May 8, 2013
For Immediate Release

By Linda Waggener, marketing and media relations coordinator

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Campbellsville University senior Jordan Alves from Lawrenceburg, Ky. reflected on his personal experiences after a life-changing sophomore year. He felt his life was falling apart until a Christian professor/coach/mentor saw the trouble he was in and began to help him turn things around.

Alves said, “I was an incoming freshman with a lot of talent. I wasn't here for anything else besides playing baseball and becoming the best infielder I could be.”

He played hard in 30 games as a freshman with very good results. But he said his sophomore year began with a broken hand on the very first ground ball he took in the fall. He was out for three months and never recovered a hundred percent. He thought baseball was gone.

In that same year, his mother told him his parents were getting a divorce and on that same night his grandmother died from a sudden heart attack. Alves remembers being devastated.

“I didn't know what to do, think or say,” he said. “I didn't want to be around baseball. The things that I turned to in order to feel better led me into a world of parties, trying to fit in with upperclassmen. My grades went down the drain, and I ended up getting an F and a few Ds on my final grade report. I felt like my family was being ripped apart.”

Alves' instructor, Dr. G. Ted Taylor, professor of Christian studies and director of CU's Leadership/Character Development Institute and lead professor of the sports ministry program, saw beyond just the falling grades, and saw his student getting into deeper and deeper trouble. In a Christian coaching program, Taylor related to Alves using examples of others in the field who have walked a similar path to help him understand and grow past the events that had Alves in free fall.

“Dr. Taylor saw something in me when I took his class,” Alves said, “and now I'm an assistant baseball coach here at CU graduated May 4 with a bachelor's degree in sport management.”

Alves was a student assistant during his junior and senior years, coaching first base. He also coached the junior varsity team this year. He helped with the baseball team's Operation Christmas Child work in the fall.

Alves will continue his career as a CU student assistant at least one more week, coaching with the CU Tiger baseball team May 9-11 at the NCCAA Mid-East Regional in Nashville, Tenn. Campbellsville (32-19) will be the No. 1 seed. The Tigers also recently finished runner-up in the Mid-South Conference Tournament.

Alves remembers meeting new people who were on fire for Christ and for being servant leaders while a student at CU. Seeing those people so happy and living life to the fullest was exactly what he said he needed as a sophomore.

Jordan Alves talks with his mentor Dr. Ted Taylor at the Turner Log Cabin Park. (Campbellsville University Photo by Joan C. McKinney)

Taylor rewarded Alves' turnaround with the assignment to become a FIRST CLASS mentor with incoming freshmen. He said that was a major moment in his spiritual walk.

His goal after graduation is to enroll in the master's of organizational leadership (MAOL) program to start in fall 2013 with aspirations of working inside a baseball organization or coaching college baseball.

Alves said he found that coaching, while different from being a player, still allows him to be a part of the sport he loves, just in a different role. He has his self-esteem back and believes he was born to be a leader in the classroom and on the field.

He said, “And I found out that I was missing one huge person in my life, and that was Jesus Christ. And that is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.