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Get One Word for the new year…but be careful! It might change you.
Since 1999, we started the simple discipline of developing a One Word theme for the upcoming year. That is right—One Word. Not a phrase, not a statement, just a single word. To this point, it has been nothing short of life-changing.
Coaches often travel the country recruiting future players, selling their programs, and hoping that future stars will pick their particular school. Blue-chip recruits are in high demand, and every coach is inwardly crying, “Pick me! Pick me!” This is a great analogy for choosing godly wisdom, as illustrated in Proverbs.
In chapter 8, wisdom calls out to us and pleads her case about why we should pick her. Choosing wisdom is invaluable. It is better than the best thing we could ever want. Why? As the writer says at the end of the chapter, whoever finds wisdom finds happiness and life, and obtains favor from the Lord.
Every day, I run across the same busy bridge without sidewalks. Once, as I saw a car coming, I scooted to the guardrail, expecting they would slide toward the center lane. Nope. They stayed fully in their lane, flew past me, and nearly clipped off my arm! I whipped around shouting angrily. They didn’t hear me (a good thing).
Why hadn’t they moved over? I thought angrily. It’s not that difficult to see a runner coming straight toward you. Where’s the common courtesy? I always accommodate a runner on the road!
As coaches, we’re subject to having good days and bad days. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I always like winning better than losing. Enough losses in a row, and any of us can get a little blue. So how do we maintain a joyful life? The Bible gives us some good answers, as in the text above.
Each contest we’re involved in as coaches is filled with missed opportunities, errors, and mistakes. In some games, like volleyball, basketball, softball, and baseball, we have only a few seconds to respond to shortcomings or errors. In other sports like football, golf, and track and field, response time may be longer. Regardless of the seconds or minutes that tick away, our reactions to our players’ mistakes are critical, not only for their confidence but often for the outcome of the game.
As the coach of a college fall sport, for me, this time of year is a time of looking forward and planning ahead. We've finished reflecting on the past season, we've completed our exit interviews and we've laid out the plans for spring training. Now our attention turns to filling open positions with future recruits and envisioning what the future team will look like. Veterans return from Christmas break ready to embrace the challenge of becoming smarter, better and stronger. New recruits sign on with the hopes of becoming an important part of the future of the program.
In every new season, we are presented with new opportunities, new challenges, new relationships and new realities.
I have many memorable moments from my coaching days. I recall a pregame meeting that actually involved no talk about the upcoming game. Usually we reviewed assignments and our first series of plays, but in this particular meeting I took another direction. I told the players how I had been praying for them. I prayed for their safety on the field and that they would do well in the classroom. Most importantly, I prayed that if they were uncertain about their salvation that God would send them to me or some other Christian who would show them how to have a personal relationship with God.
The ministry of FCA is about many things, but one specific thing is influence. In athletics today, we all are influenced. Athletically, athletes are influenced by teammates and coaches by other coaches, but where is the spiritual influence coming from? One athlete recently told me that when it comes to athletic excellence he could help any teammate get to the next level, but when it came to growing in Christ he was not the man! An honest and compelling commentary for sure.
As a coach, my main objective is to communicate the game plan to my players. My next objective is to teach them to execute it on game days through hours of practice. During my pregame speech I may promise that if they execute the plan properly, they will have a chance to win. However, in the chaos of the game, the plan that I have mapped out may begin to unravel. If some of the players failed to study and learn it, the whole team will suffer. Are there similarities between this scenario and your own experiences?
Aside from my father, the most influential man in my life has been my coach. He was always very clear about the fact that, regardless of the issues that accompany academics, athletics, and disciplinary measures, he cared about me and valued me as a person. One of his many memorable sayings was, “When you fistfight or curse, you have run out of ideas.” Later I had the unparalleled honor of teaching with him for a short while, and he went on to found the FCA chapter for which I have now been Huddle Coach for twenty-one years. At the time of the Huddle’s birth, Jesus had just changed my life, and that’s when the coach asked me to co-sponsor. One year later he took another job, leaving the Huddle to me.
What should we do when our friends repeatedly make the same sinful mistakes? Some would say, “I cannot change them.” Others would say, “That’s just who they are,” and even, “They will never listen to me.” However, if these friends are followers of Christ, we need to hold them to the commitments they made in Christ. They need to hold us to the same standard as well. We all need accountability. When someone feels he/she does not need it, that is the beginning of great trials ahead.
