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Back when I was a coach, I would always have a pre-season meeting where I would write out my season goals and what I expected of my players. One year while coaching in Oklahoma, my ladies team told me, "Coach, we are so committed to winning and becoming the best team you have ever coached. " I appreciated their comments, but only time would tell if that commitment would come true. Commitment always takes giving. . .
Like most high school coaches, I had a goal to help an athlete win a state championship some day. As a former 800-meter runner myself, I wanted to help an athlete win that exact event. In my first season as a high school distance coach, I stood at the state meet as God taught me a valuable lesson. One of my runners was in the finals of the 800-meter race.
When you're part of FCA, you're part of something bigger than yourself!
Download this organizational chart that demonstrates the FCA ministry structure.
Materials needed: sheets of paper, marking pens, tape.
A sheet of paper with the name of a person, place, or thing written on it (ie: 'Thomas Edison' or 'Giraffe') is attached to the back of each participant.
As each name is different from another, the individual participant does NOT know what person, place, or thing is attached to his or her own back; and, therefore, the participant must mill about the room asking only yes/no questions of the other participants to try to learn who is taped to his/her back.
The other participants can only answer 'yes' or 'no' to the individual's questions.
Example questions the individual participant might ask are: 'am I a basketball player?' ... 'do I live in America?'... 'am I a place?'.
I love the fact that Paul draws a comparison between physical and spiritual training. But most of us do one of two things with this passage. We either completely discount the benefits of physical training, or we miss the fact that we should actually engage in spiritual training.
Rachel Hockaday immediately knew her season was over. In Iowa State’s opening match of the 2010 season, she jumped for a spike against Florida and landed awkwardly on her left leg, tearing her ACL. Like many injuries to college athletes, it was hard to swallow. How could such a promising career go sideways in the blink of an eye?
I accepted the Lord at thirteen years old and had no problem sharing my faith with friends in junior high and high school. Not only was I a Christian, but a wrestler too. Wrestling gave me an audience to spread the Word, so I made a T-shirt that would show evidence of my faith.
Philippians 3:18-21 – Once we link up with Jesus, we’re on the team that’s going to win it all! We should live like champions no matter how tough it gets.
In sports and in life, our desire, discipline, and dedication lead us to a final destination. For the athlete, that destination might be a championship or just the satisfaction of knowing that you maximized your fullest potential. For Christ-followers it’s so much more!
Ready
WOULD YOU RATHER ... be the worst player on the best team or the best player on the worst team?
The Israelites had just lost their leader Moses. It had fallen to his second-in-command to take over. Joshua had led before, but never had he been THE man. And on top of that, he was replacing a legendary figure. The expectations would be enormous. Joshua had to have been terrified.
Sometimes we find ourselves in over our heads. Fresh out of seminary, I applied for my first campus ministry position expecting to be an associate campus minister. Well into the interviewing process, I was informed that I had been misinformed. If I were hired, I would be THE campus minister. With no real experience and no other offers looming, I accepted the position. I was terrified. Yet, I remained in that position for over 20 years.
In any sport, we as athletes are susceptible to adopting a number of bad habits that can hinder us from becoming the best athletes we can be. Whether it is a sloppy technique or poor reads, any bad habit prevents us from becoming the “perfect” athlete that each of us strives to become.
The statement, “Your ‘yes’ must be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ must be ‘no’ ” is at the heart of what it means to be faithful. A faithful person can be trusted. Jesus told the disciples that they should be so well known for their integrity, that they should never have to take an oath. The oaths of yesterday are the legal contracts of today. We can do almost nothing today without a legal contract. Fifty years ago a handshake was considered binding. People felt keeping one’s word was important. Today, our word means nothing because of a general lack of societal integrity. Faithfulness is not just keeping our word, it is telling the truth.
If the world’s elite athletes can be pegged with one common trait, it would likely be that each of them is driven by a heightened sense of purpose. It is purpose that establishes a secure target at which they can aim and focus all of their energy: The golfer takes aim at the hole. The sprinter takes aim at the finish line. The free throw shooter takes aim at the basket. The archer takes aim at the bulls-eye. The pitcher takes aim at the strike zone. These competitors must employ a steady hand that comes from confidence in their abilities and a keen understanding of their identity. Any variation of that confidence— leading to arrogance on one extreme or insecurity on the other extreme—can quickly blur their vision and greatly hinder their aim.
The One Way 2 Play (OW2P) Playbook is available in Word or PDF formats and is a companion to the OW2P DVD.
It includes:
Download the Guide:
High-profile sports agent Mike Moye’s faith story may forever change opinions about his chosen line of work.
Preseason: a time of intense workouts, two-a-days, ice baths, and maximum exertion!
Fall sports are just now emerging from this intense time. Great teams are being forged through the crucible of preseason and are getting ready to run the gauntlet of the regular season. But as tough as those preseason workouts may be, there is one day that athletes dread even more: the day the cuts are made.
As an athlete, I remember the rapid heartbeat in my chest, the doubts and anxiety, the holding in of my breath as I walked into the locker room to see if my name was on a list. I dreaded the voice of the coach saying, “Son, step into my office.” But, on the flipside, it was always such a great experience if I did make the cut and saw the diligence pay off!
FCA Softball grows through the influence of Jennie Finch, Dot Richardson, Leah O'Brien-Amico and Patty Gasso.
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