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In Coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, he talks about the character quality of fight, which is a determined effort. He calls it “intensity under control.” A player with fight has a contained fire burning in his or her belly, which ought to emerge as focused passion.
Think about a team—maybe a school team or one’s family as a team. How many people are on a team? Are they all the same? Do they look alike? act alike? think alike? Probably not, but they are still a cohesive unit of one. On a team, what are the roles of each person and position? In football, what if everyone were the quarterback? What would get accomplished? In soccer, what if everyone were the goalie? How would that play out?
It was 2:20 p.m. I was late for practice. I ran into the locker room, grabbed my equipment, and headed to the training room to be taped. It was a great tape job, taking under four minutes. I ran to the field and greeted my assistant coach, “Sorry, I’m late.” He chuckled, “Well, we better get moving it’s 2:35 p.m. and the rest of the team will be here in about an hour. There is much work to be done.”
Los Angeles has so many potential distractions and pitfalls for young kids growing up there. But, in my own life, because God had blessed me with a solid faith in Him through the instruction of my mother, I was able to avoid most of them.
As my foot touched the line for what seemed like the 1,000th time that practice my mind sank into a deep misery. “Why are we doing this?” I thought. “My legs feel like rocks! This is torture!” Whether you’re an athlete who knows this battle or a coach who knows how frustrating it can be to motivate your players, I think we’ve all forgotten the “why” at times when enduring the hardships of athletics.
The circle on the Morehouse College football field spanned from the 10 yard-line to midfield. Locked arm-in-arm were football players, cheerleaders, coaches, administrators and volunteers from both sides of the rivalry.
Morehouse and Clark Atlanta. They’re two of Georgia’s 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities and, even more specifically, two of the four undergraduate colleges seated on a single 200-acre lot on the west end of downtown Atlanta.
In today’s society, students and student athletes need role models more than ever, and as Christian coaches we are called to fulfill that position. We need men and women to embrace the fact that God has placed us in such a valuable role
in a child’s life.
What is your most powerful athletic tool? Is it the strength of your bench press, the drive from your leg squats, or your speed and agility? These are all important, but I think the most powerful tool is simply the ball. Think about it. Who is the most dangerous person in basketball? The man with the ball. The ball is needed to score—to win! Without the ball, Tiger Woods is just Eldrick; Michael Vick, just Mike; and Rocket Clemens, just Roger. It is what’s done with the ball that makes champions.
When I commit to the TeamFCA Competitor's Creed, I realize that "I am made to strive, to strain, to stretch and to succeed in the arena of competition." That is a bold and intentional statement. But I think all competitors truly understand what it takes to strive, to strain, to stretch and to succeed. We must stay hungry to grow and to learn in our sports. That hunger to know the game allows us to compete at new levels. In order to be a hungry competitor we must look at the physical, the mental and the spiritual. A well-balanced athlete or coach knows that it is critical to balance all three areas.
Often it seems like life itself is a race—a rat race that sucks away time while I grasp at minutes in desperation. I’m an endurance athlete; I train for hours to shave seconds off my race time. I’m a busy American. Another paycheck will come, but each moment, once past, is gone forever. Time is my best friend and my fiercest enemy; it is my greatest challenge. At least it was until my husband re-worded his financial motto from “It ain’t our money,” to “It ain’t our time.”
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As athletes, we know we have to train hard to be any good. Everyone is more capable in one area of their sport than others. Most of sport is taken up in training, where one assesses and develops skills. We may know people whose talent seems to come effortlessly; but to be at the top, we need to exert a lot of effort. Great athletes measure their skills and work hard to improve both their strengths and weaknesses. Maybe we are strong but slow, have great hand-eye coordination but are too cautious. We have good upper-body strength but are prone to leg injuries. Athletes push themselves meticulously because they have a goal and desire to accomplish it.
1 – On this day we begin this team’s third season.
2 – Suddenly at game time today, the rest of the season doesn’t count.
3 – I see a similar idea at Philippians 3:12b-14.
Former Brooklyn Dodger Carl Erskine, FCA Skateboarding, FCA President Les Steckel
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I remember as a child, my school bus would arrive at an early time. Once I saw the bus coming, I would walk to the end of our lane and get on it. I didn’t have to wave my arms or plead for the driver to stop. I didn’t have to beg the driver, make payment, or qualify to get on that bus. I just walked up three steps, went to the back, and sat down. I never worried about the ability of the bus to transport me, nor was I concerned about finding a seat. I didn’t think about the bus being mechanically safe or the driver being certified. All I had to do was get on. If the bus driver asked me to sit down or stop throwing things, I did. He knew what was best for me, was concerned about my safety, and was determined to help me reach my destination.
Aside from my father, the most influential man in my life has been my coach. He was always very clear about the fact that, regardless of the issues that accompany academics, athletics, and disciplinary measures, he cared about me and valued me as a person. One of his many memorable sayings was, “When you fistfight or curse, you have run out of ideas.” Later I had the unparalleled honor of teaching with him for a short while, and he went on to found the FCA chapter for which I have now been Huddle Coach for twenty-one years. At the time of the Huddle’s birth, Jesus had just changed my life, and that’s when the coach asked me to co-sponsor. One year later he took another job, leaving the Huddle to me.
How can we show proper respect for our teammates, coaches, opponents, and even the officials? Why should we even care about that? Peter understood the value of showing proper honor and respect to people and he wrote about it in this Scripture. Take a moment to read it again, this time out loud.
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