When I was at the University of Kentucky, my team was expected to win a National Championship every year—and we did. It was the cheerleading team, and I was the mascot. Regardless of the sport, expectations go a long way in determining wins and losses. What about in faith? What are our expectations for winning and losing spiritual battles?
Many endurance athletes measure their level of effort during workouts or competitions by monitoring their percent of maximum heart rate. They identify their "max HR" by using a specific testing method either in the lab or real-life settings such as a track. Then, based on that number, they can review future performances in the context of that maximum effort data. While specific interpretation of the data varies based on a coach, the sport and the athlete, it can be quite beneficial in determining the actual effort put forth in a specific setting.
During the Christmas season there seems to be a more evident and fresh feeling of hope in the air. There is extended time with family, presents to give and receive, more gifts and money given to those in need, cheerful music and so on. Most of us look forward to these things all year.
As a coach, I also notice this hope-filled feeling in our team right before each game. Leading up to the game we have practiced hard and prepared, and now the score’s 0-0. We have the hope of playing well and getting a victory.
In today’s world of sports, it seems that anything done for an advantage is fair game—as long as you don’t get caught.
As a Major League pitcher, I have seen it all. Managers who spend their entire careers stealing the signs of other coaches from the dugouts and down the baselines. Players who reach base do the same thing. Pitchers are supposed to throw a clean, unscratched ball, but you can do some pretty cool things with a scuffed baseball.
If you are reading this, it is likely that you are a coach. However, whether you are a coach, a parent, or an athlete, you are involved in relationships. One of the most encouraging aspects of relationships is the exchange of compliments—genuine, from-the-heart compliments that don’t patronize, but let someone know that he or she is valued. Coaches sometimes neglect to show their appreciation for the players who sit on the bench. We get so wrapped up with the starters that we fail to let those less talented or less experienced know just how much we’re thankful that they’re on the team.
During one baseball game, our lead-off batter got a hit and was on first base. It’s exciting to be in the coach’s box down the third base line in the first inning with your lead-off man on first and your best hitter at the plate. I gave the steal sign, yet my player stayed at first base. On the next pitch, I gave the steal sign again. Again he didn’t jump as the pitcher released the ball. Then, the batter hit a line shot to the fence, and I was filled with a mixture of emotions. I was excited that we had back-to-back hits, but on the other side, had my lead-off hitter gotten the signal, he could have walked into home plate.
Jack Nicklaus, at age 59, underwent replacement of his left hip in January of 1999, forcing him to miss his first Masters in forty years. His doctors had predicted the six-time Masters champion wouldn’t be able to return to PGA tour golf for six months. Pleased with his rehabilitation, which included 18 holes daily, doctors released him to play again after four months.
Injuries can be a discouraging setback for an athlete—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Paul’s advice to Timothy is good for us to remember when we get discouraged. “I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you…God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Tm 1:6–7).
As I reflect on my career, my most defining moment came in the spring of 2002. I was beginning my sixth season as a varsity softball coach, and I had been struggling in my relationship with God. Some very special young women changed all that.
In this verse, Solomon had been experiencing the greatest time of his life. Untold riches and phenomenal success were part of his everyday life. Yet within that prosperity, Solomon said his heart was tested. He knew that God is delighted by “uprightness,” or integrity of heart, and he pursued those qualities.
To be whole, complete, undivided in our heart’s motives and desires is to have integrity. Does that characterize how we coach? Are our hearts full of integrity on our worst days? How about on our best days? Some of us are tested by bad days and others by good days. Some are tested by losing streaks and others by championships.
I don’t mean to get personal or be nosy, but how are your investments and where are they held? Most things we invest in are temporary and sometimes risky. That’s why God wants us to make wise, lasting investments in things of eternal significance. “God did not create us for time; He created us for eternity.”1 Therefore, let’s invest in relationships. At the end of our lives, our wins and losses, our bank accounts, stocks, retirement account, and social security income won’t mean much. Our relationships, however, will be the crown jewel of our lives. Relationships with our families, friends, and most importantly with Jesus Christ will be the true measure of our wealth.
Coach Smith was aware that one of his players was smoking pot. There was good evidence that he had even smoked on a team trip, which was clearly a violation of team rules. But Coach Smith did not take any action or even talk with the player.
At the end of the season, the school principal called Coach Smith for a meeting and told him that there was verifiable evidence the player had consistently violated team rules. The principal also had clear evidence that the coach knew about it; consequently, he was asked to resign.
In Coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, he talks about the character quality of fight, which is a determined effort. He calls it “intensity under control.” A player with fight has a contained fire burning in his or her belly, which ought to emerge as focused passion.
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