tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79216153648941747992024-03-14T01:04:01.475-05:00Character Coach / Sports Chaplain BlogThis is a blog for my colleagues who are engaged in ministry with people of sport. In particular it is for those of us who refer to our roles as "Character Coach" or “Sports Chaplain."Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.comBlogger735125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-28002661256079085792024-03-02T08:22:00.000-06:002024-03-02T08:22:02.968-06:00<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, <u>Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u>. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training&source=gmail&ust=1709410192942000&usg=AOvVaw2vkPif9WjtKqf_elN3HnBZ" href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></p><div class="gmail_default"><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTm-y-vlibZ87bueZY5R5Q7M9p3rHf-plu5cwfvnzt7nsGP_0N_ChkUZG6FwZC9W1lYeDUxUYDh0Xluuft3OneTRwSHPMxuI1CM5QAlGn74KhoYCBXOcUcIBEHRS_hWzhQqv2A89UqC8Kw8T2KJfh6fSA1NbFtk8ADnr_y0mpPBcSxkoYizNG4NbnO3M/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTm-y-vlibZ87bueZY5R5Q7M9p3rHf-plu5cwfvnzt7nsGP_0N_ChkUZG6FwZC9W1lYeDUxUYDh0Xluuft3OneTRwSHPMxuI1CM5QAlGn74KhoYCBXOcUcIBEHRS_hWzhQqv2A89UqC8Kw8T2KJfh6fSA1NbFtk8ADnr_y0mpPBcSxkoYizNG4NbnO3M/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Serve selflessly.</b></div></b><br />Whereas elite and professional sportspeople and coaches grow accustomed to people asking them to do things, we must be the ones to serve them with no thought of receiving anything in return. They find this both refreshing and endearing. This builds trust. This opens hearts.<br /><br />To perform the most menial tasks with and for them is a profound relationship builder. Serve without fanfare. Don’t take selfies with them and post them online. Don’t ask for autographs, free tickets, or sideline privileges. Such presumption is the essence of selfishness, and they find it repulsive. Give yourself away in helping them and you will find a loyal friend and an inquisitive heart.<br /><br />Ministry to sportspeople is selflessly serving them and God's purposes in them with no ulterior motive.<br /><br /><b>Below are some examples of such selfless service -</b><br /><br />· Assisting in the whole-life development of the sportsperson.<br /><br />· Offering help to competitors' and coaches' families when they are new to the community.<br /><br />· Assisting support staff when they need help with a task.<br /><br />· Visiting competitors who are injured, ill, or are grieving a family loss.<br /><br />· Helping a coach or competitor who wants to share his faith by training and encouraging him in it.<br /><br />· Offering hospitality and community to these people often displaced from family and friends.<br /><br />· Speaking privately with a competitor or coach about his or her relationship with Christ.<br /><br />· Maintaining confidentiality re: injuries, illness, family situations, contracts, etc.<br /><br />· Protecting private information about competitors and coaches, such as phone numbers, email addresses, etc.<br /><br />· Praying for a coach or competitor when a request is shared in confidence.<br /><br />· Sending encouraging notes, text messages, and phone calls.</span><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: small;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-91851276644314197632024-02-23T05:00:00.002-06:002024-03-02T08:23:47.461-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 8<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, <u>Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u>. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training&source=gmail&ust=1706386788789000&usg=AOvVaw1UZQ_bK3YGcg1UaNVHIKgH" href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></p><div class="gmail_default"><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWih1-4vjfWE0Lk1LgkJr48J93ir3paFGACcN1sasbCJSKClKY9BSOksdGs-LyXwpbV8HoTB52nrUXHCWWJnbSNiNIUK_1bQ5ZXv8WCTH2b-9EO6q-AD8-AU9ja6X6e_P3AhlFmzmKEB6tZqQMDSNTOPREDuVYU9Ft80n39pVX4jvY1jhudkj-1zpSsY/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWih1-4vjfWE0Lk1LgkJr48J93ir3paFGACcN1sasbCJSKClKY9BSOksdGs-LyXwpbV8HoTB52nrUXHCWWJnbSNiNIUK_1bQ5ZXv8WCTH2b-9EO6q-AD8-AU9ja6X6e_P3AhlFmzmKEB6tZqQMDSNTOPREDuVYU9Ft80n39pVX4jvY1jhudkj-1zpSsY/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Love extravagantly.</b></div><br />People of sport are often less than loveable. Much of the life of a coach, elite or professional athlete is less than lovely. Ministry with them often smells bad and sounds coarse. It requires extravagant love. It is not safe, is seldom convenient, and is certainly not normal. It is, however, extremely rewarding.<br /><br />When one invests deeply, loves powerfully, and pays the price to care for the competitors and coaches, they respond in faith with the same passion they bring to sport. It is dynamic and worth every moment.<br /><br />One of the values held in highest regard in United States culture is “tolerance.” We are implored from every angle, in the media and in schools, that we must tolerate everything and everyone around us. This value is extolled as the highest form of human virtue and should be applied to not only ethnic and religious differences, but to every form of behavior and even to those engaged in foolish, abusive or self-abusing lifestyles. I beg to differ. Tolerance is simply too benign, too soft, too passive to be reflective of Christ Jesus’ Church. I believe He wants more from us than benign tolerance; He wants us to love people extravagantly. We who serve the men and women of sport are surrounded by many who are easy to love and others which we find at least distasteful and maybe even repulsive.<br /><br /><b>Here are some simple thoughts which contrast extravagant love and benign tolerance:</b><br /><br />• Extravagant love takes risks for people. Benign tolerance is safe and secure as it keeps people at a distance.<br /><br />• Extravagant love embraces people and their imperfections. Benign tolerance puts up with people we find distasteful or odd.<br /><br />• Extravagant love is very costly as it pays the price to seek others’ best. Benign tolerance is cheap and requires little of the one tolerating the others.<br /><br />• Extravagant love is active and seeks out those whom we love. Benign tolerance is passive and feels relieved when those tolerated are not around.<br /><br />• Extravagant love expects the best from others and hopes persistently. Benign tolerance expects little from others and simply hopes to not be disappointed.<br /><br />• Extravagant love invests deeply in others. Benign tolerance invests shallowly, sharing only what is required.<br /><br />• Extravagant love honors Christ as it directly reflects His nature. Benign tolerance honors no one as it is purely self-centered and self-protecting, honoring neither the tolerant or the tolerated.<br /><br />The obvious problem for all of us is that some people really annoy us. Some people’s habits, lifestyles, behavior, or cultural trappings may tear at the very fabric of our convictions and make our flesh scream for relief and distance from these people. Tolerance offers you a low-cost, risk-free solution to your dilemma. It is, however, not worthy of our Lord. Extravagant love is what our Lord modeled for us and has even empowered us to demonstrate. His grace is given to each of us in sufficient measure to love even the most repulsive people in our circles of relationships.<br /><br />My challenge to you is to press through the easy, cheap, secure, low expectations of tolerance and take the risk, pay the cost, actively and deeply, even extravagantly love the people around you. Coaches, competitors, physios, equipment managers, club officials, athletic directors, support staff, the foolish, the perverse, the profane, the abusive, the rebellious, all of them. Jesus’ blood was shed for each of them and His grace, in you, is sufficient to enable you to love them beyond your wildest imaginations.</span><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: small;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-84615771842518075712024-02-16T05:00:00.002-06:002024-03-02T08:24:30.788-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 7<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, </span><u style="color: #222222;">Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training&source=gmail&ust=1706386684625000&usg=AOvVaw1FbSGlbkANOgIc8yrEfpOL" href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJ9SyKliIvGK3V1D05_Mo-TCRxK-dxqjjRysrV2LbR-LuFNPL8Hi1d1Ja3epqwvpMoncLaIb6W-S5JHLF5qlWGQZPj-y0-cbk9TaCBQIimMEeK_X_-IvIwcOhWs4LsFhkuu4eQWNKTlrz-buZs-ABKFUBYt3OTcOEfNTi0sUjLnPtaqFYDnn8WCcJBnk/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJ9SyKliIvGK3V1D05_Mo-TCRxK-dxqjjRysrV2LbR-LuFNPL8Hi1d1Ja3epqwvpMoncLaIb6W-S5JHLF5qlWGQZPj-y0-cbk9TaCBQIimMEeK_X_-IvIwcOhWs4LsFhkuu4eQWNKTlrz-buZs-ABKFUBYt3OTcOEfNTi0sUjLnPtaqFYDnn8WCcJBnk/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Invite them into your home.</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Without question, some of the most deeply impactful moments of making disciples and building depth of relationship have occurred in my home. As we have welcomed coaches and competitors into our home for studies, for meals, for picnics, coffee, or discussions, they find our place to be peaceful and like home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Your home does not feel like a dorm room, a noisy apartment, an office, or even the chaotic homes from where many have come. Be mindful that you may be their model for what a Christ-honoring marriage looks like. (77% of college basketball players in the USA come from one or zero parent homes.) Yours may be the only healthy home life they have ever seen. How you live in front of them can be transformational, all by itself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Consider any or all these opportunities for hospitality with the elite sportspeople in your community:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">· Breakfast in your home with the coaching staff.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">· An off-season cookout with the team.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">· A regular discussion in your kitchen over coffee.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">· Host a Bible study and provide a simple snack.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">· Prepare a lunch or dinner and take it to the coaches’ offices during their most time-consuming days.</span></span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-66972702723211603682024-02-09T05:00:00.002-06:002024-03-02T08:27:21.648-06:00Holistic Team Development<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Holistic Team Development</span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some of the most important values I hold in my service of sports teams are those I learned while studying small group dynamics during the 1980s and 1990s. Having led small groups of various sorts in my local church and with short-term mission groups, I was able to test a number of ideas I had gathered from books, teaching tapes (yes, I am that old), and conversations with friends and colleagues. I employed these principles in my leadership of groups involving competitors from multiple teams (FCA huddles), groups of coaches (Coaches huddles), and sports teams (American football, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Women’s soccer/football, and both college and professional baseball).