Years of effort, sacrifice, and planning come down to this game. The commitment of the coaches and players has brought them to this point, and the payoff is right in front of them. The time of growth and struggle is finally paying off. A one-win season has grown into a three-win and then into a five-win season. The program has reached a point of respectability. The goal that has been front and center for years is finally in reach—the conference championship.

Michael has the potential to be a good player, but he gets so frustrated with his game. He doesn’t understand why his coach always wants him to change his shot and other parts of his game. Finally, he had a talk with his coach. Suddenly things became clear to him, and his improvement took off. His coach simply told Michael what he needed to do in order to get better and how those changes would help him in years to come.

The goal of every coach is to have an outstanding team, but a winning team must train at all times, in season and out, even when it is inconvenient. A coach knows that training during the off season is just as important as training in season. A good team is comprised of athletes who are in shape, well trained, and in tune with the other players. Every coach knows that if a player is out of shape, hard workouts will cause injury and a severe loss for the team. That’s why there can be no slacking off between seasons. Even the best players have to practice year round.

Driving down the road yesterday I saw something that made me take notice. Coming toward me was a middle-aged man running against traffic. Now, that did not bother me so much; I see that all the time. But what I found strange was that he had his iPod on and was running right on the edge of the cars. Then I broke out in laughter because not 10 feet from him on his left was a beautiful well-groomed sidewalk, on which there was not a single person.

Too often as coaches we feel we know the right way—the right way to go. If we would stop and think of these verses, we might take a different path. Since we are coaches, others look to us for leadership, and we might be leading in the wrong direction. We might let our bias get in the way of seeing the real potential of student athletes. We may only see what we think they can do for our career or our team instead of how the Lord is looking at them.

Are you honest about your finances? Jesus spoke more about material things and how we handle them than anything else. Why? Because how we handle material things is an indicator of how much we really trust God. We all need material things to survive—money, food, water, and clothing—all of which God promises to provide for those who seek Him. People everywhere believe the more of these things they have, the happier they will be. That is just not true. In America, we have more things than any nation in history, but we are not a happy nation.

Hockey Chat:  Brain Buckets.  The 79-80 season was when the NHL made new comers wear the head gear.  Prior to that it wasn’t thought of to be a need.  But ask anyone whose taken a wack without it how much it is needed.  It’s one of those things that we don’t really use in the game (head-butting a puck into the goal is not very effective).  But when a stick comes up to high, or our skate slips out from under us, those hockey helmets are what saves us from a potentially deadly injury. 

It happens all the time: As an athlete or coach, you are confronted with a situation in which your attitude will dictate your altitude. Someone does you wrong; a promise is broken; a ref makes a horrible call in a game; you are treated poorly. Whatever the circumstances, does your attitude show that God is in your life?

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul urged the believers to stand firm in their faith in Christ. Paul wanted everyone to stay focused on Christ and the glory of the cross, no matter what happened. In every situation we are under the authority of God, and we should act and react accordingly. Though we may be wronged, mistreated or severely tortured, we must stand firm, knowing that God will provide the victory.

When I was a youngster, I used to play basketball with my older brother and his buddies. They were high school seniors when I was in fifth grade. Many times I was simply the kid that evened up the teams—an extra body.

Because I played with older guys, the trials I went through on the court were tough, and I often got discouraged. Eventually, however, I was able to handle the ball well enough to hold my own, and I developed enough game that, when I was left open, I could knock a shot down. When I went to play “bitty ball” at school against guys my own age, the game seemed much easier and I enjoyed success. Looking back, I realize that the experiences with the older players helped improve my basketball skills.

Alexis is a talented basketball player. As an eighth grader, she played on the varsity team at one school. Others quickly saw her ability and soon began mistreating her. Coaches and teammates beat her down mentally, and she began to grow a root of bitterness deep inside of her. She suffered several injuries and even transferred schools, but her situation did not improve. The root grew deeper and deeper.

Hockey Chat: There is a main component of hockey skates that is ultimately most important but always over looked.  The laces.  Without them you have a wobbly unresponsive skate. But when tightened you have a controlled skate that is inline and reacts to you.  Skates only work if under control.