Needing just one win to secure a national championship, Oklahoma softball player Brianna Turang and her Sooner teammates devastatingly lost the final two games of the 2012 Women’s College World Series. Rather than dwelling on the past, the two-sport standout senior (also a member of OU’s soccer team) has committed to helping her team complete the mission this season while modeling her faith in her final year on OU’s campus.
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Weakness
Set:
God blessed me with many accomplishments during my football career, but my greatest accomplishment actually occurred on the day my career ended. I didn’t see it that way initially, however. My whole life had been built on the dream of getting to the top in football, so the day I was forced to stop, I began a walk down a road to a life of destruction. I soon destroyed everything in my life and reached rock bottom. However, it was this path that brought me to my knees and made me powerful through my Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, this was actually the first time that I knew what it really means to be strong.
The Hustle Contract
Set:
My daughter likely receives more scrutiny playing sports than some other children do. As a parent, I tried to motivate her to be more aggressive and to play harder and use many tactics to do so. I tried having heart-to-heart conversations and even tried bribing her with a steak and shrimp dinner. I thought I had tried everything, but then I came up with another great idea. I would put her on a “Hustle Contract.”
The purpose of the Hustle Contract was to set some expectations for her effort. In my heart, I knew God was saying that He had a different, better way to do this. But I didn’t listen. I went ahead with the Hustle Contract anyway.
Not a Doormat
Set:
Characteristics of the world’s best athletes are: self-control, discipline, teamwork, an ability to focus and perform under pressure, intensity, teachability, and knowing how to win with grace. So why is it that when someone has a temper tantrum, gives a cheap shot, cheats, disregards a victorious opponent, and screams at a referee—it is rationalized as being competitive?
I recently met a man in his late 30s who was bragging about being kicked off the church sports teams. He assumed we would be impressed at his machismo. He faintly conceded that he was too competitive. I disagreed with him and suggested he was not competitive enough. Rather, he was indulging in selfish ambition, disrespect, envy, and lack of self-control. He needed to grow up.
My Bad
Set:
The phrase “my bad” is used by many, especially among young people. The phrase is used in reference to a mistake that someone has made. In some athletic settings, the phrase is almost a guarantee when a coach asks a player about a particular situation. The problem is that the phrase is almost like a “get out of jail free card” in Monopoly. When a player uses “my bad,” there appears to be no accountability for his or her actions.
Home Stretch: James Laurinaitis
Spiritually speaking, there wasn’t much happening for most of my childhood until I was a freshman in high school. That’s when one of my dad's wrestling friends, the WWE’s Nikita Koloff, gave him a Christian book that began to stir his heart.
One Mission - Get It
Get It!
The focus of this day is to understand that in order to GET a Mission in life, you must understand what truth is and where you can find it.
Warmup
Fill out the following “Press Guide” with the top five things that are true about you (height, weight, position, favorite sport, favorite food, year in school, hobbies, number in family, etc.)
Share these things with a partner and discuss how you know the statements are true.
Change Your Do - Inside Out: Part III
Every sport has them—those pesky but necessary “do’s and don’ts” otherwise known as rules of the game and rules of the team. No matter how much you sacrifice and how focused you are in aiming at the goal, your competitive dreams are put at risk the moment you do something that contradicts the rules. There are no shortcuts to success as an athlete or in life. Sooner or later, it will catch up with you.
Fantastic Future
Set:
It was the biggest decision of my life: What was I going to be when I grew up? I was a junior in high school, and I felt like I had to decide what college to attend and what my major would be. And to those pressure-packed questions I added the anxiety of getting a high score on my ACTs. I remember thinking, "How can I make such big decisions? There are so many choices! How will I know what to choose?"
Dear Derek
Dear Derek,
Today is the day you leave for college. As I pen this letter, I am confident that you are still asleep. I’m up early again, as usual, but my thoughts are on you, and I felt led to write them down.