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the best books I read during those days was, <b><i>Good Things Come in Small Groups </i></b>(Intervarsity Press 1985 ISBN 0-87784-917-X). It is full of excellent information, best practices, and tools for small group leadership.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Among the most useful ideas taught in the book is the section on Four Key Ingredients, Part 2 of the book. It describes the relationship and essential qualities of these four elements of a complete small group: <u>Nurture</u> (Bible study and discussion), <u>Worship</u> (prayer and singing), <u>Community </u>(development of relationships), and <u>Mission</u> (purposeful activity in serving others). It’s important for small groups to include all four elements to be healthy and productive.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Leadership of sports teams and small groups in the sporting community are wise to include all four elements. For our discussion related to the service of people in sport, I will use the same language with one modification. I will substitute Study for Nurture. The ratio of how each element is incorporated in the life of the team or group will likely vary widely, depending upon the focus of the group’s purpose.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Groups with an equal proportion of their time and resources allotted to each element are often called, Koinonia groups. Koinonia is the ancient Greek word for Christian community. These sorts of groups are ideal for the most complete, holistic development of the people in the group as it blends equal parts of Study, Worship, Mission, and Community. Graphically, it looks like this, with each element having 25% of the whole:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQ7dGYQzHHH83UUXGGkXo7CRAJ4vVlNQCce6WExOIwEp0dVXb0nLC8lFKeo83Rmar_-NC86NvYYTqhfVw0El3SgbhcDXuK8ZSrnW4Q_QHUHG2QnKvnbfLdEw-qJijeHXnD-ceGSHFJSpG5cYy9IIwgyx5wAqPguvUtMoCD7hjjiXxQ0eGsWWxhYh0fbs/s468/Koinonia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="468" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQ7dGYQzHHH83UUXGGkXo7CRAJ4vVlNQCce6WExOIwEp0dVXb0nLC8lFKeo83Rmar_-NC86NvYYTqhfVw0El3SgbhcDXuK8ZSrnW4Q_QHUHG2QnKvnbfLdEw-qJijeHXnD-ceGSHFJSpG5cYy9IIwgyx5wAqPguvUtMoCD7hjjiXxQ0eGsWWxhYh0fbs/w400-h331/Koinonia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most common among small groups within a church are Study Groups. These are often Bible studies, occasionally discussions of a book, Sunday school classes, etc. Many sports ministry groups have Study as the predominant feature of meetings. Even though it may occupy as much as one-half of their time and resources, to be at their best these groups should also include Worship, Community, and Mission. Graphically, it looks like this with Study occupying 50% and the other elements having 16.67% each:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDpT-zXxj4fpWIXD2TWAs54CcnD-LU0yCeJX6JNYyEhTv909IYbEYjhiaipVA5_CJioe_YzkEO5MIlLaMrxyPefEuGEjbxFRRrCCwfwEqcSxnYXDhMSpTdprE7nXSOhlB_dv8VFjlN79p0miSzHCK4hpqK0TR8OJ9jZc_jeJ98vlv2sCbR0big7DUeiA/s468/Study.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="468" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDpT-zXxj4fpWIXD2TWAs54CcnD-LU0yCeJX6JNYyEhTv909IYbEYjhiaipVA5_CJioe_YzkEO5MIlLaMrxyPefEuGEjbxFRRrCCwfwEqcSxnYXDhMSpTdprE7nXSOhlB_dv8VFjlN79p0miSzHCK4hpqK0TR8OJ9jZc_jeJ98vlv2sCbR0big7DUeiA/w400-h331/Study.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another common type of group in churches is a Missions Group. The focus of such a group is a purposeful activity in service of others. These can be as simple as the teams who park cars, greet visitors, or clean the auditorium on Sundays. They can be short-term missions groups, traveling together to serve, teach, or preach in other nations. In either case, their mission is the central element of their team and gives it purpose. To be at their best, these groups would do well to also find ways to build Worship, Study, and Community into how they accomplish their mission. Graphically, such a group looks like this with Mission consuming 50% of its time and resources, and the other elements having 16.6% each:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zVAmOCpjayBWtg9bcBvPtGp6oX40KwEDvS6SQGWiaWJXhuZ1P9bqQcr4K2N6GfX4LTM3qhcMztcIDehrvFv26K6DeVL9qA3mv97gzX0n9AKIzn5CwevM13tcjitlB5byUBr7BGUbx3S4PfSj9k3bhWY4Iuz9IBQhDhoRpgi4jgcHl7-1rALWUl7KJpk/s468/Mission%20Group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="468" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zVAmOCpjayBWtg9bcBvPtGp6oX40KwEDvS6SQGWiaWJXhuZ1P9bqQcr4K2N6GfX4LTM3qhcMztcIDehrvFv26K6DeVL9qA3mv97gzX0n9AKIzn5CwevM13tcjitlB5byUBr7BGUbx3S4PfSj9k3bhWY4Iuz9IBQhDhoRpgi4jgcHl7-1rALWUl7KJpk/w400-h331/Mission%20Group.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sports Teams are more difficult for the development of a holistic group in that the Mission of the team, its sport, is remarkably consuming of its time and resources. The sport training, strategy, practice, and individual development of players can easily consume 100% of its life. It will require intentionality, effort, collaboration with the coaching staff, and buy in of the competitors to develop a team with all four elements included. Graphically, one could aim for proportions like these with the team’s Mission occupying 75%, and the other elements getting 8.33% each.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXsQLv4gNG0isb6ZRfJ20Fqasg1CUe6NhI7_mLxDNs6rN9DRvtCwR3BQLYp99bLZOf__gPK5p2mneQSg0_gVwWOGHRTgl7BPD-GEbpUZidCYPFvgr2ClEIfIpjbbtM4CycGX2_smX77xHMQ6sxMViOovxU8ejB8_WTfTgaZqwVL92LEOb6kdbRpqOVh_E/s468/Sports%20Team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="468" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXsQLv4gNG0isb6ZRfJ20Fqasg1CUe6NhI7_mLxDNs6rN9DRvtCwR3BQLYp99bLZOf__gPK5p2mneQSg0_gVwWOGHRTgl7BPD-GEbpUZidCYPFvgr2ClEIfIpjbbtM4CycGX2_smX77xHMQ6sxMViOovxU8ejB8_WTfTgaZqwVL92LEOb6kdbRpqOVh_E/w400-h331/Sports%20Team.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">To quantify this in hourly terms, let’s suppose a sports team has 40 hours per week of activities (practices, individual workouts, video review, team meetings, staff meetings, travel, etc.). The Sports Training portion of that week would be 30 hours. If one was able to schedule time for Study, Worship, and Community in to the life of the team, that would allow 10 hours.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In my service of a Division I Men’s Basketball Team, I would estimate my weekly involvement at just about 10 hours (2 games per week). This service includes activities like:</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Practice attendance (primarily <u>Community</u> – building relationships – 3 hours)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Game Day shootaround attendance (<u>Community</u> and <u>Worship</u> – prayer – 1 hour)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Game Day Team Meeting (<u>Mission</u> and <u>Study</u> – 30 minutes)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Game Day Character Moment and Pregame Meal (<u>Study,</u> <u>Prayer,</u> and <u>Community</u> – 30 minutes)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Pregame Prayer in locker room (<u>Worship</u> - 2 minutes)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Postgame in locker room (<u>Community</u> – 13 minutes)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Character Moment discussion with Team (<u>Study</u> and <u>Community</u> – 20 minutes)</span></p><p style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Character Moment discussion with Coaching Staff (<u>Study</u> and <u>Community</u> – 20 minutes)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Serving a sports team is seldom simple, often chaotic, and regularly fluid in nature. It’s not likely to allow you to neatly arrange time in tidy proportions, but you can make a concerted effort to build Study, Worship, and Community into the lives of those you serve. Such service is most effective in the complete development of the coaches and competitors, each and all. Give it your best shot, they’re worth it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /></p>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-70227528500690161702024-02-02T05:00:00.002-06:002024-03-02T08:27:59.915-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 6<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, <u>Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u>. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training&source=gmail&ust=1706386521297000&usg=AOvVaw3Y6bYwkpeWU4b3iVI6NdVA" href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></p><div class="gmail_default"><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLehYyL7Wqcc0mQCEm6K9_PORwdCO5aAdPa5LNGv6sSUauUcTV4LiiOJkGhCtwm89cWdK06t_AkN3ZeIazaqix4plsiAYPKi1XIy-sqwLhn-Mu-i_qdazRVGgUvgefcJ6hmw5Qr2-yKEA1ltV1piQ2cAEuBNH4Wne33DqGcrPNv9Dy1bVQwTlvhgPvNs/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLehYyL7Wqcc0mQCEm6K9_PORwdCO5aAdPa5LNGv6sSUauUcTV4LiiOJkGhCtwm89cWdK06t_AkN3ZeIazaqix4plsiAYPKi1XIy-sqwLhn-Mu-i_qdazRVGgUvgefcJ6hmw5Qr2-yKEA1ltV1piQ2cAEuBNH4Wne33DqGcrPNv9Dy1bVQwTlvhgPvNs/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Demonstrate genuine interest.</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />Demonstrate genuine interest in the people of sport, not just in the results of their competitions. For far too long the Church has been pleased to “use” sportspeople for their ministry ends and to trade on their celebrity status for institutional gain. Such a utilitarian attitude leads many student-athletes to keep the Church at arm’s length.<br /><br />When our first interaction with a coach or competitor is to ask about the results of their most recent contest, their defenses go up immediately, especially if the results were less than good. To only ask about results or prospects for upcoming games is to diminish them as people. Ask questions about family, about school, about practice and teammates, or anything related to the process of being an elite or professional sportsperson. This demonstrates an understanding that he or she is more than an animal in a uniform. Love the coach or competitor, not his or her celebrity in the community.<br /><br />Demonstrate genuine interest in sportspeople by asking questions to draw them into conversation, and then to probe more deeply toward their hearts.<br /><br /><b>Three levels of questions:</b><br /><br />1. Questions that solicit facts. I ask the competitor’s name, hometown, position, uniform number, etc. These are mostly facts. Most anyone will offer these details.<br /><br />2. Questions that elicit passion. I ask about the competitor’s sporting experiences and I’m looking for their love for the sport. I am leading them to tell me stories that awaken their passion for sport, team, competition, coaches, etc.