Top-ranked Pokémon Trading Card Game player; co-host, Pokémon: Trainer Tour; YouTuber and streamer
Trinity Lutheran Church, Kent, Ohio
I got involved at Trinity Lutheran as COVID-19 restrictions were beginning to wane and my wife, Natalie, and I were looking for a new congregation. We had noticed that Trinity had a pride banner outside that promoted welcoming all people. This compassionate and accepting message was something that really resonated with us, so we decided to attend a service. I was raised and confirmed Lutheran in Bel Air, Md., so I was already familiar with the denomination. After attending for a while, Natalie was baptized by Pastor Emeritus George Gaiser. He also officiated our wedding in July 2022.
I’m part of the tech team at Trinity and am able to use my experience with streaming to help guide the production of our weekly livestreams. I’ve been passionate about video production since I was a teenager. I grew up making skateboarding videos with my friends and studied photography at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. And now I stream and make YouTube videos for a living!
Video productions and streams can play a key role in service accessibility, helping to make the good news available to a wider audience. Before I began my career in streaming, I was going to graduate school for a master’s degree in special education. Working with people who have special needs has really helped me to see the ways that technology can be used for good to help increase communication and accessibility.
I have always been a competitive person. I was captain of the track-and-field and cross-country teams in high school and earned an NCAA Division III national title in the distance medley relay (indoor track and field) in college. When I graduated, I felt like I was missing that way to compete and connect with people. I had loved Pokémon since I was a kid. I loved collecting Pokémon, meeting up with people to trade cards and then battling with friends. Not long after graduating, I saw that Pokémon was holding regular tournaments and leagues for the Trading Card Game (TCG) in my area.
I thought the Pokémon TCG would be a great way for me to meet new people, find community outside of school and continue competing while taking a step back from competitive running. So I got involved! I saw a good amount of success in the Pokémon TCG, and I ended up meeting many lifelong friends through the game. I even met my wife through the Pokémon TCG! And two of the three groomsmen in my wedding party were friends I met through Pokémon.
God has provided me with a really special opportunity to create community and show people positive ways to connect.
My career is kind of a funny one. I’m a Twitch streamer and a YouTuber who creates under the name Tricky Gym. Basically, I connect with hundreds of people every weekday during my livestreams on Twitch, where I play the Pokémon TCG. Then I release weekly videos on YouTube where I showcase the game and discuss various topics related to it for an audience of tens of thousands. I love making content that adults can watch with their kids, or that kids can share with their parents and teachers.
I never would have thought that I would be able to make a living doing what I love. But I feel like God has provided me with a really special opportunity to create community and show people positive ways to connect with each other through the Pokémon TCG.
My favorite thing about competitive Pokémon is the community of people involved. The Tricky Gym Discord server is one of the largest online spaces to discuss the Pokémon TCG, with 17,000 members. I and a team of community members moderate the server and do our best to create a safe and welcoming space for people to meet and share their love for Pokémon. My favorite thing about creating Pokémon content is inspiring others to get out, meet people and create lifelong friendships.
Pokémon: Trainer Tour is a TV series created by the Pokémon Company International (PCI) that launched last month on Amazon Prime Video and Roku. On the series I and my co-host Meghan Camarena travel, meet Pokémon trainers, hear their stories and help them level up their game. PCI reached out to me about co-hosting the show, and I was very excited to be a part of it. I had worked with them on some smaller projects before, but never something of this magnitude.
A memorable experience I had while making the show was meeting with Dara and her son Nehemiah from Los Angeles. Nehemiah is a big Pokémon fan who has epilepsy. Throughout the episode, Meghan and I help Dara learn the Pokémon TCG so she can better connect with Nehemiah and help him learn to play by the rules. Teaching Dara how to play helped her to have valuable, intentional time with her eldest son, giving them something that they could share together.
I live out my faith through my career every day. I am super-passionate about tabletop games and how they can be used as a vehicle for people to form meaningful connections. It might be a little ironic since I use technology for so much of what I do, but in a world increasingly dominated by screens, I think it’s important for people to “disconnect” and spend time with one another in person. Tabletop gaming is a great way for people to do that. I believe God works in every community in every place on earth, and I feel like God has called me to be a beacon of light within the Pokémon community.
I feel called to lead by example and show God’s grace through everything I do.
I feel called to lead by example and show God’s grace through everything I do. I’ve witnessed to my community, my content is always family-focused, and the digital spaces I oversee are welcoming and friendly. It’s increasingly difficult to find welcoming and friendly online spaces where you can meet people, be yourself and find friends. I’ve been told that the Tricky Gym community is like an oasis on the internet where the vibes are wholesome and loving. I attribute that to the Holy Spirit that I believe guides me every day.
I pray for forgiveness all the time; I know God’s grace is infinite if he can be patient with me. I pray for my family and friends, that they may be healthy and receive God’s grace as well. I pray for the health of Natalie and my first child, who is due in September! I pray for guidance and strength of mind, that I may endure the stresses of modern life with faithfulness and persevere through challenges while remaining humble.
I’ve witnessed God’s grace in my life because I feel like he never gave up on me. God has shown me where I fit into the world and how I can best serve him and those around me. I have been consumed by stress, worry and doubt in the past. I still struggle with those things sometimes, but I find peace in my faith, the Scriptures and my congregation. I may not know how this career will play out in five, 10 or 20 years. But God has provided for me more than I could have ever imagined up until this point, and I trust he will continue to guide me as I continue to seek him.
To me, grace means that God never gives up on us. His forgiveness is infinite and immediate. Sometimes I get hung up on beating myself up about things when I mess up. When this happens, I remind myself that God has already forgiven me and that the best thing to do is continue moving forward.
I’m a Lutheran because I see and feel the Holy Spirit moving through this denomination to fight social injustices, help those in need and share the glory of God with the world. As a Lutheran I feel empowered through the Holy Spirit to be myself and use the gifts that God has given me to serve those around me and be a witness to the power of his grace.
If you’d like to nominate someone for “I’m a Lutheran,” email livinglutheran@elca.org.
