Columbia International University Athletics

By Gordie Frierson

Over the next few weeks leading up to the fall sports seasons, we are going to highlight a few of our fall sport alumni athletes. This week we caught up with 2016 graduate and Men's Soccer alumnus, Abhishek "Shake" Pappu.

Shake, tell us how you ended up attending CIU and what you do now…

Shake: "My dad, Thilak Pappu, graduated from CIU, and that's how I found out about this amazing university. I recently graduated from CIU, and now I'm married to my beautiful wife, Christina Pappu. I work for an amazing and successful soccer training franchise called Soccer Shots here in Columbia, SC."

Explain a little bit about what Soccer Shots is and what you enjoy most about it…

Shake: "Soccer Shots is an intro to soccer program for kids 2-8 years old. We mainly focus on teaching them different soccer skills, positive words to build their character, like respect, confidence and determination. Most of all, we focus on having a lot of fun with our kids."

"There are many aspects I love about Soccer Shots, but if I have to choose a couple specifically, the first thing would definitely be playing soccer, interacting and having fun with the kids. Secondly, as the Director of Coaches, I'm responsible for hiring the right coaches and training them, so I get to pour into a lot of college-aged students, which I really enjoy. And finally, I just enjoy being around our Soccer Shots staff, which includes Matt Simmons, our franchise owner and a CIU alumnus as well. I have worked under him for the past couple years, and he has taught me so much about people and how to run a business in general."

How does what you learned in the classroom at CIU help with your vocation?

Shake: "So when I was at CIU, I was a Youth Ministry major – shout out to Sam, Olshine and Karen! There were many things that my education in the Youth Ministry major taught me to help with my present job at Soccer Shots. For instance, how to interact with kids, parents, directors and our Soccer Shots coaching staff (which consists of around 20-22 coaches) in the most positive, loving, effective and efficient way. This is so important in any setting whether it's a church, business, etc."

Has your CIU Student Athlete experience played a role in your success with soccer shots?

Shake: "During my time at CIU, I had the opportunity and privilege to be part of the first-ever soccer team at CIU. I played for four years, and I learned so much about the game of soccer and developing relationships with other people. I'm forever thankful for Coach Abbott, Coach Whitaker, Coach Crews, and Coach Spraul, all of whom have poured into me and so many athletes. CIU has given me a chance to play this beautiful sport of soccer and has definitely helped me to build my resumé for the future, giving me a platform to use this sport for HIS glory."

Did being an athlete at CIU enhance your walk with Christ?

Shake: "I'll be honest, being a student athlete was tough. But in my perspective, whether you are a student, student athlete, professor, coach etc., they are all hard and tough roles. That being said, CIU did an amazing job in enhancing my walk with Christ for sure. What helped me to further my walk with Christ, apart from learning in class and chapel time, was intentionally spending time with professors, staff and my fellow classmates, which our students definitely need to take advantage of."
 
Do you think that that sports are an effective tool for sharing the gospel?

Shake: "The simple answer to that is YES! Sports is an amazing way to share the gospel. I'm reminded of the time when our CIU Soccer Team went to Guatemala for a missions trip. While we were there, we built so many relationships and played a lot of soccer. I didn't know a word of Spanish, but the way we communicated and loved the people in that little community was by using soccer. Thankfully, we also had some Spanish-speaking guys on our team who translated for us and helped to share the gospel to all the teams and people we came in contact with, and that was just an amazing, eye-opening experience."

Have the relationships you built among your team lasted beyond college?

Shake: "Yes, for sure, that's one of the things that I'm thankful for as well. I'm close to a lot of the guys that were on our team, and some of them were even groomsmen in my wedding.  And it's always a blast when once a year, we get a chance to come back to CIU and play on our home turf at the Alumni Game."

What advice do you have to current CIU Athletes?

Shake: "One piece of advice I would personally give to all the students, not only student athletes, would be to build relationships while you are at CIU. Not only with your team or hall mates, but with everyone around you, including coaches, professors, staff, etc. These relationships will definitely help in your future. Once you leave CIU, it's also important to keep those relationships alive and growing."