<br /><br />3. Questions that solicit their hearts. I ask about the matters at the core of who they are: values, faith, relationships, events, and other factors that shape their lives from the very center.<br /><br />Please consider this brief list as a place to start with those whom you serve. Always ask process questions, not results questions. Fans and media only ask questions about results.<br /><br />1. How is your team developing? Is the teamwork good?<br /><br />2. How pleased are you with your _____? (Training, practice, hitting, rehab, etc.)<br /><br />3. How pleased are you with preparations for your next competition?<br /><br />4. Who among your teammates is doing very well?<br /><br />5. What are some challenges you have encountered?<br /><br />6. What sorts of situations in your sport bring out the best of your abilities?<br /><br />7. How well is your team connecting with the coaching staff?<br /><br />8. When your playing days are over, what do you think you will miss most about sport?<br /><br />9. What are the situations in your sport that are most difficult for you?<br /><br />10. Who are your most trusted teammates?<br /><br />11. When and where are you most fully the person you want to be?<br /><br />12. What elements of your life in sport are most pleasing to you?<br /><br />13. What is there about your life in sport that will still be important to you 10 years from now?<br /><br />14. When you are on the _____ (floor, field, court, track, mat, pitch, etc..), do you feel that God is near or distant? Engaged or disinterested? Pleased or disgusted? Why?</span><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: small;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-37959930543394132632024-01-26T08:20:00.001-06:002024-03-02T08:28:46.050-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 5<p><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, </span><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training&source=gmail&ust=1706364719705000&usg=AOvVaw2BUYAcby1THz6gmwhiCOuq" href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6nWqSWOSWGdNSD1xrRsX_z6EDciQZyNE4mlectfxnINSQ-6BBm3y0CvszvPlGdae0hoSnMRp3ONK9X-aW4YB68N_9vfzpu7Y1XWDHBo0e5-SBKMpV_0El6SZD-TJ4wiVZIps-tsjQwSbDHje53kT5sNkBtCcLn0Q8fti2sR4qiQxKUJM8ayQwDy4_sc/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6nWqSWOSWGdNSD1xrRsX_z6EDciQZyNE4mlectfxnINSQ-6BBm3y0CvszvPlGdae0hoSnMRp3ONK9X-aW4YB68N_9vfzpu7Y1XWDHBo0e5-SBKMpV_0El6SZD-TJ4wiVZIps-tsjQwSbDHje53kT5sNkBtCcLn0Q8fti2sR4qiQxKUJM8ayQwDy4_sc/s320/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="228" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Communicate directly.</b></div></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Occasionally I will invite a local pastor to address our team in a pregame chapel. I give them a time frame to fit, a general idea of theme or topic, answer their questions, and then turn them loose. That usually goes fairly well, but occasionally it does not. The errors are usually a matter of not fitting sport culture or a clumsy importation of church culture into the sport setting. Sport is a culture of direct language. Time is always at a premium. Communication is always straightforward. There is no room for dropping hints, for being subtle, or for being overly artful in one’s speech. There is no need for elaborate introductions, for jokes, or for allegory. Speak directly with coaches and competitors. Get to the point. Ask direct questions. They will not take offense or find you pushy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I believe the Lord uses such communication, simple and direct, in a similar way to the way He uses epistles in the New Testament. Paul wrote to his disciples and churches he had founded very directly, whereas he was much gentler when face to face. Let’s prayerfully consider the power of the written word to communicate God’s heart for the people of sport, and then we can follow up those words with face to face, compassionate and caring relationship building.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">One of the keys to effective communication with people of sport is clear and direct language. There is no need, nor time for frills, skillfully crafted rhetoric, or subtleties of speech. Write and speak directly to be understood, to inspire, to challenge, and to call to action. Such language fits the sporting culture and carries the message of Christ’s love and care very well.</span></span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-3538950627142510832024-01-26T08:15:00.002-06:002024-01-26T08:17:16.502-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 4<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, </span><u style="color: #222222;">Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training&source=gmail&ust=1706355520340000&usg=AOvVaw3wpFgV9BAKGQpQb493sJzy" href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img alt="Soul Training Front.jpg" class="CToWUd a6T" data-bit="iit" data-image-whitelisted="" height="561" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=a4b2c897f3&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1787911642069596916&th=18cff02a6b57faf4&view=fimg&fur=ip&sz=s0-l75-ft&attbid=ANGjdJ9gVbvNEo5npwDLDBVl9t7EP_aeNU-22eBPhofWxFNf_BrfW7blT89QtjFEPezWetyJy_iKjSeyeZfLTyRIFL4PYG-1MNO0VwUw2drXuK_4iIljB1CIvC7K2xk&disp=emb&realattid=ii_lqpi0y8j0" style="cursor: pointer; outline: 0px;" tabindex="0" width="400" /><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Embrace their sport’s culture.</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Too often, we in the Church tolerate sport culture and try to relate to elite, professional, and high-profile sportspeople while firmly entrenched in church culture. Sportspeople are not against church culture; they just don’t understand it. They have lived in and are deeply immersed in their unique sport’s culture. Too many of my sport chaplain and character coach colleagues endure the culture of sport while anxious to get to their opportunity to speak. Competitors and coaches feel the distance and are hesitant to respond to those of such an attitude.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The way to break through this issue is to heartily embrace the sport culture, warts and all, and thereby communicate unconditional acceptance to those who live therein. Beware the temptation to simply add sports clichés to your vocabulary. Poorly applied sports language raises the red flags of “phony,” “poser,” and “wannabe.” As we learn to speak their language, to fit into their schedules, and to understand their values, we are more able to serve and to speak effectively.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">How comfortably do you live in the culture of your sport? Does it fit like a well-worn batting glove or more like a size eight shoe on your size twelve foot? Do you find it relaxing or stressful? Do you speak its language and enjoy its nuances of gesture and posture or do you seem like an outsider? As you serve Christ in the world of sport, do you live in its culture and work to transform it or simply import Church culture into sport?</span></span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-85894034763158829922024-01-05T07:35:00.023-06:002024-01-05T07:35:00.136-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 3<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople. https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2SaqgDAIXIbc7kYflDY_dQ-nTQ_P1c2rpW3mwqLEHVzFBt_ospefF2D5DabJQM_ptVm3fp_XxIKJV2iQ7mzv7tnpHCQdNLx7mHQe51pBxPkHUVTxRqySdfsWOvipEo-Tz77AaFBoh6ig0uJnslaQwgdZl7kqSkWekJ85Xd6Ng6l_HVFoTUSACIZ7SGI/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2SaqgDAIXIbc7kYflDY_dQ-nTQ_P1c2rpW3mwqLEHVzFBt_ospefF2D5DabJQM_ptVm3fp_XxIKJV2iQ7mzv7tnpHCQdNLx7mHQe51pBxPkHUVTxRqySdfsWOvipEo-Tz77AaFBoh6ig0uJnslaQwgdZl7kqSkWekJ85Xd6Ng6l_HVFoTUSACIZ7SGI/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><b>Respect their time constraints.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Wendy (Goodman) Bauersachs is my friend. She is 6’-2” (1.88 meters) of beautiful young lady, daughter, sister, friend, and teammate. She is now a wife, the mother of three, teaches second grade, and coaches junior high basketball. She was also #44 for Saluki Women’s Basketball (Southern Illinois University – USA). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A few weeks after the end of her playing career, she called me asking, “Rog, what do normal people do with all this time?” She had encountered the sense of lost identity that most sportspeople experience at the end of their sporting careers. After going to the gym for practice most every day since she was twelve-years-of-age, suddenly she had no more practice, no more games, no more team, or teammates, or coaches. She suddenly used to be a basketball player. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Every competitor, regardless of talent, level of competition, length of professional contract, or wealth accumulated, at some point experiences the end of their career and deals with the change in lifestyle including the unexpected abundance of time on their hands. Just like Wendy. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Being a collegiate athlete is like going to school full-time and working a full-time job, at the same time. They have practice six days a week, they often spend extra hours in voluntary work on the mental part of the game, they must study just like any student, and they want to have a social life like any other student. Add on in-season travel, injury rehabilitation, off-season workouts, and mandatory community service projects and their lives are crowded and complex. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The lifestyle of collegiate coaches is even more consuming as they have each logged hours of watching game video, building game plans, staff meetings, position meetings, personal video review with players, and more before they ever get to practice with their players. All that is in addition to the hours of video review, travel, visits with, and evaluation of recruits for their next class of players. For the coaches and competitors in professional sport, it is much the same. They just don’t have to go to class. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Now their lives in sport are even more consuming with countless hours of time in the office, at training, and in practice. Sadly, many of these coaches spend the night sleeping in their offices rather than going home. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The ministry point here is to respect the value of their free time. When we do events, I limit them to one hour. If they want to hang around longer, good, but if they need to get in and out, they are free. Be sure to ask lots of questions about their schedules and design your activities for them to fit their best days and hours.