Impactful Videos

During a recent pair of Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings for student-athletes at Southern Illinois University, we watched one video per week and then discussed what we had just seen and heard. The videos were interviews of Dr. Ben Houltberg, Assistant Professor of Counseling at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). The discussions concerned emotional wellbeing in athletics. They had been referred to me by our colleague and friend, Dr. Ashley Null.

 

I was immediately thankful for the reaction that I saw in the athletes present, mostly swimmers and divers those weeks, but was absolutely amazed at the impact the videos had upon them during the Missouri Valley Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend.

 

Two swimmers in particular told me about their approach to the championships, one a senior who would swim the last races of her career during the weekend and the other, a junior freestyle swimmer. While most of their teammates were very tense, these two were loose and giggling during the warm up period and right up to race time. Their head coach was a little concerned that they were not taking things seriously enough, but those concerns were quickly dispatched as the senior swam the best 100 meter breaststroke of her career and the junior was a member of the conference champion 200 meter freestyle relay team. They had some of their best performances of the season and even of their careers.

 

The freedom that they are experiencing due to their growing faith in Christ and its implication upon their sense of personal worth, their identities being solidly, securely in their relationship with Christ and their approach to swimming now being an act of worship, was greatly enhanced by the videos. The contrast between the senior, relaxed and assured after the meet, was remarkable when seen beside one of her highly achieving senior teammates who was totally undone, in the throes of a serious loss of identity and life purpose as her career as a competitive swimmer was suddenly over.

 

I would highly recommend sharing these videos with your competitors, regardless of sport, gender or culture. Further, I would recommend that you watch it with them and then discuss some of the major points so they can process all they have seen and heard. I believe you will experience similarly beneficial results. Links to the videos on YouTube are below.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JzFZDQPUw&list=UUqtO2am-OJxDikH0XFuEsXQ  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJr14F8KCoQ&list=UUqtO2am-OJxDikH0XFuEsXQ&index=1  

 

Here are some of the questions we discussed after watching the videos. I hope they are of value to you and those you serve.

 

Part 1 –

• Dr. Houltberg said, “The lows are lower than the highs are high.” Does that resonate with you? When do you experience that?

• He talked about “enjoying the process” when referring to training and practice. How much do you enjoy the process? How could you enjoy it more?

• He said that sometimes, “the gift becomes a burden.” When do you feel that way?

• He said that, “The gift is for you. God doesn’t need your sport performance to glorify Him.” How does that affect how you view your athletic gifts?

• Dr. Houltberg said, “Anxiety is future oriented.” How much does the unknown nature of the future and the results to come produce anxiety within you?

 

Part 2 –

• Dr. Houltberg mentioned that competition can become a threat to one’s social self, pulling from one’s resources. Have you experienced this?

• He mentioned a link between shame and failure in some competitors. Do you know anyone who feels failure in sport like personal shame?

• He spoke of moments in sport when fear takes over. How have you experienced fear and its effects upon your sport performance?

Ministry of Presence - Stuart Weir

Our colleague and friend from Oxford, England, Stuart Weir, has a unique ministry with athletes (Track and Field) and their coaches in the UK and beyond. Below is an email I recently received from him regarding his ministry at an event. I hope it will encourage you and even fuel your vision for how you may serve similarly. Thanks Stuart!

 

In addition, I would recommend that you visit his web site http://www.veritesport.org and follow him on twitter @stuartweir.

 

I spent the weekend at Sheffield at the British Athletics Indoor Championships and trials for the European championships in Sweden in March. I think you are now familiar with what I do at athletics events – a kind of ministry of presence. In advance I had identified six Christians – and 4 Oxford athletes. One other explanation. Indoor athletics is a strange beast. For some, it is very important with selection for the European champs a real ambition. For other competing indoors just breaks up the pattern of winter training.

 

Saturday could not have started better. With the action starting at 12, I decided to leave home at 8. Before leaving I texted an athlete saying I was around. Instant reply, “Could we meet for coffee at 11.30?” Had an hour and a half with the athlete, shared a verse and a prayer.

