Patrick Henry College (PHC) is building a ministry bridge with local homeschooling families through athletics. PHC's gymnasium is not just home to the Sentinels. It is also home to The Loudoun County Patriots, a Christian homeschool basketball association with about 90 participants (boys and girls), ranging from middle school to varsity. They play at the Barbara Hodel Center gymnasium at PHC around six times a week. Additionally, Tom Ziemnick, who serves as Vice President for Advancement at PHC, has coached various Loudoun Patriots’ teams since 2014.
Before their official season started, the PHC's women’s basketball team hosted a scrimmage against the Loudoun County Patriots varsity girls. “PHC beat us pretty badly, which they should have, but it was a great learning experience for my girls,” said Ziemnick. He has seen many Loudoun County Patriots move on to play basketball at the collegiate level.
Their connection with Patrick Henry College has served as an opportunity for PHC to get to know, recruit from, and minister to the local homeschooling community. In fact, a number of Patriot players have ended up attending PHC.
“Some of the players have gone to the PHC Teen Leadership Camps. There, they meet the counselors (current PHC students), which is often the first time they realize, “Hey, I might want to come to PHC,’” Ziemnick said. “It's hard to play competitive basketball at college, whereas at PHC, you can come for the purpose of college (academics & life preparation) and, oh, by the way, play basketball.”
Ethan Patrick, PHC’s Athletic Director, has also put forth a concerted effort to recruit Loudoun County Patriots. When he first came to PHC, he said, “The Patriots varsity girls head coach let me sit down and talk to the whole team.”
Since then, it has been more about building individual relationships with the players, like chatting with a couple after each game and introducing the idea that they could come to PHC as students and play here.
“I'm hoping that as our athletics program develops and as the Patriots see how we are doing, there's more incentive for them to look to Patrick Henry as an enticing option for college,” Patrick said.
Of more significance, PHC's ministry to the Loudoun County Patriots program is hospitality; showing the individual athletes and their families that they are part of our PHC family.
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Patrick Henry College challenges the unacceptable status quo in higher education by combining the academic strength and commitment to biblical principles that elite institutions have lost; a commitment to high academic rigor, fidelity to the spirit of the American founding, and an unwavering biblical worldview.