</span></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-91347726942992012772023-12-29T07:17:00.002-06:002023-12-29T07:17:00.144-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 2<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, </span><u style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><a href="https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>crosstrainingpublishing.com/<wbr></wbr>shop/soul-training</a></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuguI_UiX0s6poKhlzG8AuUzzJcv5pf9-m5CrYVi3QCYzIcTVyd5GYie5FwatJINHWIt7aIANkeJY49sHYqyp47Wk-2CH-ATwSw50lqI_jclJG8ov2hGsU_liFci8at5Yq7jAUYAVdWKRNwsp1c4UimgYj9Brx3pddzJ2HQrwkAF25wfDi8426Qx1j37M/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuguI_UiX0s6poKhlzG8AuUzzJcv5pf9-m5CrYVi3QCYzIcTVyd5GYie5FwatJINHWIt7aIANkeJY49sHYqyp47Wk-2CH-ATwSw50lqI_jclJG8ov2hGsU_liFci8at5Yq7jAUYAVdWKRNwsp1c4UimgYj9Brx3pddzJ2HQrwkAF25wfDi8426Qx1j37M/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #141413; font-family: Helvetica;">S</span>ports ministry leaders are often a little puzzled as they encounter elite and professional sportspeople. They expect them to be just like other people, but their lives in sport often present obstacles to their involvement in church services and ministry events that are a great fit for the general population.<br /></span></p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have been serving coaches and student-athletes at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, for nearly thirty years, as well as eight years with a professional baseball club, and in that time I have learned several factors that are key to effectively engaging, serving, building relationships with, and making disciples among the coaches and players in our community. I hope these simple thoughts serve you and your ministry well.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The following is a quick overview of those factors:</span></p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Respect their time constraints.</span></p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Embrace their sport’s culture.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Communicate directly.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Demonstrate genuine interest in them.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Invite them into your home.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Love extravagantly.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">• Serve selflessly.</span></p></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition to the expansion of each of these factors will be illustrative narratives for each, a final section with faith development exercises that have proven effective across many decades, as well as occasional notes of emphasis for service in professional sport from a forerunner for many of us, the late Walt Enoch of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in St. Louis, Missouri.</span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div></blockquote><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-16242979470482450472023-12-18T06:58:00.004-06:002023-12-18T07:21:36.370-06:00Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople - Part 1<p> <span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">After a lengthy hiatus from this post, I will begin again to write with greater regularity. Just over 2 1/2 years into my service with Nations of Coaches as Character Coach Director, I am finding a sustainable rhythm to my work. </span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZrEkpezxIRk4R4LlKUQS4srn0IeRUdviKtgYtY6bjj4-1pN48dYi7LVC5LF9ElxGyMZg4L3UP3JzZEQBCGZ5j-TlLo2wD-itUAZaW7HSC4BxtHYAK4gUyrg0Sl_zP3FiGJAnLOmq9AKJjl4AR4bh28C_fieD0fWgMLZcYGZtyT8IDt3R204S6CpPens/s591/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZrEkpezxIRk4R4LlKUQS4srn0IeRUdviKtgYtY6bjj4-1pN48dYi7LVC5LF9ElxGyMZg4L3UP3JzZEQBCGZ5j-TlLo2wD-itUAZaW7HSC4BxtHYAK4gUyrg0Sl_zP3FiGJAnLOmq9AKJjl4AR4bh28C_fieD0fWgMLZcYGZtyT8IDt3R204S6CpPens/w285-h400/Soul%20Training%20Front.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book, <u>Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople</u>. https://www.crosstrainingpublishing.com/shop/soul-training</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This project is directed toward the Christian faith development of elite level competitors, their coaches, sports professionals, and high-profile people of sport. It is designed to be used by those coaches and competitors themselves, or by the leaders of</span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">sports ministries and local churches who serve them.</span></p><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There are scores if not hundreds of books, discipleship guides, websites, and phone apps designed for the general public, but the people of sport we greatly respect and strongly love, are not like normal people.</span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Elite level sportspeople, their coaches, professional, and high-profile sportspeople are a miniscule fraction of the much larger set of millions of people who participate in sport for recreation, exercise, health benefits or social reasons. An exponentially greater number of people are those who consume sport as spectators. </span></p><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">These elite sportspeople, in the USA mostly competing in collegiate sport, are fewer than four percent of those who</span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">compete in high school sports. Professional sportspeople are an even smaller percentage of those collegiate competitors, fewer than two percent of the elite men and women of sport. Similar ratios between sports fans (greatest numbers), recreational sportspeople (fewer people), and elite sports people (very few people) are no doubt apparent in every </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">nation of the world.</span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="gmail_default"><p class="gmail-p1" style="color: #141413; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>To be clear, anyone competing in college sport at any level in the USA is an </span>elite level competitor. Anyone drawing a paycheck, of any size, for playing sport is a professional sportsperson. Anyone who coaches people at the elite or professional level is a sports professional. Any person of sport, regardless of age, who is widely recognizable beyond his family, teammates, and daily acquaintances, by a photo or one name only, is a high-profile sportsperson.</span></p></div></blockquote>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-38650996890789232312023-05-05T07:00:00.001-05:002023-05-05T07:00:00.151-05:005 Mental Health Mountains<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Our friends and colleagues of Sports Chaplaincy UK (</span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sportschaplaincy.org.uk/&source=gmail&ust=1682627230315000&usg=AOvVaw2Ilk1w9564qgyhqn5854Tc" href="https://sportschaplaincy.org.uk/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://sportschaplaincy.org.<wbr></wbr>uk/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">) have recently released a set of five videos addressing the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><b style="color: #222222;">5 Mental Health Mountains</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">many in sport face.</span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6xv8DcLyaZOrh26cGQFuxwfcXds9IM3w3Y7HsQoZl7qLUfg1-DEaGRKVcAyfNIg0kJeq-Fn4M5D7Kv8F2pZ0ma-7T8KpzWED457bttCdxlCgT_sbsVhCeW7ub4huAfqL_kRNDHZ0_5zR901t48DVnGUJcdFZlnKxU9Ljjw4ExhzxSD2YjNgGJvwK/s706/SCUK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="706" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6xv8DcLyaZOrh26cGQFuxwfcXds9IM3w3Y7HsQoZl7qLUfg1-DEaGRKVcAyfNIg0kJeq-Fn4M5D7Kv8F2pZ0ma-7T8KpzWED457bttCdxlCgT_sbsVhCeW7ub4huAfqL_kRNDHZ0_5zR901t48DVnGUJcdFZlnKxU9Ljjw4ExhzxSD2YjNgGJvwK/w400-h185/SCUK.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a tremendous service to the sporting community in the UK and around the world. You can access the videos at - <a href="https://sportschaplaincy.org.uk/podcast/">https://sportschaplaincy.org.uk/podcast/</a></div></span><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Please watch and share them with your friends and colleagues in sport. </span></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-35980637969829016322023-04-21T07:50:00.004-05:002024-03-02T08:29:32.853-06:002022-2023 Herman Robinson Character Coach Award<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The 2022-2023 Herman Robinson Character Coach Award was presented by Nations of Coaches Character Coach Director, Roger Lipe, to Dr. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Valerie</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> Burrell, Character Coach for Bluefield University Men's Basketball.</span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This award is presented annually to one Nations of Coaches Character Coach who has demonstrated at least five years of faithful and excellent service to a college basketball program. Valerie was selected from among her over one hundred fifty colleagues across the United States.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Valerie received the award during the Bluefield College Athletics awards event, The Rammies, on campus Monday evening. Earlier in the evening Nations of Coaches hosted a team dinner for Bluefield University Basketball coaches, players, administrators, and the university president. The informal dinner was followed by inspirational and heartfelt expressions of thanks for Dr. Burrell's service.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This award was first given to (posthumously) and named after Herman Robinson in 2019 for his faithful service to the College of Charleston Men's Basketball program.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><p style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-69899466473362093622023-04-07T07:14:00.001-05:002023-04-07T07:14:00.197-05:00Report from the WBCA Convention<p> </p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;">Report from the WBCA Convention at the</div><div style="text-align: center;">NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Dallas, Texas.</div><div style="text-align: center;">30 March through 2 April, 2023</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The Nations of Coaches (NOC) ministry at the WBCA Convention began by setting up the NOC booth in the exhibition area. Coach Kelly Kennedy and her daughters set up the entire booth as Roger Lipe’s flight from St. Louis, MO was delayed by nine hours. He finally arrived at the convention hotel at 11:30 pm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From 9:00 to 3:00 on Friday, Kelly and Roger were at the booth meeting with hundreds of coaches from across the nation. The coaches loved our gifts of Fox 40 whistles, pens, note pads, and whiteboard markers, each bearing the NOC logo. They were intrigued by our cards with information on the Coaches Edge, set for Saturday morning, as well as the FCA worship service and Kay Yow Breakfast set for Sunday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We enjoyed strong partnership with our ministry teammates from Athletes in Action and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the edges of our formal service at the booth and in meetings, we connected with many coaches over coffee, breakfast, and dinner.