Discussion:

• Tell us about a time when you showed courage in competition.
• How have you seen other players demonstrate courage through sport?
• Why do some people think courage is an important factor in making someone a winner?
• Let’s read about a winner who showed great courage.  Read I Samuel 17:20-24, 31-37, 39-51.
• What are to you the most striking features of David’s courage in this story?
• How much is your experience with courage like his?
• How can coaches and players inspire such courage in others?

Summary:

Chapel – Attitudes

1 – I’ve been very pleased with the attitudes of this team thus far.
• Valuing the team over individualism
• Making sacrifices rather than demands
• Expressed on the field, between teammates, with coaches and even in the media

2 – This reminds me of Philippians 2:3-4 (read the text aloud).
• Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.
o Don’t draw attention to yourself – deflect praise to others.
o Don’t take offense to trash talk or cheap shots – respect your team and the sport.
o Don’t overestimate your importance – there are other players ready to step into your spot.

Texas Tech Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kristy Curry didn’t have to wait long for coaching success. Before taking over the program in Lubbock in 2006, Curry led the Purdue Boilermakers all the way to the 2001 NCAA National Championship game in her second season as a head coach and, in doing so, became only the second head coach in NCAA history to reach the title game so early in her career. Now 10 years later and five states to the south, Curry is pursuing more championships on the court while also investing in the spiritual lives of athletes via the school’s FCA Huddle.

Ben King remembers tasting nothing but salt. No surprise there. It’s normal when sweat pours out of an athlete’s body as he burns through energy like a wildfire consuming a forest.

Wisdom for a Young Head Coach
Week 4

I Timothy 2:1-7

Read the text aloud.

Discussion Questions:

Anyone who has ever sat in the painfully uncomfortable job applicant’s seat knows there are a few simple rules that accompany a successful interview: be on time, dress the part, research the employer, ask questions and avoid taking a combative approach.

When Jill McCormick found herself interviewing at Santa Rosa Junior College (Calif.) for a job that included the head coaching position of the women’s water polo team and both the men’s and women’s swimming teams, she followed all of the typical interview protocols to a tee—except maybe that last one.

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” – John 5:6

I have to be honest. As Americans, most of us are like stagnant ponds: We don’t move very much, and our health stinks.

It’s sad, but true, and it’s a lifestyle that goes against the one God intended for us. Instead of putrid ponds, I believe He created us to resemble lively, running rivers.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

My story began in Tampa, Fla., where my mother, Wanda, raised my older brother, Ray, and I by herself. Like most boys, Ray and I both loved sports, especially football, basketball and baseball. He was four years older than me, and, being typical brothers, we were always competing with each other. While he won most of our driveway basketball games, he was no match for me on the Super Nintendo.