Thursday, January 31, 2008

Is it harder to control you actions or re-actions?

As a coach is it harder to control you actions or reactions? I remember coaching a baseball game at a prominent baseball complex in the East Cobb area of Atlanta several years ago in a game that became very much out of control. I was the assistant coach coaching first base with our head coach on third base. Our head coach had been giving the umpires grief all night and was out of line. As the game was coming to an end, the base umpire missed a call at first base because he was out of position, I made a comment and without any warning he tossed me from the park. I was later told that he was tired of being "worked" so no grace was issued, he had gotten me mixed up with our head coach. I was stunned and embarrassed all at the same time. I later went and apologized to both the umpire, our ball team and fans. When I entered the park that evening we had a game plan and it was so much easier to control the game plan than to control what happened that evening that we did not have planned. God teaches us in His word to control our tongue and teaches that it can be such a harm to our witness. I believe Coaches especially fight this as they are put into the heat of battle. Do not be caught up in the theory that competition covers what we say and how we act.

This leads me to my next question: Are you a Christian Coach or a Coach who is a Christian? This question can be asked of any profession or any hat you wear in life. Is there a difference, and if so what is it?

Don't ever forget people are watching you, even when you do not realize it. It CAN make an eternal difference. If your life has been changed because you noticed someone was different and they shared their life changing story with you, please share by commenting. Continue coaching the heart of your athletes as well as their bodies and mind.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Should Sports be Fun?

This week in our coaching round table we discussed the topic of "Fun" and should coaches strive to make the sport they coach fun for their players. We discussed if that perspective changes based on what level you were coaching. The levels of coaching we discussed were: Recrational level, competition but still below age 12, High School sports, College level and then professional. Although there were different opinions on this issue, there did seem to be a relation between winning and fun, but the coach has a huge influence on whether individuals on a given team have fun during the year.

If you are a coach of any level please comment and provide your thoughts on the subject of having "Fun" through sports and what influence a Coach has on the outcome of "Fun".


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

My Story.....why this BLOG

I. My Story and Why I decided to do this BLOG:
a. Most influential person in my life was a teacher and a coach for basketball named Paul Struie. May not have even spelled his named correctly.
b. I played basketball and baseball growing through high school and then went on to college and ended up playing club lacrosse in college.
c. I have coached 30 seasons of ball in basketball, baseball, soccer, and football. I have become passionate about coaching.
d. Why I decided to do this BLOG:
“Two years ago I read “Season of Life” and it changed my perspective on coaching. Something else happened here at First Redeemer Sports at the same time that caused me to step back and begin thinking about what are we all about here at First Redeemer Sports. We begin to sell out our leagues. In not knowing how to move forward I discovered my outlet for growth in the sports world to help impact our community was to partner with FCA. As I have learned more and more about FCA I have discovered that their passion and direction is to influence coaches on the school campuses to share the Gospel and be an influence on those they come in contact. I begin thinking about putting developmental teams together here for the purpose of training young athletes who will go on to play at the next level and will carry with them a set of values and a relationship with their Creator to the extent they would be willing to use the platform of sports to share about Christ.

To begin to get a group of Coaches who Love God, Love their players and recognize the influence they have on the hearts of their young athletes.

If you have Coached here you know we touch a large number of families through the sports ministry, but I want to go deeper. Each of you know, I have written devotionals to work into your practices throughout the season…ask “Who has used them in the past?” I want to go deeper and have more impact on purpose and that happens through coaches.