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Thursday, January 29, 2015
The influence of a good coach
Last night, a taxi cab driver was telling me that Phoenix expects an additional 1.5 million people during this week because of the Super Bowl and a golf tournament. It is amazing how many people show up to sporting events. Think about it. Sports impacts hundreds of millions of people. Football alone, impacts millions. Some 1.1 million kids play high school football each year. That filters to about 66,000 who play in college, and then less than 300 make it to the NFL. According to Michigan State, a high school player has a 1 in 6,000 chance of making the NFL. From youth football through high school through college, football influences millions of our youth to become leaders, citizens, and parents.
There are valuable life lessons in teaching and coaching football, a sport that is the microcosm of life. You get knocked down. You get back up. You face physical and mental hardship in just preparing to play the game. Practices are long and hard. You develop a work ethic where you do the best you can on every given opportunity. If you take a play off, you get burned. And even if you give your best, you may not make it as a starter. Just like in life, there are no guarantees. Those who play the game come away with a life experience that teaches them how to cope with pressure, adversity, difficult people, folks of different color, creeds, walks of life, motives, agendas, strategies, tactics and a myriad of other life trials.
Good football coaches understand the value of football. Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll in The Briefings Interview said, “To me, what we’re talking about is working to be your best. And it doesn’t matter whether you are a football player, a business person, a dad or a mom or somebody’s big brother. You can be great at doing that if you work at it and if you apply yourself and compete to be that. I’ve found that the mentality translates anywhere I go and to whomever I’m talking to. I’ve visited with military officers, Special Forces groups, and it makes sense to them too, because we’re all working to find our very best.” Many of the best coaches are Christian men who transfer Biblical ideals in their body of work.
I find it amazing that football coaches make disciples everyday. Christian football coaches can be the biggest purveyors of Matthew 28:19,20–The Great Commission–“Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Imagine all the people that could be impacted by the pulpit if pastors could transfer the ideals of glorifying God similarly to how football coaches transfer the values and life lessons of football. The word of God would be taught directly with enthusiasm, repetition and accountability to make doers of the Word rather than hearers only. Never underestimate the influence of a good coach, or of a good pastor–in many cases, they are the same–just in different ways.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
For God’s Glory Alone Ministries thanks Bill Wilson and www.dailyjot.com