This past weekend, Pella Christian graduate Jase Amelse and the Northwestern College football team defeated Keiser University from Florida in the NAIA Championship in Durham, North Carolina.

Leading up to the championship game, Amelse and the Raiders spent just shy of a week in North Carolina practicing, bonding, and sightseeing. Throughout the week, the team toured the athletic facilities at Duke University and Durham Bulls Athletic Park, in addition to doing a service project. While it was a busy week, Amelse said that the entire experience is something that will stick with him for a long time.

“We got there Tuesday night, I believe, and I mean Wednesday through Friday, we were just jam packed with activities, practice, eating together with the team and everything. And I mean, I definitely know that I would not trade that for the world looking back on it, just all the time that we got to spend together as teammates.”

Amelse, an Actuarial Science & Business Administration major, will be a senior for the Raiders next football season but still has two years of eligibility should he choose to use the extra year granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.