Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Life Lessons from Coaching Pee Wee Football

Many of you know I coach pee wee football in our local community league.  We are three games into the season and I’ve been thinking about our “progress” thus far.  I wonder if there might be some lessons that apply beyond the field of competition.

A couple quick facts:
-        We haven’t scored yet this year
-        I’ve had more kids take themselves out of games and practices than ever before

A few observations:

1.  It is obvious our competition has “scouted” us.  They know where our strong player(s) line up and they know where our weak player(s) line up.  They try to exploit our weaknesses.

v Business often works like this and so does the one who seeks to destroy you!
John 10:10

2.  It takes a “team effort” to be successful.  We have a small number of great players…no matter how “great” they may be…we still haven’t scored this year and, therefore, we haven’t won a game…yetJ

v Are you pulling your weight on all the teams you belong to…marriage, family, business, volunteer stuff, church, etc.?

3.  No matter how “bad” it may seem, there is always hope…we are getting better and I believe we will win a game, or at least score.

v Gotta believe, baby…once you lose the dream that life can and will be better, it’s all over.

4.  We can’t control the other teams, or the refs, but we can control our effort to get better during practice.

v Complaining and pointing fingers gets us nowhere.  At times, you “feel better” about your self-justification for a lack of progress but, ultimately, we are responsible for our own growth and development.

5.  I need to celebrate the little victories (like not jumping offside for an entire game…it hasn’t happened yet, but someday…see # 3)

v Sometimes, the big goals in life are just too big…break them down into smaller, doable, bite-size pieces.

6.  Parental enthusiasm is incredible!  Only a parent would drive their child to practice three times a week, then go to a game and cheer for a team that hasn’t scored yet. 

v A parent’s love must be based on something deeper than performance.  It makes me wonder about God’s love for us and the root of our love for one another.

7.  I thought coaching would be easier than it has been thus far.  I have never coached this young age level before.

v Wow…I didn’t know what I didn’t know!  It’s very different sitting on the sidelines than coaching on the field.  And, just because I’ve coached different sports and different levels doesn’t mean I “knew” what to do at this level.

8.  Our coaching staff is adjusting.  The best coach in the league is one of my “assistants.”  My assistant coach has coached this team’s offense for about twenty four years now…which equals a lot of experience at this level and a huge amount of success year in and year out.  He has adjusted our team to fit our personnel.

v Just because something has “worked” in the past doesn’t mean it will always work in the future…be willing to change and adjust.

9.  It’s one thing to “study patience” and “love your neighbor” in a classroom setting…it’s another thing to be “tested.” 

v Real life is where our belief and actions meet…even during times of challenge.

10. At the end of the day, it’s still pee wee football.  I dare say if we took the “challenges”   of our scoreless football team and stacked them up against the challenges represented on the cancer unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, it would help with what’s called “perspective.”

v Be sure you are keeping the “main thing” the “main thing” in your life and your family’s life. 

I will keep you posted on our progress…we play again this Saturday.
Pastor Ken

4 comments:

  1. My daughter played softball when she attended Cypress Christian school and I think it was the first year they had a team...They didn't win until the last game...but you could see them improving with each game..that was what made you feel good.

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  2. I love this blog! This can relate to everything in life. I needed to read this this afternoon..I will be sharing this story and the lesson you taught!! Thank you!

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  3. Thanks for this. I have been struggling with a class right now and some of your comments hit home. This one is so true: "Gotta believe, baby…once you lose the dream that life can and will be better, it’s all over". I have thought about giving up because this class is so difficult, but I can't lose the dream that this will make me a better person and a brighter future. Also when you said: "Sometimes, the big goals in life are just too big…break them down into smaller, doable, bite-size pieces". I keep thinking about what I will do if I don't get my Nurse Practitioner degree. I am looking at the big picture and worrying about that rather than focusing on my goal of getting through this weeks homework and the physical assessment I have on Monday. I have to break it down into today's goals. Thank you so much for your insight on coaching pee wee football! It helped me and I am not even playing!
    Wendy Greiner

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  4. Ken,
    I always take time to read your blogs, this one reminded me to send you a quick note. It is not really related to your post about PEE WEE Football, even though I enjoyed it. But all the same I am sending anyway. My family and I recently moved away from Columbus to down around the Newark area. My company merged offices around a year ago and Newark was our new home. Moving was a very difficult decision for me, ask my wife:-). One of the main reasons was that Cypress had become our home. My wife would put effort into and get excited about moving, then we would go to service and I would change my mind and say we aren't moving. I love how I feel when I am filled with the spirit I guess you could say. I just didn't want to move from that, and move my children away from it. I finally realized that God has a plan for me and that I can't hide being scared of change, leaving Cypress, etc... Regardless of the location I can make an impact and be close to God. I could go into long, long, long detail concerning how God and this Church changed my life and ultimately my families. I would rather just mention how much I/we enjoyed the 8 to 10 years we were able to spend at Cypress. Being a part of its growth and efforts to change people’s lives for Christ.

    Thank you Lord for all that you have given me, may I continue down this path of living my life to please you. Thank you for all the life change that Cypress helped me with and continue to have your hand over this wonderful place into the future. Let us all (your people) never lose sight of what is important in life and to never underestimate the smallest of gestures, words, and actions that we have at our disposal daily that can impact someone forever. Amen

    Thank you so much… (Ken, Dale, and Kathy)

    The Mox’s

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