As you take this next step on your journey I wanted to share some insights that might assist you along the way. I’ve heard it said that life is to be learned backwards and lived forward. My goal is to be transparent and share what I’ve learned through both my successes and failures. It is the desire of my heart, son, that you realize all your dreams as you live life forward.
Paid In Full
Set:
Several years ago, I received a letter from the American Honda Financial Corporation, the business from which I borrowed the money to pay for my car. The top line read, "OFFICIAL NOTICE THAT YOUR BALANCE HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL. " Since I had purchased this car just a few months prior, I knew there was no way that my last payment had payed for my car IN FULL.
I thought of my dad first, that he would be the only person who would do something like this. But when I called him, he said that he had not. I shared with another FCA staff member about the letter and asked him if he knew anything about it.
The “Unlimited Minutes" Plan
Set:
As a basketball coach, I’ve always put a big emphasis on communication among our team during practice on the court because, without it, players seem lost. It’s frustrating as a coach to watch mistakes occur when all it takes is a little talking to one another to get things corrected. I sometimes stop practice and ask the kids why they can get in trouble for talking in class, or how they can talk for hours on their cell phones, but when it comes to communicating on the court, they just won’t do it.
Train Right
Set:
Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” I have never met an athlete who didn’t want to win. Not one. But wanting to win and doing what is necessary to win are two different things. Even
The Danger of Overconfidence
Set:
As a player, some of my worst games came on the heels of a good game, a game where I performed either up to or beyond expectations. I guess that’s why, as a coach, I was always wary of the game following a big win. Would the team still keep their edge, or would they approach the next game with a little less urgency? Confidence is good, but overconfidence can make a team vulnerable.
God warns us of becoming overconfident spiritually. Through Christ we have everything we need to live the Christian life, but often we’re the most vulnerable to temptation when we appear at our strongest. That’s when we often let down our guard, relying on our own strength instead of on Christ.
Toughness
Set:
When I was eight years old, my older brother, Steve, younger brother, Bill, and I were heading home from playing baseball. Suddenly, some kid attacked Steve from behind. Six-year-old Bill picked up our bat and began to wail on Steve’s attacker. The kid took off, and we sprinted home. Soon, a knock came at our door. Knowing it was the enemy, we sent Mom. Swinging a rolling pin in her hand, she yelled for the kid to go home and never come back. He never came back because he knew the Elliotts were tough!
Give Your All
Set:
How do we approach our sport(s)? Are they just games, or more than that? How hard do we work in practice? Do we give our all when striving to improve our game, or just try to make it through practice and do what it takes to keep the coach off our backs? The Bible gives us some encouraging words about work and practice.
My favorite verse related to hard work is Colossians 3:23. In reference to athletes, this verse is related to one’s chosen field of competition. How should we approach all that is related to our sport? The Bible is clear: enthusiastically or with all our hearts.
Pressure Release
Set:
We entered summer league basketball with a young team. Our inexperienced guards struggled to get our offense working, especially against a high-pressure, man-to-man defense, so one day in practice I tried a new strategy. I taught my players several pressure-release, back-door plays that changed our focus and took advantage of the defense. We’d invite the pressure so we could cut and score lay-ups, but my players were skeptical.
Drugs for Pain Study
Key Verse: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." - 2 Corinthians 6:19-20
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Miles was enjoying his new relationship with God and going to church when Katrina hit New Orleans. How do you think you would respond to that type of tragedy in your life?
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Miles was angry with God after what had happened. When have you been angry at God? What was the reason for your anger?
Our Identity in Christ
Set:
Whenever coaches are asked, “How are you?” we often reply in terms of our team: “We struggled early, but regrouped late in the season.”
Unfortunately, it’s too easy for coaches to become consumed with the team’s performance. If this occurs, our real identity can get lost in the pressure to win. Learning to separate athletic expectations from our true identity in Christ is an ongoing and significant challenge.
The Four FCA Ministries - Four C's
This PowerPoint presentation communicates the FCA Vision, Mission and Values and describes the ministries of FCA: Coaches, Campus, Camp, Community.
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