Serving as a sport chaplain
or character coach in public colleges and universities in the United States is
a tremendous privilege and is like walking a tightrope at 1,000 feet. We are in
a remarkable position to affect the lives of hundreds of student-athletes each
year, as well as the coaches who lead them, and the support staff members that
assist them. We also have a wide range of people and organizations that hate what
we do and would rather we not be there.
Recent events in a few high
profile university sports programs are emblematic of the struggle between the
forces of sports ministries and other organizations that would seek to marginalize
these ministries, to banish them from their areas of service, to expose them as
frauds or to otherwise diminish their effectiveness.
A few years ago, one of my colleagues
drew national media attention and more than desired scrutiny regarding from where
the money came to run his ministry, why he wasn’t required to pay for his
travel expenses with the team he served, on and on and on. This caused quite a
stir in the community and only made his service of the team more complex, more
costly, and raised suspicions for many.
More recently, another
prominent football program (American Football) and its head coach became the subject
of a law suit by an organization seeking freedom from religion in public
universities and society at large. This tempest in a tea pot of a story was
covered by ESPN, various national and local news organizations, and fomented
for a few days with varying consequences. I was informed that the issue had
little or no effect with the program and coach in question, but just the story
and the fears it raised questions all the way across the continent. Another state
university, this one in the western USA, informed their volunteer sport
chaplain that he could no longer hold Bible studies, team chapels, or any other
activities that were religious in nature. Just the aroma of controversy was enough
to intimidate this administration into excluding the team chaplain.
I spoke with a number of people;
chaplains, character coaches, players, and others about this situation. My
thoughts as to how we should approach these issues follow here:
- Don’t overreact. These situations are normally a matter of someone reacting in fear and ignorance. If we react in kind, we lose. If we take a slower, less reactionary approach to the issue, we normally do better.
- Focus on the relationships with those who allow us to serve. Most of us serve at the pleasure of the head coach. Focus on that relationship. Speak with him or her directly. Determine his or her values and ensure the coach that we’re here to serve those specifically; no more and no less.
- Be sure to honor and respect the parameters outlined by the head coach. Be 100% compliant with schedules, time constraints, compliance rules, and other guidelines given you by the head coach and those he or she designates to work with you.
- Be wise about the nature of your public profile. You should be aware of your community’s culture and the level of notoriety appropriate for your position with the team. Think critically about questions like these: Should you appear in the team’s media guide and web site? Is it appropriate to be recognized in public as a part of the coaching staff? Is it proper for you to be included in recruiting events? The danger is that when our public profile raises among faithful Christian people, we will also be more exposed to those who would find our service to be inappropriate, foolish, or even unconstitutional.
- Build a relationship with your school’s NCAA compliance officer. Rather than hiding from these people, build a trusting relationship by asking them about what they require of you re: student-athletes, how they would like to communicate, and how you can be partners in serving the school’s student-athletes. They are used to having adversarial relationships with the coaching staff, don’t fall into that trap.
These are some simple, but
important points of emphasis as we serve in the progressively more secularized
general culture in the USA and even more radically so in public universities.
Let’s join Jesus in being “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
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