The Second Annual TKC Games brought together approximately 85 men from the Atlanta locality, and from across Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, for an epic day of fellowship, team competition, and great southern smoked barbecue. This Christ-centered event was open to all adult men, and was designed for building friendships, growing in faith, and introducing others to Regnum Christi
Building on the success from the previous year, this year’s games began at 9 a.m. and ran until 4.p.m., and included events like a giant slingshot that launched tennis balls, paintball target shooting, golf skill games, and (plastic) axe throwing. The day also included Mass and time for the participants to get to know one another, as well as an enormous barbecue lunch. Men were divided randomly into teams (each with a unique name and colored flag, onto which the teams attached award ribbons throughout the day) to give them the opportunity to spend the day with people they didn’t know or men throughout the locality that they might not otherwise have had the chance to meet. The event was held on a Saturday at the beginning of May on private property in the Castleberry Bridge area of Dawsonville, GA.
Julio, a Regnum Christi member from Atlanta, and one of the organizers of the annual event, shared the inspiration behind the TKC Games: “We wanted to create a space where men could come spend a day in the country with other guys – competing, but also just enjoying brotherhood. It’s a free day for guys to do what guys like to do.”
The participants included Regnum Christi men and Legionary priests from around the locality, as well as family and friends. “We invite new guys to learn about who we are as Regnum Christi, but also to see the faith in a different way,” says Julio. “Some of them were not even Catholic, or had never met a priest before, and they come and see priests playing and having fun, having conversations, and having a good time.”
One of the main priorities for Julio and his team in organizing the TKC Games was to create an event that was welcoming and accessible to all the men who attended; all of the games were chosen and designed so that men of all ages and abilities could participate and have fun. And for Julio, this was highlight of TKC Games: to see men of all ages becoming kids again. “My job was to go around and make sure everyone was having a good time, so I really get to see the guys playing and having fun,” says Julio. “One of the older men there was a priest from Mexico who had heart surgery recently. To see him playing like a kid, like a boy again, was great. That’s exactly what we want.”
Julio worked with a team of other men from the RC men’s section in Atlanta, including Todd Brechbill, Alex Kucera, and Jerry Nix, who prepared the barbecue lunch out of smoked meat food truck.
Looking ahead, Julio and his team are enthusiastic about the future of the TKC Games, and next year, they’re hoping for even more participants, broadening the reach and impact of the event. “It’s a good way to bring all the guys in the territory together, and everybody – young and old – can do it, and everybody has fun,” says Julio. “I think it’s important because it allows us to meet the rest of the guys in the territory, and to see how big we are, and just to spend time together as a family.”
To find out more about RC Atlanta, visit their website at rcatlanta.org.