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Saturday from 10:30 to noon, Nations of Coaches hosted sixty-five coaches for the Coaches Edge. It was an enlightening discussion titled, “A Healthy Approach to the Transfer Portal and Name Image and Likeness.” Kelly gathered a panel comprised of head coaches from various levels of Women’s College Basketball – one Division I (Power 5), one Division I (low mid-major), one NAIA, and one Division II. Their insights and commentary were very valuable. In addition to their sharing, we had coaches scattered around the room with discussion questions in hand to facilitate discussion among all participants. The discussion was lively and insightful. Ninety minutes flew by, and several coaches stayed in the room for further interaction after the meeting was dismissed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At 7:00 am Sunday, FCA hosted a worship service featuring Charlotte Smith, Head Coach at Elon College, with more than 150 people in attendance. It was followed by the Kay Yow Breakfast, both in the conference center at the Sheraton Hotel Dallas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Coach Kirsten Moore of Westmont College in California was awarded as the Kay Yow Coach of the Year. Coach Moore was coached by Coach Kelly Kennedy as a graduate Assistant at the University of Oregon. Coach Moore said, “I’m in coaching to touch the heart more so than the ball.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In summary of the convention, Coach Kennedy said, “It has been an incredible weekend connecting with coaches and sharing Nations of Coaches. The booth was great, but the Coaches Edge discussion about the Transfer Portal NIL was outstanding. It was a tremendous way to Equip coaches in their professional needs. The connections and awareness NOC made this weekend have been excellent. Only God can make the connections that have been and are being made.”</div></span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-25143447348694622022023-03-31T06:41:00.008-05:002024-03-02T08:29:16.582-06:00Ministry at Basketball Final Four Events<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Please join us in prayer for this weekend's ministry at the Men's and Women's Basketball Final Four events in Houston and Dallas, respectively. <br /><br />The bulk of Nations of Coaches staff will be in Houston and this graphic details the ministry events hosted by three ministries (Athletes in Action, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Nations of Coaches) working together.</span><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">While they are serving in Houston, Kelly Kennedy, her husband and children, and I will be in Dallas for the Women's Basketball Final Four. We (NOC, AIA, and FCA) will be at our booths engaging coaches all day Friday. On Saturday at 10:30 we (Nations of Coaches) will host a discussion based Coaches Edge event in the convention hotel. On Sunday morning, we'll join the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for their worship service and breakfast. In between events, there will be scores of conversations at the booth, over coffee, lunches and dinners.</span><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Please pray that in all moments, in each event, and in every conversation, we represent both Nations of Coaches and the Lord Jesus very well. Pray that we connect well with people and further the Lord's purposes in each life. Thanks.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-47700735660222718432023-03-16T14:14:00.000-05:002023-03-16T14:14:02.876-05:00Prayer in the Locker Room<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Prayer in sporting contexts is widely varied, often treated superstitiously, usually dripping with churchy cliches, and is occasionally risky.</span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I prefer the last item in the list. I much prefer to communicate within the culture of sport, using its vernacular (not vulgar or profane), in a way that both communicates intimately with our Lord and engages the coaches and players with whom I am praying. Thus it can seem a little risky.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">To be clear, I never pray that we win any particular contest, but I always pray that we compete well. I never pray that we win the championship, but I always pray that we compete like champions. I always pray about the process and never the outcome. I believe the Lord never engineers outcomes of sporting contests, but I believe He is always interested in how we behave in them.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Case in point (slightly risky). After the Saluki Men's Basketball team won its first round game in the Missouri Valley Tournament on Friday night March 3rd, I was awake early Saturday morning with thoughts about how to pray prior to the semifinal game on Saturday evening. I contemplated the idea, calculated the risks, and decided to do exactly what was on my heart. I spent the bulk of the morning and early afternoon composing a prayer (I know, very much contrary to my Southern Baptist upbringing).</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In the locker room as the first semifinal was in its last five minutes, I was in the locker room with our coaches and players hearing the final items in the scouting report for our game. My moment to pray arrived, we all gathered in a circle, arms around each others' shoulders, and I launched in to this prayer.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I thanked our Lord for giving us the privilege to compete again in this game we love. I then prayed, "May we compete powerfully & be…</span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Precise like Foster<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Versatile like Marcus<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Explosive like Scottie<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Gutsy like Dalton<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Gritty like Clarence<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Sudden like Lance<span class="gmail_default">,</span> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Tenacious like Xavier<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Enthusiastic like JD<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Selfless like Chris<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Smooth like Juwan<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A great teammate like AJ<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Committed like JR<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span class="gmail_default">May we c</span>ommunicate like Cade<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Having huge stones like Troy<span class="gmail_default">,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span class="gmail_default">and be p</span>oised like Trent<span class="gmail_default">.</span></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">May we compete like champions, right here and right now? I pray in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen."</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The players and coaches responded well, and we lost by 13. No matter how good or bad your prayer is, it never has a strong impact upon the outcome. Sorry to break it to you. My aim in that prayer was to affirm character qualities I observed in each player on the roster. My aim was to both inspire and to build relationships, vertically and horizontally. </span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">If you are given the privilege to pray with your team, anywhere, but especially in the rarified air of a locker room, communicate in their language, appeal to your Father for their best, and engage their hearts relationally. It's always worth the risk.</span></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-64341294416138361222023-02-03T07:51:00.001-06:002023-02-03T07:51:25.838-06:00Zoominar - Name, Image, and Likeness $$$$$<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">We recently hosted a Zoominar for character coaches and sports chaplains focused on an issue that emerged on 1 July, 2021. The era of <b>Name, Image, and Likeness</b> (NIL) finances in collegiate sport in the USA began. What had been "under the table" inducements to star athletes to sign with a particular university, $1,000.00 handshakes, and other ways to illegally influence a competitor's choice of school, was suddenly totally legal and legitimate.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our guests included Athletes in Action staff, Fellowship of Christian Athletes staff, Nations of Coaches staff and volunteers, as well as many others from multiple sports backgrounds. Featured were: <b>Chauncey Franks</b> - FCA and team chaplain for TCU Football, <b>Tim Carter</b> - Nations of Coaches Regional Director, and <b>Scott Brewer</b> - Character Coach for Baylor Men's Basketball.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our discussion focused on <b>three primary questions</b>: 1. What are the most common and most powerful effects of NIL on the collegiate sports world? 2. How do you see coaches and athletic departments working to deal with it? 3. What are the ministry opportunities arising for us in light of this situation? It's a fast moving 52 minute conversation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is a link to the recording, I hope it is of value to you - <a href="https://youtu.be/lQ9lfjoa88g">https://youtu.be/lQ9lfjoa88g</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNEJwCDk2D3g0wcb8sGI5J4uvBaAMqw37Eov2GonU7SZtYLNo_NzhhnH1AUuTNMwBAnpI8FhXN8IWLep1tz8Z8kVi2j988jcdM4H0aFmDn8-y2zAGc2qElpVIN1VgYpRGdxvbztp_7LtEcUiuEiQ78MvVhRoUrp7PPHgsn-wUtW3SkUSph-B9fgjJ/s706/Zoominars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="706" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNEJwCDk2D3g0wcb8sGI5J4uvBaAMqw37Eov2GonU7SZtYLNo_NzhhnH1AUuTNMwBAnpI8FhXN8IWLep1tz8Z8kVi2j988jcdM4H0aFmDn8-y2zAGc2qElpVIN1VgYpRGdxvbztp_7LtEcUiuEiQ78MvVhRoUrp7PPHgsn-wUtW3SkUSph-B9fgjJ/w400-h225/Zoominars.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-16257458271553571982022-11-25T03:00:00.001-06:002022-11-25T03:00:00.189-06:00Scott Brewer on Team Culture<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">During our recent Nations of Coaches Character Coach training in Dallas, Texas, Scott Brewer - Character Coach for Baylor Men's Basketball, shared some thoughts about culture in college basketball. That word gets thrown about as a buzzword, but often without clear definition or understanding.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Some of Scott's comments included, <b><i>"You have to examine your own, personal culture before you can pretend to have much of an effect upon the team's culture."</i></b> One must know what he values, and to what he is most committed.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Scott said, <b><i>"You have to constantly cultivate culture or it will die. It is a living, organic thing."