 

On to the arena where I watched the action and had a few quick conversations in the mixed zone. The highlight of the afternoon was the final of the women’s 60 metres in which there were 3 Christians that I knew of. They were all beaten by Asha Philip, coached by Christine Bowmaker. I am told that coach Christine was almost doing cartwheels afterwards! I also had a couple of conversations with athletes who were watching but not competing.

 

Sunday morning produced the long awaited SWM. My phone rang. A voice said “This is XXX (top athletics coach). I got your message why do you want to meet me?” I was flummoxed! Then I worked it out. I had spoken to an athlete yesterday and agreed to try to meet today. He gave me his phone number. Well actually he gave me is coach’s phone number!! I explained to a confused coach who I was and that I did not want to meet him! Emailed the athlete who said he would not be there today!

 

Spent the rest of Sunday watching and encouraging athletes. The highlight was when a new contact suggested that I meet her at training this week. And an Oxford athlete got an unexpected bronze.

 

All in all an excellent two days.

 

Stuart

J Stuart Weir

Executive Director

Verite Sport

19 The Glebe

Cumnor

Oxford

OX2 9QA

stuart@veritesport.org

http://www.veritesport.org

Three Books of Impact

On 25 January I asked for your responses to this request – “Please list three books which have had a significant impact upon your service as a sport chaplain, character coach or sport mentor.” (Let’s assume the Bible is #1, so please list three others.) Thanks.

Below are the responses I received from all across the globe. Thank you very much for your thoughtful submissions.

From Stuart Weir of Verite’ Sport in the United Kingdom

1. “Sports Theology: Playing Inside Out” by Greg Smith, Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2010

2. “Scripture and sport psychology” by Derek de la Pena, iUniverse, New York 2004

3. “Real Joy” by J. Ashley Null, Hanssler, Germany, 2004

 

From Rex Stump - Buckeye Border FCA in Ohio (USA)

1. “Lead For God’s Sake” by Todd Gongwer

2. “Coming Back Stronger” by Drew Brees

3. “InsideOut Coaching” by Joe Ehrmann

 

From Morris M. Michalski of Athletes in Action in Ohio (USA)

(Obviously not satisfied to list just three.)

1. “Season of Life” by Jeffrey Marx

2. “InSideOut Coaching” by Joe Ehrmann

3. “Lead…for God's Sake” by Todd Gongwer

4. “Spiritual Leadership” by Oswald Sanders

5. “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” by Timothy Keller

6. “They Call Me Coach” by John Wooden

7. “Game Day Glory” by Athletes in Action

8. “Rules of the Red Rubber Ball” by ESPN

9. “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson

10. “The Winner Within” by Pat Riley

 

From Mike Berg of North Dakota (USA)

1. “Wild at Heart” by John Eldridge

2. “Mr. Jones, Meet the Master” edited by Catherine Marshall

3. “I Believe” by Grant Teaff

 

From Tim Schneckloth of IllIowa FCA (USA)

1. “Quiet Strength” by Tony Dungy

2. “Othodoxy” by G. K. Chesterton

3. “John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success”

 

From Amy Gray – Former Volleyball player in Wisconsin (USA)

1. “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri Nouwen

2. Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

3. “When People are Big and God is Small” by Edward Welch

4. “Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success Playbook” by John Wooden & Jay Carty

 

From Mike McGreath of Southwest Michigan FCA (USA)

1. “Lead for God's Sake” by Todd

2. “Training Camp” by Jon Gordon

3. “The Mentor Leader: by Tony Dungy

4. “Wins, Losses & Lessons” by Lou Holtz

 

From Randy Chambers of Delaware FCA (USA)

1. “Master Plan of Evangelism” by Dr. Robert Coleman

2. “Born To Reproduce” (booklet) by Dawson Troutman

3. “Living Free” by Mike Riches

4. “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman

5. “Radical” by David Platt

 

From Richard Gamble of Sport Chaplaincy UK

1. “Being a Chaplain” by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes

2. “Footballing Lives: As Seen by Chaplains in the Beautiful Game” by Jeffrey Heskins and Matt Baker

3. “Psychology in Football: Working with Elite and Professional Players” by Mark Nesti

