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Every once in a while you read a positive story about coaching. I particularly like examples of the coach who goes back home to his or her alma mater to rebuild a struggling program. These coaches not only have a passion for their home schools, but also a plan to put the schools back on the map. It may take time to rebuild, but for the Christian coach, it will also take something else: prayer, and a lot of it.
"Why do you want to make it to the NFL?" That was a question I recently posed to three promising athletes. The first responded with an expected answer. He wanted the glory, fame and money that came with it. He wanted to be rich. The second player wanted to fulfill a dream of playing at the highest level and to help his family. The third player took time to think before answering.
It might sound crazy, but tearing my ACL in January 2001 was a good thing. At the time, however, I wouldn’t have agreed.
The timing was horrible. My dream was to play in the WNBA, and, with just five months until the draft, I knew the injury would cost me my dream. But God was faithful, and, despite the doctor’s report that I would sit out an entire season, the Indiana Fever took a chance on me with the third overall pick.
It might sound crazy, but tearing my ACL in January 2001 was a good thing. At the time, however, I wouldn’t have agreed.
It's almost impossible to find anyone who isn't feeling the pressure these days.
Stress doesn't care if you are young or old; it has the ability to weigh you down regardless of age, gender, race, political affiliation or socio-economic status. In fact, all studies confirm this.
Stress is something we all seem to have in common.
What's more impressive than Trinity University's 15-lateral play? The story of faith behind it.
Lost in excitement of the NCAA basketball tournaments is the fact that the college baseball season is now in full swing. In past years that meant I was spending many hours on a bus and away from my family. Unfortunately, my daily devotionals usually took a hit during that time of the year too.
Through the eyes of the world, athletic success is easily defined. It’s a simple pass-fail test that asks only one question: did you win it all? But the University of Nebraska volleyball team sees things differently. Despite its tremendous on-court success, the Cornhuskers remain a team that has learned to go deeper than wins and losses in order to define greatness. But the lesson didn’t come at an easy price.
Scripture is the basis of our faith. But, sometimes, I think we get so caught up in life that we start to look at familiar verses and almost label them as cliché. As sad as that sounds, we hear verses like John 3:16, Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11 and simply pass them by or say to ourselves, “Oh, I’ve heard that a thousand times.” While that may be true, it doesn’t take away the relevance of Scripture!
A high school coach of mine once said that when things go wrong, it is important to go back to the basics—to the foundation of the game—and to re-establish a routine. He was talking about softball, but I think this relates to our faith in a profound way.
There comes a time in a man’s life when he must decide about spiritual matters—what to believe and who to follow. For Kyle Korver, that decision came in the shower.
While the scene wasn’t exactly Hitchcockian in nature, it did produce some dramatic results. There, in the bathroom of his Philadelphia apartment five years ago, Korver wrestled with deep, longstanding spiritual questions. He realized that his family’s strong heritage of faith did not pass on to him simply by bloodlines. He realized he had been treating Christianity like a faucet, turning it on or off as needed.
It was a long shower.
Have you ever had a bad game? One in which your shots just weren't falling, or when you had a hard time completing a pass? How about one in which your pitches were off? The list could go on and on.
Everyone has had those games when, no matter how hard you try, it seems as if nothing goes your way. It's a part of athletics; it's a part of life.
No one likes to perform poorly, but it's in these moments when God is clearly seen. We must recognize that even our best efforts are ultimately useless without the Lord; we can accomplish nothing without Him. We can also learn another thing from these times--that all of our abilities, our talents, everything we have is a blessing and that they can all be taken away.
Tampa Bay Rays utility player Ben Zobrist, FCA Nashvile Urban Director Lee Brown, pastor and former football player Ken Hutcherson and FCA President Les Steckel.
Chairman of the Phoenix Suns Jerry Colangelo, FCA President Les Steckel, Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore
Picture this: It is the bottom of the eighth inning. There is one out with men on first and second. Your team, down by three, desperately needs a hit to stay in the game, and you are next up to bat. Do you give up or do you rise to the challenge?
As competitors, we understand the law of the harvest. What we sow or plant today will produce a harvest at a later time with a greater result. We understand that the training we do today will not produce results today, or even tomorrow, but will produce great results down the road. It will even produce something greater than the training itself. For example, in basketball, working overtime on shooting will produce not just a better shooter, but a better player for the team. The law of the harvest is about later and greater.
The health of your marriage can have a huge impact on the health of your kids.
After moving around to several different places in the Midwest, my family landed outside of Chicago in Naperville, Ill. I was the oldest of three, and my brother, Marcus, and sister, Candace, and I all grew up loving the sport of basketball. Some of our favorite memories are from basketball trips to gyms all across the U.S.
While our family was close, we didn’t have much of a spiritual life. We went to church for Easter, Christmas and weddings, but that was about it. Looking back, I can see that I definitely had a Christ-shaped void in my heart.
NBA all-time great David Robinson, sports broadcasting legend Pat Summerall, former college baseball coach Jerry Kindall & FCA President Les Steckel.
Heisman Trophy winner, Florida Gator QB Tim Tebow, Tim’s mom Pam Tebow, President of Schutt Sports Julie Nimmons, FCA President Les Steckel
“Coach, I couldn't make it to weight-lifting on time because I had to get my hair cut.”
Apparently there wasn't enough time in the day for this athlete to handle his busy schedule. It's not like there was any other time in the day he could have gotten a haircut. It must have been a life-or-death situation!
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