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On a dark rainy night I was driving in an unfamiliar place. As I made a turn, I was faced with cars driving in my direction. I had turned short of my road and was on the highway exit ramp! Fortunately, no accident took place and I was able to adjust my direction.
Wisdom for a Young Head Coach
Week 9
Read the text aloud.
Discussion Questions:
PGA Tour pro Zach Johnson is a self-proclaimed sports enthusiast. And, as a Christian, he readily admits that his favorite story is one where sports and Scripture collide: David versus Goliath. At the mere mention of the biblical battle, Johnson sees flashes of a small shepherd boy with a sling and stones overtaking a Philistine giant. Immediately he is inspired.
Carey Casey wants to start a revolution. He travels around the country, rallying and recruiting men to join him and asking them to enlist for the cause. His goal: an army of 6.5 million.
Not to be confused with any militant operation, Casey's is more of an intimate and personal quest: changing the world one championship father at a time.
Randy Swearengin was a rookie FCA area representative, newly hired to a full-time position in Mississippi, when he entered a coach’s office in his district one morning armed with a box of Bibles and a heart determined to impact local coaches and athletes for Christ.
He had recently purchased the box of FCA Coach’s Bibles with his own money and was planning to hand-deliver them to every local coach as way of introducing himself. This particular coach, however, known for being tough and hard-nosed on and off the field, would have nothing of it.
Last year, as a freshman on the University of Tennessee soccer team, Ali Hall accepted an invitation to an FCA Huddle meeting for reasons that had little to do with spiritual desire (a.k.a. free food). She had no idea how that decision would change her life. Mere months later, she fully surrendered her life to Christ and began living and playing for Him. This season, the sophomore defender is focusing on using her athletic gifts to bring glory to the Lord as she and the Lady Vols take on the SEC.
As coaches and athletes, we face adversity every day. Specifically for coaches, this adversity seems to come not just from the opponents on our schedules, but from a variety of sources. And whether we are dealing with players’ circumstances, injuries, parental issues, or whatever, we all need to have some reassurance or confirmation that we are doing a good job.
Professional golfer Blayne Barber had finally qualified for the PGA Tour. It was a dream come true! However, a week after playing in the tournament that qualified him, he couldn’t get the leaf out of his mind. Yes, a leaf. In the second round of the tournament, he had accidently brushed a leaf in the bunker on the 13th hole, so he marked his scorecard with a one-shot penalty for the infraction. Later that night, he learned it was a two-shot penalty. He played the final two rounds, but a week later, he didn’t have peace signing an incorrect scorecard, so he did the right thing. He disqualified himself, which cost him a spot on the PGA Tour. Blayne lived out the principle, “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Sheltered from the stark contrast separating the world’s “haves” and “have-nots,” FCA Colombia Director James Oilar was living the good life as a sports club manager in Chicago.
But when a friend asked Oilar a simple question, it took him on a journey that eventually landed him in Bogotá, Colombia, to help lead FCA’s first international Huddle.
The question? “James, what has to happen in your life so you don’t consider it a failure?”
Season tickets for your team: $100
Hot dogs and sodas for the game: $20
Game programs: $10
Watching your team kick a last-second field goal: Priceless
FCA Bible: $8
Team FCA Kit: $25
FCA Camp: $335
Leading a student-athlete to the Lord: Priceless
Noah's Ark: Many trips to Home Depot for gopher wood
Prodigal son’s share: Half of Dad's estate
Selling out our Savior: 30 pieces of silver (like Judas) or our daily denial (like Peter)
Grace and forgiveness from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Priceless
Satan's promise: Everything you desire
Society's pleasure: Instant gratification for the moment
Sin's price: Death
Savior's purpose and plan: Eternity with HIM!
He’s the man who replaced the man. And that’s really all most people know about him. It’s an old axiom in coaching that you should never replace a popular coach because it will be difficult if not impossible to live up to their standard. Indianapolis Colts’ Head Coach Jim Caldwell stepped directly into that situation when his predecessor, Tony Dungy—possibly the most recognizable Christian coach of this era—removed his headset for the final time after the 2008 season.
You know them well. They sit in the stands, crowd around the locker rooms after a game, write the articles in the paper, cover the news locally and nationally … Yes, you know them well. I call them the "Joy Killers." They have a mission: to make sure you don't enjoy success. If you win, they will tell you it was by too much. If you have your best night ever, they will tell you someone did it better. If you are breaking every kind of record, they will tell you it was not that big of a deal.