</i></b> A team's culture will not be embraced or acted upon if it's simply words written on the locker room wall or emblazoned on the team's practice jerseys. Culture must be cultivated like the most valuable plant in one's garden, otherwise it will not produce its intended fruit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scott also challenged us with this thought. <b><i>"Celebrate your culture when you see it happen. Celebrate it specifically."</i></b> When you catch people embodying your culture's values, call it out in specific terms, and celebrate its demonstration. For example, if a team's culture includes selflessness, recognize when it's demonstrated, take time to comment on it, and be sure everyone sees it. "Sam just took another charge! Attaboy, Sam. That selfless play gets us another possession." "Joe dove onto the floor to gather 3 loose balls tonight. That selflessness was a big factor in tonight's win!"</div></span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-66239423691508627802022-11-18T07:59:00.003-06:002022-11-18T08:01:08.444-06:00The Real Heroes of Business<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Last weekend, during the Nations of Coaches Character Coach training in Dallas, Texas, one of our trainees, John Corley of Louisiana Tech University Men's Basketball shared a set of questions he has used in business settings that Character Coaches can modify to engage coaches and players in trust-building conversations.<br /><br />The list of questions and the title of the book from which they come are below. I hope, even a few, can be of value to you and your ministry.<br /><br /><u>The Real Heroes of Business</u> by Fromm and Schlesinger<br /><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Interview Questions:<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">1) Tell me about your 1st job. Or, for salespeople, “Tell me about the 1st thing you ever sold!”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">2) What did you learn about work and about customers from that 1 st experience?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">3) Who has had the greatest influence on your adult personality and/or attitude about work?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Explain how this influence affected you.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">4) Why are you applying for this job? Specify the job!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">5) How did you get interested in this job? Again, specify the job!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">6) Have you ever had any experience as a customer of a business like ours? Describe that<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">experience!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">7) What struck you as important to doing this job well when you were the customer?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">8) What do you think businesses like this do well? What do they do poorly?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">9) Have you ever had a bad experience as a customer of a business like ours? Describe that<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">experience!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">10) Tell me in some detail about the last job you had—or the one you currently have!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">11) What were the customers like in that last job?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">12) Have you ever had any customers that became regular clients, or even friends?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">13) What was your goal as an employee in your last job?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">14) If you could have changed or improved anything about that last job (or the one you have now)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">or the way your previous employer went about his work, what would you have changed?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">15) Who was the best boss you ever had? What made him/her such a good supervisor?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">16) Who was the worst boss you ever had? What made him/her such a poor supervisor?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">17) In the case where the person is applying for a job that is very similar to the one they currently<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">have, don’t hesitate to walk them through the plant, shop, or office on a tour and then ask them<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">what is different about your operation compared to their prior or current job.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">18) When you have a job you really like, what is it about that job that makes you like it so much?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">19) What do you get from work that you really enjoy?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">20) What do you think you will “get” from working here?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">21) What do you think you will “bring” to this job?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">22) What do you like to do when you’re not working?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">23) What would you like to be doing five years from now?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">24) Is there anything else about yourself that I haven’t asked you about that you feel is important<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">for me to know as I consider whether to hire you?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">25) Ask me some questions that you must have about our company or business!</span></blockquote>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-61612539002738641652022-11-11T03:00:00.001-06:002022-11-11T03:00:00.190-06:00Team Culture Development<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">During a recent meeting with several of my Nations of Coaches colleagues, Coach Dale Clayton made a tremendous statement about team culture.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />Coach Clayton said, <b>"A team's culture is:<br /></b><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>determined by the head coach,</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>defended by the assistant coaches,</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>demonstrated by the players."</b></span></li></ul></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">That is remarkably simple and tremendously clear. I quickly wrote it down because lots of coaches and lots of others talk about team culture, but few can define it, and fewer can develop it. Coach Clayton's statement adds verbs to the discussion. Each of the three have well defined roles in the development of the team's culture:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The culture is defined by the head coach, usually in terms of clearly stated values, in single words or in phrases.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The culture is defended by the assistant coaches, in terms of affirming those stated values in the way they coach.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The culture is demonstrated by the players, in terms of how they conduct themselves, on and off the floor.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Let's take some coaching from Coach Dale Clayton as we talk with coaches about developing their team's culture. Let's help them define their values, interpret them into daily practices, and see them demonstrated in their players.</div></span></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-35033551936402513582022-10-13T10:19:00.000-05:002022-10-13T10:19:05.023-05:00Life Map<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">During a recent Nations of Coaches Character Coach Connection Zoom meeting, our Character Coach for Auburn University Basketball, Jeremy Napier, shared a resource called a Life Map.<br /><br />One of the highlights of the Map is the process of having each team member tell their stories. Here's an excerpt from the top of the one-page document. <br /><br /><br />A Life Map is an autobiography – the story of your life. It is not, however, a comprehensive biography. A Life Map should focus on 6 main areas. The goal is to share meaningful information with your peers. <br /><br />1) Heritage/History<br /><br />2) Heroes<br /><br />3) High Times<br /><br />4) Hard Times<br /><br />5) Hand of God<br /><br />6) Honeys<br /><br /><br />Few things do more to help develop a team's sense of community better than giving them permission and direction to share their personal experiences with each other. Please consider using this or a similar tool in serving your teams. </span><div style="color: #222222;"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy15E1ACQpBVFGpcVQytGulYw3g0ztANydmvj-DhW0m8_WQIXvHkjoxpr8CpezbTjdOajifS-ykO-lOqT4EBCWTWiHf5oQ-kYjWfsIFbF0ywyx7Cb3BfOAX3nXJLVgKLOPhCGOEY9qbrNhgKw36XB8Fs9XWYnp6CIGEjDqMT0AlZ_xtSoURIOQ2mpA/s1512/map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1166" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy15E1ACQpBVFGpcVQytGulYw3g0ztANydmvj-DhW0m8_WQIXvHkjoxpr8CpezbTjdOajifS-ykO-lOqT4EBCWTWiHf5oQ-kYjWfsIFbF0ywyx7Cb3BfOAX3nXJLVgKLOPhCGOEY9qbrNhgKw36XB8Fs9XWYnp6CIGEjDqMT0AlZ_xtSoURIOQ2mpA/w309-h400/map.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-46476840885656656362022-10-07T03:00:00.003-05:002022-10-07T18:55:55.420-05:00Five Questions to Build Trust<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This is always an exciting time of the year in college basketball. It's preseason, official practices have just begun, and every team in the nation is undefeated! Everyone is full of anticipation and high expectations. In the midst of this ramp up to the season, we have begun weekly discussions with our coaching staff. We're all reading Patrick Lencioni's <u>The Five Dysfunctions of a Team</u>, and I lead a roughly 20-minute discussion of a section of the book during a staff meeting. At the conclusion of the discussion, I pray, and then leave as the staff meeting continues.<br /><br />As we were walking through the discussions, last week we observed the team in the book participating in some team development exercises. As the discussion was winding down, I suggested we use one of those exercises among our team. The coaches agreed and yesterday we did it. Below are the five questions we asked each staff person to answer and some insights from the exercise follow the questions. <br /><br />1. What is your hometown?<br />2. How many siblings do you have?<br />3. Tell us about any unique childhood hobbies you had.<br />4. What was your greatest challenge growing up?<br />5. What was your first job?<br /><br />The staff room was full of a wide variety of young men. I am by far the eldest (66), the youngest being a 23-year-old grad assistant, with most of the full-time coaches being between 35 and 40. The group included our strength and conditioning coach and the athletic trainer (physio). Our group is varied in hometown regions of the USA, in ethnicity, and socio-economic background.