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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.
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