teach a little bit sometimes. Also, I got to get up and speak at our huddle. I just try to stay as involved as I can. It means a lot to me, it’s super fun and it’s an awesome way to grow in Christ with your friends.”

Salzman’s senior year has not gone exactly the way she had hoped, as early on she suffered a knee injury that has kept her sidelined through the basketball season (her third sport) and into the spring. But it also alerted her to her own self-image when she realized she was seeing herself mainly, even only, as someone who runs. And she said she knows she is more than just that.

“With this ACL injury, I’ve had kind of an identity check, that’s all I call it. I placed my identity in running and I’m glad that before I go off to college I recognized that is very temporary.

Hope and her team praying together after an event at State.

“So far, I’ve been able to put my identity more in Christ, and rely on that because that’s forever and not just my body and the abilities I have.”

She is likely to get the chance to run again, though, before the year is done. And beyond that, Salzman has accepted an offer to attend Southern Nazarene University to run track for the Crimson Storm after high school.

But she’s not yet done at Plainview.

“(To run) track will definitely cut it close,” Salzman said. “But I hope to be able to run in regionals and state and hopefully get another state championship.”

And her senior year has been about more than just running.

“I try to encourage others and make an impact on the younger kids, and since I won’t be here next year, I want to invest in them and teach them from my experience in high school about things to avoid.

“And really to have fun and use every opportunity before I’m out. It’s weird that I’m going to be out of high school. It’s hard to grasp that right now.”

But when the summer does come and high school is in the past, the decisions she made as a result of caring people around her and the ministry of FCA will help her to succeed in college and beyond.

Salzman says FCA would be a good place for others, too. And that it is definitely a fun place to be.

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“We have games, we have food. Food is always a fun thing to tell people.

“But when we do have games, it’s so relatable. There are life applications from those games and certain situations. They’re not just feeding us information and then letting us wonder about and remain stagnant in our minds. They give us applicable ways to use it in situations we’re in.

“It’s so cool, because if you’re looking for a church home, it’s informal and so it’s really comfortable.”

With her identity secure in who she is now, and not in just what she does, Salzman is running into the rest of her life stronger than ever.

Click here for our previous Fellowship of Christian Athletes Spotlight