4. “Thank God for Football!” by Peter Lupson

5. “Linvoy Primus: Transformed” by Linvoy Primus, Peter Jeffs

6. “Sport and Spirituality: An Introduction” (Ethics and Sport) by Jim Parry, Simon Robinson, Nick Watson, Mark Nesti

7. “Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports” (Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society) From Routledge

8. “Keeping Faith in the Team: The Football Chaplain’s Story” by Stuart Wood

9. “Open: An Autobiography” by Andre Agassi

 

From Fred Billings of Cypress, TX (USA)

1. “Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning

2. “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman

3. “Do Hard Things” by Alex & Brett Harris

4. “Wild At Heart” by John Eldridge

5. “Divine Romance” by Gene Edwards

 

From Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR of Franciscan Univ. in Ohio (USA)

1. "The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck

2. "Virtuous Leadership" by Alexandre Havard

3. "The Mentor Leader" by Tony Dungy

 

From Jack Schugars of Ferris State Univ. in Michigan (USA)

1. "Sold Out" by Bill McCartney

2. "Uncommon" by Tony Dungy

3. "Bo's Lasting Lessons" by Bo Schembechler

 

From Mike Hansen of Calvary Church in St. Charles, MO (USA)

1. “The Servant” by Jim Hunter

2. “Leaders Who Last” by Dave Kraft

3. “What is the Gospel?” by Greg Gilbert

 

From Amy Hamson of Mt. Vernon, IL FCA (USA)

1. By Faith” by John Franklin

2. Any of the “First Place” Bible studies

 

From Dr. Ed Gomes of Liberty University (USA)

1. “Mentor Leader” by Tony Dungy

2. “An Invitation To A Journey” by Robert Mulholland

3. “Patterns” by Mel Lawrenze

 

From Tom Ramsay of Oregon State Football (USA)

1. “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay

2. “Uncommon” by Tony Dungy

3. “Season of Life” by Jeffery Marx

 

From Chris Rich of Frederick Co. (Maryland) FCA (USA)

1. “Transforming Lives in Sport” by Roger Lipe We use this in all of our trainings and we give these out to all of the men and women we train as a resource. We have found this to be the most all-inclusive book and it is written for Character Coaches by one.

2. “Training Camp” by Jon Gordon We give this to many of our Character Coaches. This book is great because it is an easy read with great principles that apply to sport. It can ask then be used as a gift to coaches that they love.

3. “Coaching Character” by Randy Allen This book does a great job of giving the overview starting with the why and then moving through the how. It is also written by a coach.

 

From M. Erik Arneson of Shiloh, Illinois FCA (USA)

1. “What the Book says about Sport” by Stuart Weir

2. “Focus on Sport and Ministry” by Lowrie McCown

3. “Eric Liddell Pure Gold” a biography of Eric Liddell by David McCasland

 

From Bernd Breitmaier of SRS Pro Sportler (Germany)

1. “My Utmost for His h\Highest” by Oswald Chambers

2. Handouts from Lowrie McCown on how to serve sports people holistically

3. “Real Joy“ by Ashley Null

 

From Rich Garza of Soldiers for Faith Ministry – Co-Chaplain San Antonio Spurs (USA)

1. “The Calvary Road” by Hession

2. “The pursuit of holiness” by Jerry Bridges

3. “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby

 

From Rev. Henry Banda, National Director, Athletes In Action AIA, Malawi.

1. “Sports Outreach, Principles & Practice for a Successful Sports Ministry” by Steve Connor

2. “Into the Stadium” (an active guide to sport and recreation ministry in the local church) by Bryan Mason

3. “Recreation and sports ministry” ( Impacting postmodern culture) by John Garner.

Your Life in Sport from God's Perspective - Survey Results

Below are some of the results from the Topics/ Issues re: Your life in Sport from God’s perspective as completed by several dozen student-athletes from 14-22 years of age in high schools and Division I universities. (Southern Illinois University and Virginia Tech University)

 

On a sheet with 86 issues / topics, we asked them to circle ten of greatest interest to them and then to put an * by their top three issues / topics. The survey is attached if you’d like to use it for your own research locally.

