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SH! When’s Your Birthday?
There are no materials needed for this icebreaker. Just have everyone stand up and arrange themselves in order of their birthdays from earliest birthday to latest (month and day only). The trick is, no one can talk. They can only use gestures. Give them a time limit.
Who Are You?
As a student-athlete in high school, the only thing that I liked about myself was my basketball ability. My self-worth was based completely on my performance on the court. Although I knew Christ, it took a lot of painful losing and poor performances for me once I got to college to realize that my self-worth was very skewed.
After I began to read the Bible more, I realized that none of the verses showed that God loved me any less based on my performance. I did, however, find many verses based on how God viewed me as His child.
Web Exclusive with Bill Stutz
What most parents are finding out is that 70% of kids are dropping out of sports by the age of 13, and do you know why? According to Sports Illustrated it’s because the adults who are involved, particularly their own parents, have turned the playing of games into a joyless, negative experience. Shame on us! The things that I learned about life after age 13 by playing sports is extremely invaluable.
Big God, Little Me
Coaches are familiar with famous slogans. We put them on T-shirts and in pictures or paint them on walls to try to motivate our athletes. One famous slogan is, “TEAM, me.” “Team” is capitalized because that’s where everyone’s focus should be. “Me” is in lower case to show that individual goals are secondary to the team goals.
Fields of Faith 21.5 Days with God - Day 8
Pray
Begin by thanking God for the new day and then ask Him to help you learn from what you read. Prepare yourself by:
- Clearing your mind and being quiet before the Lord
- Asking God to settle your heart
- Maybe listening to worship music
- Asking God for a teachable heart
Read
Read the chapter below. You can either read below or read your physical Bible. Read it slowly, take it all in.
Examine
Ask yourself the following questions after reading your chapter for the day. Write your answers down in a journal or notebook you can use just for your time with God.
Catching God’s Signals
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.
OW2P Study - Peer Influence (Part 6)
Goal
Too many attribute those intermittent disturbing instances of disobedience to the pressure our peers exert upon us. Is it really peer pressure? Is there literally someone “making” us smoke cigarettes, drink liquor or smoke weed? The threat is peer influence. Peer influence gradually and consistently speaks “do as I do,” hoping we eventually give up, give in, and then give out. In this section athletes will learn to identify peer pressure and peer influence and ways of defusing them both.
Key Scriptures
Psalms 139:13-16; Romans 12:1-2; Genesis 1:26; Proverbs 14:21; James 4:7
Warm Up
Movie Night
Have a movie night for your huddle! You could watch movies like the blind side, angels in the outfield and other sports movies.
OW2P Study - Commitment (Part 3)
Goal
A commitment to be drug and alcohol free is a firm pledge, not a conditional promise. A commitment does not change because of circumstances. A commitment is a stake in the ground.
Key Scriptures
Romans 12:1-2; Luke 9:23; Joshua 24:15
Warm Up
Think Before You Speak
As a young coach I had a short fuse, especially when it came to dealing with men in stripes. It was hard keeping my mouth shut, and I often said things that got me in trouble. One game in particular, I thought my team was being treated unfairly, and I was quick to point it out. Late in the game, I stood up and yelled, “What?!” It was only one word, but the officials had heard enough. I got a technical foul that cost my team the game.
Enjoy the Game
According to Sports Illustrated, 70% of kids drop out of sports by the age of 13. Why? Because adults, particularly parents, have turned games into negative experiences through their behavior, criticism and constant pressure.
FCA area rep Bill Stutz has held many roles in the sporting world. He’s been a player, a coach and an official. Now, as a sports parent, Stutz is doing what he can to reverse this trend. Prior to taking his current position with FCA, Stutz founded the organization Enjoy the Game® — an educational program designed to restore civility back to the sports environment.
Pro Perspectives - Matt Holiday Video Study
What Are You Playing For?
Watch the video and walk through the questions below:
Key Verse: …I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you. –Jeremiah 31:3
Attitude Is Everything
As a coach and a player it can be a challenge to have the right attitude. Many times we will say of a player, “He needs an attitude adjustment,” or “Her attitude stinks,” or especially, “If he had the right attitude, he could be a great player.”
Sometimes when we are experiencing winning, we can have a prideful or cocky attitude that is not pleasing to God. Sometimes we need to be humbled, and that humbling can be quite painful.
What Matters to Matt
Matt Hasselbeck is famous for a lot of reasons. Most people know him as a three-time Pro Bowl selection and the Super Bowl XL quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks. Some associate him with his father, Don, who played nine seasons in the NFL. The less-football-savvy crowd knows him for his TV star sister-in-law, Elisabeth, from ABC’s “The View.” And a growing number of people are getting to know him for his dancing skills. (Thank you, Reebok!)
Regardless of what category you place him in, however, there’s one thing about Matt Hasselbeck that can’t be separated from his inner athlete, son, dancer or field general: his faith in Jesus Christ.
This Race Is a Gift
Something I recently learned has come from watching cross country. My daughter started competing in the sport for the first time, and it’s been amazing to see the gifts God has given some of these teens to be able to run with such speed and just awesome talent.
The thing I have really come to love is watching the runners at the back of the pack—the ones who have to struggle and fight and overcome so many obstacles just to be out there to run. They fight just to finish as their teammates cheer them on. They are the ones who put me in awe and make my heart burst with pride.
Encouragement
Coach Peacock’s team had just won a state championship. They were celebrating in the locker room, and Coach was hugging his players right and left. As the congratulations continued, the coach noticed one player in particular sitting alone on a bench, watching him. Coach Peacock knew that the young man’s mother and father were divorced, that his dad was also an alcoholic who never attended any of his son’s games. So he walked over to the player and asked if he was okay. The young man responded, “Yes, Coach, but I was just wondering. Could I have another hug?”
Bringing the Church to My Team
If you have played sports at any level, you’ve probably noted that certain “levels” are established quickly on teams. We’ve all been part of teams where there were good players and not-so-good players. Inevitably, we all know what happens when these levels are realized: The good players start to interact negatively with the bad players. Some of the interactions even come in the form of picking on or even bullying. I am embarrassed to say that I know all about these situations based on firsthand experience. I wish I could say I was the target, but I am guilty of dishing out the abuse to those I thought of as less talented.
Fear No Evil
As athletes, we all experience fear. Whether it’s the fear of injury, fear of failure, fear of disappointing others, it doesn’t matter. It comes in all forms!
When I was 17 years old, I was a highly recruited Division I football prospect out of California. On the last play of the last game of my high school career, I pinched my spinal cord and was paralyzed from the waist down. At that point, I wasn’t even worried about losing my scholarships; I was more afraid of never being able to walk again. Thankfully, God laid His healing hands on me. I raised my hands in my wheel chair and prayed to Him, telling Him that I would, just as it says in Psalm 23:4, “fear no evil, for thou art with me.”
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