<br /><br />One of the younger full-time coaches asked to share first, and he set the tone with remarkable vulnerability, offering many more details than anyone expected, and speaking about family dysfunction very openly. Most others followed in kind, a few being less open with details, but with all sharing freely. This process took 50 minutes, but I never saw any signal of annoyance, anyone looking anxiously at his watch, or any other sign of being less than engaged. <br /><br />We all learned things about our coaching colleagues, and I learned a great many things that will serve as open doors to further discussions with individuals. One such conversation happened just three hours later on the practice floor as one of the grad assistant coaches spoke openly about his broken relationship with his father and siblings. We had a remarkably vulnerable conversation for several minutes, ending with some encouragement for him and his respectful, honorable attitude.<br /><br />I would encourage you to use this or a similar tool to invite people to open their hearts to each other. This builds trust and bonds teams. It's worth the time, it's worth the risk, it's worth the effort.</span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-24120576979303704402022-09-26T06:02:00.002-05:002022-09-26T06:02:31.573-05:00Coaches and Captains Preseason Meeting<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Last week I met with a Division III Women's basketball head coach, her new assistant coach, and her three team captains to discuss team leadership development ideas and how to help their team embody their team culture's values.</span></p><div class="Ar Au Ao" id=":q9"><div aria-controls=":t2" aria-label="Message Body" aria-multiline="true" aria-owns=":t2" class="Am Al editable LW-avf tS-tW tS-tY" g_editable="true" hidefocus="true" id=":q5" role="textbox" spellcheck="false" style="direction: ltr; min-height: 260px;" tabindex="1"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I have known the head coach since she was a freshman at Southern Illinois University. After her freshman year, a knee injury and surgery, we had a coaching staff change, leading her to transfer to a D-II program. In her senior season she was a national player of the year and her team won a national championship. After playing some professional basketball in Europe, she returned to the USA and began her coaching career. We have stayed in touch across the years and often conversed about challenges she was encountering. It has been and continues to be a privilege to invest in her coaching career and life beyond basketball.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Below are the notes I sent to the head coach ahead of our meeting. They served as the outline for our discussions. I had an hour with the coaches and captains, and then another hour with the head coach and assistant.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Millikin WBB</b></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Captains</b> - (60 minutes)</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Introduction</b> -
Leadership = Responsibility</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not that your teammates are responsible <u>to</u> you; rather you are responsible <u>for</u> them.</div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Leadership levels</b> - (from a John Maxwell book).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">◦ Lead by Personhood (highest)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">◦ Lead by Elevating others</div><div style="text-align: justify;">◦ Lead by Production</div><div style="text-align: justify;">◦ Lead by Permission</div><div style="text-align: justify;">◦ Lead by Position (lowest)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Team Captains are responsible for: <b>C.A.U.S.E.</b> characteristics (translate to on court & off court matters).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">• <b>Complete</b> - developing skills (drills / class). “I see Chris becoming more complete by….”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">• <b>Authentic</b> - be real (no drama, no lies). “Abby has been totally authentic through a really tough week.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">• <b>Undeniable</b> - persistence (we never quit). “Jenny had several opportunities to quit this week, but wouldn’t.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">• <b>Selfless</b> - Reward passers, screens, loose balls, taking charges. Clean up the locker room and bus. Off court acts of selflessness). “Makenzie took three charges in Tuesday’s game.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">• <b>Every Day </b>- Consistency (Work ethic, on and off court). “Jill was in the gym for extra shooting four times this week.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Captains recognize, “<b>Teammates in the CAUSE</b>” weekly at a practice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Coaching staff discussion:</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">1. Meet with the captains how often? For leadership development? For CAUSE review?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. When are you each at your best?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. What responsibilities can you (head coach) reasonably entrust to an assistant?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4. Do those responsibilities seem possible for you (assistant coach) to do?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5. The goal is to free Coach Lett to operate at a higher level.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">We had a tremendous conversation with the coaches and captains, and they seemed enthused to lead their teammates in the process of developing their team's culture. They played deep into the NCAA tournament last season, and believe they have an opportunity to challenge for a national championship. The group of three captains include a junior guard who was an All-American last season.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">I am excited to follow the Millikin Women's Basketball team this season. I hope our discussion of leadership, responsibility, and CAUSE will help them achieve greatly.</span></div><div class="gmail-yj6qo"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p></div></div></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-24198095540861907782022-09-09T03:00:00.015-05:002022-09-09T03:00:00.190-05:00Encouraging Notes<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In late August I received a couple of very encouraging notes from two Character Coach teammates in response to different interactions.<br /><br />The first was from Lindsay Moncrief of the FCA staff at University of Arkansas. She was one of the people participating in the FCA Character Coach training I led in the first week of August. She was recently preparing for her first meeting with the Women's Basketball team and wanted to refresh her understanding of the 360 Sports Matrix that was part of the training. We had a good conversation and she went on to the meeting. The text message below was her reply to my text message asking, "How did your meeting with the team go?" <br /><br />Lindsay replied, “I’m so sorry I forgot to text you. I left on such a high and then in awe of God and His goodness.<br /><br />The meeting went so well, and I even got some extra time with them because they couldn’t get in the weight room right away. <br /><br />We got on the topic of relationships and girls that would avoid me when I would come in to the gym were asking me so many questions about my experience in college, and with my husband. Many of them opened up to me, and some even came up to me and asked for a one on one.”<br /><br />The other encouraging note came from the Nations of Coaches Character Coach at the University of Alabama - Huntsville, John Ryberg. His note is below.<br /><br />"Hello Coach,<br /><br />Thanks for this timely and helpful message. My first official talk with the UAH Men’s Basketball team is on Sunday evening. I had been planning to start with the subject of identity, with some discussion about how our self worth is affected by our relationships. Our starting 5, and the defacto leader of the players just returned from a mission trip with Real News in Germany and the Netherlands. On the trip, he experienced a very powerful awakening in his awareness of God that has changed the way he thinks about basketball and competition. <br /><br />When we had lunch together, he shared that does not have the same anger and animosity while playing. He now sees that God can do something bigger through his play. He still plays with great intensity and skill, but he is in control and enjoying the competition. He shared that he has a different understanding of who he is, because he knows whose he is. Very exciting development for the start of the season and how he can help the other guys grow in their faith. <br /><br />The presentation you shared was very helpful, because there is often a false narrative that condemns the other layers of identity that are not religious. You have given me some great food for thought as I am preparing to talk with the team tomorrow evening. Blessings to you Coach!" <br /><br />Notes like these two, the stories you share with me, the ways you respond to any sort of encouragement, resources, or input from me are fuel for my fire. This stuff enriches my soul. Thank you for your selfless and faithful service. When you encounter moments of God's grace like Lindsay and John have, please drop me an email, a text message, a phone call, a smoke signal... anything. Thanks!</span>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-64542924992622769852022-09-02T03:00:00.002-05:002022-09-02T11:19:15.418-05:00Faithful Service Story from a Coach's Family<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">We recently received a note from a coaching family that moved across 3/4 of the USA to their new coaching assignment. The way the Nations of Coaches Character Coach served the coach and his wife is a great example to us all. Thanks to you, one and all, as you serve faithfully and selflessly. The story is below.<br /><br /><i>Over the summer my husband received a new coaching job across the country. Although there is excitement and adventure that comes along with moving, there are also a lot of challenges.<br /><br />As my husband was learning his new role, I was carrying the weight of mentally, emotionally and logistically making the move. When I learned our new program had a Character Coach, I was put in touch with his wife. I instantly felt like I had a local advocate and support on the other end of the trip who could assist with this transition into a new community.<br /><br />She didn't need to be "my newest best friend" or even help unload the moving truck, but she was willing to be a smiling face and an accessible resource for even my most basic questions. Her kindness allowed me to feel seen in an area where no one knows my name. <br /><br />-A coaching family who is grateful for their new program’s Character Coach and his wife.