Yesterday my fifth grade son lay at the top of the stairs, refusing to come down for breakfast before school. As the self-designated family barber, I was under fire from this 11 year-old for having cut his hair too short over the weekend. Now, he cried out, his ears stood out and looked stupid. Naturally, everyone was going to notice and make fun of him.
What do we consider to be the “trials” of our sport? What parts of our character are tied into those trials? Do they test our wills, our bodies, our attitudes, our emotions, or all the above? How deeply are we affected by those trials?
In 1 Peter 1:6, we read, “You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials.”
We all can find great enjoyment and fulfillment in playing the game. In fact, many of us seemingly live for competition. But the trying parts of the process often wear us down. The disappointment and frustration that comes with sore muscles, painful joints, disappointing losses, and strained relationships can bring us down.
Waiting is one tough job! In sports, players and teams are waiting . . . waiting patiently for their time to shine. In God’s Word, Isaiah wrote in chapter 40 that waiting is a good thing. The word “wait” does not measure time spent, but is rather a process of strengthening until fulfillment. Let me suggest three reasons why we must wait on the Lord: (1) waiting creates time during which we can trust God more (Psalm 27); (2) waiting prepares us to have our real needs met (Psalm 40); and (3) waiting encourages us to always be prepared for Christ’s return (Matthew 24).
As Ryan Hall's relationship with Jesus has grown, so has his understanding of excellence. Part of his early struggles as a runner were based on the identity crisis that often takes place for those sports competitors who have highly measurable templates for success.
"The world's definition of excellence is just based on performance," Hall says. "As soon as you're not performing, no one wants to talk to you anymore in the media, and it's easy to get down on yourself. It's all wrapped up in performance. It's like building your house on the sand. It's very changing and fleeting, and eventually it's going to be gone, because no one is always on top of their game.
Recently I was diagnosed with a serious condition. This condition could be fatal if not taken care of quickly. The condition can affect every part of a man's life. It is called S.D.M.S--Stubborn Dumb Male Syndrome. I have had it for some time, but recently realized how bad my condition has gotten. In fact, many men have this condition. It can strike at any time and any place--on the field or off, at home, at work or even in church. If not treated, it can harden a man's heart and turn him from the proper medication.
Ron Brown and Mike Minter talk about what life was all about before Mike came to Christ. Shaun Alexander discusses what you MUST wear to the biggest party ever. Mark Richt shares about his experience of adooption. Les shares about Fields of Faith.
Since I was a young boy growing up in Pittsburgh, I wanted to work for the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Pittsburgh Penguins. A family friend of ours was Mike Lange, who is a Hall of Fame announcer for the Pittsburgh Penguins. As a boy playing sports with his son, I would see Mr. Lange when he attended our games and get-togethers. I always admired him as a person, but I also admired the two championship rings that he always wore. On several occasions, Mr. Lange let me wear his Stanley Cup Championship rings on my fingers. It was those moments when I knew that all I wanted was to win a ring of my own.
Kevin “Chappy” Hynes, Jill Perry, Scott Shepherd and Ray Lawrence share an office in Athens, Georgia. One of the most visibly enticing elements is a large dry erase board, topped with this question: SITUATION ANALYSIS — WHAT ARE WE DOING WELL? Below that are the answers: variety, weekly meetings, discipleship with leaders, buddy relationships, trips, Bible study. And below that, another question: WHERE CAN WE IMPROVE? And the answers: discipleship with others, team interaction, feature teams, worship team, coaches.
Kristin Drabyn is no stranger to the Division-I college basketball scene. But now, the former UMBC guard is leading from the sideline rather than the floor as a first-year assistant coach at Holy Cross. In her new role, Drabyn is learning to make friends with the bench—something that can be difficult for a former player. Despite the change of scenery, though, Coach Drabyn is remaining constant in the most important thing: her personal witness for Jesus Christ.
Today’s emerging female athlete is a new breed. Different than the generation before her, she’s noncommittal, untrusting and is far more likely to text message you than to interact personally. But this girl is also full of potential. STV investigates how — at both the college and high school levels — coaches today can draw out the phenomenal women in today’s generation.
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