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Every once in a while you read a positive story about coaching. I particularly like examples of the coach who goes back home to his or her alma mater to rebuild a struggling program. These coaches not only have a passion for their home schools, but also a plan to put the schools back on the map. It may take time to rebuild, but for the Christian coach, it will also take something else: prayer, and a lot of it.
When you go into a game, athletes have to think they will win. They can’t think they might win. They have to think they will win. If that happens on both sides, it means that there will be two teams entering the game thinking the same thing, and only one will get to live it out. No matter how much we wish we could all win, in the end, one of us will lose. And a big determining factor in who comes out victorious is the infamous game clock.
No matter how much we wish we could, we can’t put more time on the clock in any game. Each game we play is set up to be played in a certain amount of time. Whether it is counted by seconds and minutes or by innings or sets, each game has a set time frame. What we do in this amount of time determines the outcome of the game.
There comes a time in a man’s life when he must decide about spiritual matters—what to believe and who to follow. For Kyle Korver, that decision came in the shower.
While the scene wasn’t exactly Hitchcockian in nature, it did produce some dramatic results. There, in the bathroom of his Philadelphia apartment five years ago, Korver wrestled with deep, longstanding spiritual questions. He realized that his family’s strong heritage of faith did not pass on to him simply by bloodlines. He realized he had been treating Christianity like a faucet, turning it on or off as needed.
It was a long shower.
After moving around to several different places in the Midwest, my family landed outside of Chicago in Naperville, Ill. I was the oldest of three, and my brother, Marcus, and sister, Candace, and I all grew up loving the sport of basketball. Some of our favorite memories are from basketball trips to gyms all across the U.S.
While our family was close, we didn’t have much of a spiritual life. We went to church for Easter, Christmas and weddings, but that was about it. Looking back, I can see that I definitely had a Christ-shaped void in my heart.
Lost in excitement of the NCAA basketball tournaments is the fact that the college baseball season is now in full swing. In past years that meant I was spending many hours on a bus and away from my family. Unfortunately, my daily devotionals usually took a hit during that time of the year too.
It might sound crazy, but tearing my ACL in January 2001 was a good thing. At the time, however, I wouldn’t have agreed.
The timing was horrible. My dream was to play in the WNBA, and, with just five months until the draft, I knew the injury would cost me my dream. But God was faithful, and, despite the doctor’s report that I would sit out an entire season, the Indiana Fever took a chance on me with the third overall pick.
It might sound crazy, but tearing my ACL in January 2001 was a good thing. At the time, however, I wouldn’t have agreed.
Have you ever had a bad game? One in which your shots just weren't falling, or when you had a hard time completing a pass? How about one in which your pitches were off? The list could go on and on.
Everyone has had those games when, no matter how hard you try, it seems as if nothing goes your way. It's a part of athletics; it's a part of life.
No one likes to perform poorly, but it's in these moments when God is clearly seen. We must recognize that even our best efforts are ultimately useless without the Lord; we can accomplish nothing without Him. We can also learn another thing from these times--that all of our abilities, our talents, everything we have is a blessing and that they can all be taken away.
Scripture is the basis of our faith. But, sometimes, I think we get so caught up in life that we start to look at familiar verses and almost label them as cliché. As sad as that sounds, we hear verses like John 3:16, Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11 and simply pass them by or say to ourselves, “Oh, I’ve heard that a thousand times.” While that may be true, it doesn’t take away the relevance of Scripture!
A high school coach of mine once said that when things go wrong, it is important to go back to the basics—to the foundation of the game—and to re-establish a routine. He was talking about softball, but I think this relates to our faith in a profound way.
What's more impressive than Trinity University's 15-lateral play? The story of faith behind it.
When I was first approached by FCA to submit an article for Sharing the Victory magazine, I was (#1) humbled, but also (#2) excited to be able to publicly appreciate my wife. Little did I know that this would be one of the most difficult things that I ever venture to do. God has more than taught me through this process, and I feel as if I would be dishonoring what I’ve been led to do if I didn’t write from the heart. Besides, there is no real victory without real authenticity. So, that being said, I’d like to share the following with you.
My first three seasons as a varsity boys’ basketball coach were very successful. We won many games and advanced deep into the tournament each year. I remember having a very good attitude during those years. The next four years, however, weren't quite what I expected. My attitude deteriorated as I faced losing teams, losing jobs, moving my family and being rejected by friends.
Through the eyes of the world, athletic success is easily defined. It’s a simple pass-fail test that asks only one question: did you win it all? But the University of Nebraska volleyball team sees things differently. Despite its tremendous on-court success, the Cornhuskers remain a team that has learned to go deeper than wins and losses in order to define greatness. But the lesson didn’t come at an easy price.
Picture this: It is the bottom of the eighth inning. There is one out with men on first and second. Your team, down by three, desperately needs a hit to stay in the game, and you are next up to bat. Do you give up or do you rise to the challenge?
As competitors, we understand the law of the harvest. What we sow or plant today will produce a harvest at a later time with a greater result. We understand that the training we do today will not produce results today, or even tomorrow, but will produce great results down the road. It will even produce something greater than the training itself. For example, in basketball, working overtime on shooting will produce not just a better shooter, but a better player for the team. The law of the harvest is about later and greater.
The health of your marriage can have a huge impact on the health of your kids.
Every now and again a coach comes along who, with a soft voice and humility, is able to inspire players to be greater than they thought they ever could be. Reilly Richey was such a coach. He displayed a quiet confidence and a gentleness of spirit that endeared him to everyone he met. The things that people saw in Reilly—the courtesy, respectfulness, love, and humor—reflected Christ in him. When they looked at Reilly, they saw a man who was all about Christ.
Each summer, Reilly would take me to a conference for coaches and their spouses sponsored by Professional Athletes’ Outreach. At the end of the “Coaches’ Time Out Conference,” we filled out a sheet that had the prompt, “As a result of the PAO Conference, I plan to…”
Heisman Trophy winner, Florida Gator QB Tim Tebow, Tim’s mom Pam Tebow, President of Schutt Sports Julie Nimmons, FCA President Les Steckel
Tampa Bay Rays utility player Ben Zobrist, FCA Nashvile Urban Director Lee Brown, pastor and former football player Ken Hutcherson and FCA President Les Steckel.
“Coach, I couldn't make it to weight-lifting on time because I had to get my hair cut.”
Apparently there wasn't enough time in the day for this athlete to handle his busy schedule. It's not like there was any other time in the day he could have gotten a haircut. It must have been a life-or-death situation!
“In the beginning, God created…” These are familiar words to most people. We know the conclusion of this verse refers to the creation of the world.
Sometime in a humorous vein, those of us who love baseball will try to identify the Creator with our game by quoting the above as “In the big inning…” I believe there is an important lesson to be learned from the first five words in the Bible, one that relates more to those of us who live on the earth than to the earth itself.
You would think that after winning three Super Bowls in four years that Tom Brady and his bunch would be satisfied with their accomplishments. Not quite. In a post-game interview with Andrea Kremer of ESPN, Brady said that he was not content with what they had done. Happy? Yes. But there was room to grow and get better. I am sure there are Patriot players who will relax and relish in their victory, but Tom Brady will get back to work soon. He wants to accomplish more and more.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Almost every credible source links the foods we eat to our moods, our ability to focus, our energy levels, and our athletic and academic performance. It even affects how we think, which, in turn, affects almost every area of life from our relationship with God to our ability to perform under pressure and overcome challenges.
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