</i></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"></div></div></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div>Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921615364894174799.post-72108818818604008372022-08-26T03:00:00.001-05:002022-08-26T03:00:00.180-05:00Layers of Identity Shape the Lives of Sports-people.<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Layers of Identity Shape the Lives of Sports-people.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmeU-Fp6XOWGHVAA_qRCertEkr4cMucjuorK2X3gChpC4YwyiXGEBpYGsSKtEKjQnvGc-HWm23AGh75ALTw9f_tbrLFFDvAsBHIGMLKUNDFOwr0ilORMWr-I6bS5cPFWqwW-0J4Mt0o9WSTDCOlBYVUqdeShwFartvYSJTHHKwhuNvLK8A00hYA2a/s624/Wendy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="624" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmeU-Fp6XOWGHVAA_qRCertEkr4cMucjuorK2X3gChpC4YwyiXGEBpYGsSKtEKjQnvGc-HWm23AGh75ALTw9f_tbrLFFDvAsBHIGMLKUNDFOwr0ilORMWr-I6bS5cPFWqwW-0J4Mt0o9WSTDCOlBYVUqdeShwFartvYSJTHHKwhuNvLK8A00hYA2a/w400-h225/Wendy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">This is my friend, Wendy Goodman. She’s 6’-2” (1.88 meters) of beautiful young lady, daughter, sister, friend, teammate, wife, mother of three, and teaches second grade. She was also #44 for Saluki Women’s Basketball. A few weeks after the end of her playing career, she called me asking, “Rog, what do normal people do with all this time?” She had encountered the sense of lost identity that most sports-people experience at the end of their sporting career. After going to the gym for practice most every day since she was 12, suddenly she had no more practice, no more games, no more team or teammates or coaches. She suddenly used to be a basketball player.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wendy is also a highly committed Christian. Her identity in Christ Jesus was well formed at this point and she had a strong assurance of her being in Christ. She still felt the sting of having lost a part of her identity in retiring from competitive sport. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many of us in the Church and in sports ministry would chide Wendy for her sense of loss and see it as an indicator of spiritual immaturity or even sin. Thankfully no one said such a thing to her, simply because she didn’t trust them to even have the conversation. She confided in me because of the trust I had won across four years of life in basketball practices, game days, Bible studies, personal conversations, and pregame chapels.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">People are complex creatures and always have been. The people of sport are certainly no exception and their lives in sport intensify their most obvious, least enduring, and most precarious sense of identity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Too often the church and sports ministry leaders have been dismissive of the value of a strong identity in sport. We err by simplifying the discussion to an either/or proposition. One’s identity is in sport and performance or it’s in Christ. I would like to have you see the value of understanding the various layers of identity shaping the lives of sports-people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Let’s look at three such layers of identity and their respective strengths and weaknesses.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is certainly not an exhaustive list. It is primarily informed by my own experience and twenty-eight years of observation and interactions with the people of sport.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each of these layers of identity have direct and profound effects upon how we see ourselves. They inform who we are and where we fit in our world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They are not exclusive of each other and are more like facets of a diamond than drawers in a filing cabinet. See them as elements of a whole person rather than compartmentalized, separate functions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These layers vary widely in basis, permanence, and security.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>These three will be our focus:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>· Identity in Sport.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>· Identity in Relationships.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>· Identity in Christ Jesus.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>One’s identity in sport is characterized by these factors:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s transactional.</b> (Life is a quid pro quo, always.) The player may love the sport, but will it love him or her back?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">·<b> It’s defined by your activity.</b> (Sport) “I am a basketball player. I am a coach. I am a footballer.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s based on your performance.</b> (Good or bad) This is intensified by strong achievement, and it is greatly diminished by failure. How are you? “We’re 14 and 2.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It is the least enduring layer of identity.</b> (One day, everyone used to be a player, coach, etc.) One’s career in sport may be measured in decades, caps, seasons, games, or even minutes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Theologian Henri Nouwen said most of us believe one or all of these lies:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1) I am what I have.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2) I am what I do.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3) I am what other people say or think of me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">4) I am nothing more than my worst moment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5) I am nothing less than my best moment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sports-people live in an environment that shouts this set of values every day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">People have always defined themselves by their occupations. Think about the surnames in Western cultures: Mrs. Butcher. Mr. Baker, Mrs. Smith, Miss Cook, Mr. Farmer, etc. People regularly identify themselves by their roles in society, “I am a teacher, doctor, coach, athlete.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What must not be lost in this conversation is this. A strong sense of identity in sport is part and parcel of how these people achieve so highly. Without it, they never arrive at these places of prominence and achievement. To dismiss it as unimportant is foolish, disrespectful, and diminishes one’s relationship with sports-people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>One’s identity in relationships is characterized by these factors:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s dynamic.</b> (It’s constantly changing and progressive. Son, brother, husband, father, grandparent…)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s defined by others.</b> (Who’s he/she? He/she’s my son, daughter, brother, sister, friend, teammate, boyfriend, spouse, parent, coach, grandfather, etc.…)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s based in those relationships.</b> (The relationships prescribe roles and responsibilities for us.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s moderately enduring.</b> (The changing nature of relationships can make it a little unstable, but it’s less capricious than identity in sport.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We who have a strong sense of our identity based in relationships find great security and stability, if those with whom we have such relationships are secure and stable. Those of us who have such relationship-based identities whose friend and family members are less stable find ourselves in a life of constant chaos and drama.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This layer of identity based in relationships has its strengths, but it is also fraught with problems if our friends and family are of the high maintenance variety.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>One’s identity in Christ Jesus is characterized by factors such as these:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">·<b> It’s transformational.</b> Romans 12:1-2 describes it this way, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s defined by God.</b> Ephesians 2:10 makes one simple statement of a Christian’s identity this way, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s faith based.</b> We experience our identity in Christ through faith, active trust in Him, as expressed in Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">· <b>It’s most enduring. </b>My identity in Christ is not dependent upon my performance, my relationships with others, or anything else. It cannot be damaged, dented, or diminished. It is secure and enduring as described in Colossians chapter 3, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and a strong sense of who he or she is in Christ, gives the sports-person a tremendous advantage in the daily battle of dealing with the more precarious and short-lived sense of identity they find in their sporing experiences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This eternal, secure, and heart-borne identity provides the buoyancy needed for navigating the turbulent seas of a career in the demanding and transactional world of sport.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In summary, all these facets of one’s identity are active and powerfully influential in the daily lives of sports-people. They vary widely in their bases and permanence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>It is unhelpful to simply dismiss any of them as invalid or unimportant.</b> How shall we approach such disparity and serve the sporting community with wisdom?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Please consider these as two strategies for dealing with the various layers of identity affecting the lives of sports-people.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. Understand and embrace each one. Be thankful for how your strong identity in sport has enabled you to achieve. Embrace it as an important factor in making you who you are. Do the same for the wide array of relationships which also provide you with a sense of identity. Embrace your role as “fill in the blank relationship.” Be thankful for these relationships. Be thankful for, embrace, and develop your identity in Christ. There is no downside to this facet of your identity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. Grasp each one’s unique characteristics. Each of these is much different in its basis, its function, its permanence. Don’t expect sport to love you as your mother does. Don’t expect God to treat you like your distant and disapproving father. Don’t expect your family to reward you for achievement and performance as sports fans do.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Grasp each layer as its own, understand its strengths and weaknesses, and rest in the ultimate identity – you are eternally and securely in Christ Jesus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><br /> Roger D. Lipehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11483237683077772003noreply@blogger.com0