 

Topic / Issue and number of times circled:

Consistency 18

Work Ethic 16

Leadership 16

Courage 16

Attitude 16

Commitment 16

Faith 15

Patience 15

Disappointment 15

Success 15

Perfectionism 14

Injury 14

 

Topic / Issue and number of *s:

Consistency 8

Success 8

Leadership 8

Patience 7

Faith 6

Perfectionism 6

Disappointment 6

Injury 6

Balance 5

Work Ethic 5

Heart 5

Playing w/ Purpose 5

Fear 5

66 issues received at least one *

 

8 Issues / Topics appear in both lists, hinting at their importance (they are underscored above). It would seem that those issues / topics with the greatest frequency and greatest intensity should be those we address in our ministries.

Some of these results are very interesting. The circles indicate frequency of interest in these issues. There were 86 issues on the sheet and only 2 were never circled or *ed. I believe the *s indicate intensity of interest in these issues. Note that “Consistency” is at the top of both lists. This intrigues me because I think they hear “Consistency” and think “Integrity.” I perceive that many of these young people are conflicted between who they are at FCA meetings and who they are on the field of competition, in the classroom, at home, with their friends, at church, etc… They sense the dissonance and it feels like inconsistency.

 

The only two issues on the sheet with exactly 0 circles or *s were: “Performance-enhancing drugs” and “Kindness.” That either means they’re not issues for them, that they already know what God thinks about them or that they don’t want to know what God thinks about them.

Effective Ministry Strategies

Back on 4 January, I asked for your responses to this statement: “Describe briefly three of the most effective ministry strategies you have used with your sport club or team.” Below are the first responses from various men and women who are serving as sport chaplains or character coaches as well as some who are overseeing others who volunteer with teams or clubs. I hope their examples are both encouraging and challenging to you.

 

From Robbie Gwinn- Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at the University of Illinois (USA)

1. Connecting with the coach and explaining to them that I have their best interest in mind.

2. Writing the coach notes.

3. Stopping by practices and handing snacks to players, etc.

 

From Stuart Weir – Verite’ Sport in the United Kingdom

1. Weekly devotionals. I have never done anything which has been more appreciated and has provoked more response. Secret is to keep it short and practical. I know one ministry that sends out 1000 words of theological jems but I wonder how many read it. Doing a daily, focused, Olympic devotional was also very well received.

2. Use the technology. Keep in touch with the athletes you support - using their preferred method; be it Facebook, Twitter, email, messaging, texts. Many of my age are more comfortable on email, BUT the athletes are probably more into Facebook and Twitter. If your athlete is on facebook, you need to be too!

3. Prayer. It is a very powerful thing to be able to say to an athlete, "I pray for you every day" - but then you have to do it!

 

From Mark Stephens of FCA in Maryland (USA)

1. Running pre game meetings or chapels.

2. Serving coaches: listening, resources, inviting to events, etc.

3. Ministry of presence.

From Bill Houston of Sports Spectrum Radio (USA)

1. For what it is worth, I have found that a ministry of presence means a great deal to the athletes I have had the privilege of serving. Just being at a practice or walk-through session.

2. The simple idea of placing a phone call just to "check in" and say hello. Letting the athlete or coach know I am praying for them has meant a great deal.

3. Providing a special resource, be it a magazine, CD, book, etc. Most of the time, team members who rarely or never take part in a chapel session will ask for a copy of the resource which opens up yet another door for later conversation.

 

From Randy Chambers of FCA in Delaware (USA)

1. “Life story session” – separate team into twos, then each athlete is given five minutes to share his or her story including accomplishments and adversity. Bring the team back together and ask the listeners to share how they were impacted. Then ask athletes to share their story with the team. This can be executed in secular or spiritual capacity. We have experienced profound results at both high school and college levels. I have never seen a session that did not generate tears from everyone. Amazing.

2. “Outside the Lines” videos and video clips that focus on the absence of fathers. This leads to amazing discipleship and freedom sessions.

3. One-on-one discipleship.

4. Dinners in our home.

5. Athletes stay with our family of 6 for a summer or for “seasons.”

6. Summer discipleship experience focused more on being versus doing.

7. Prayer meetings.

 

From Richard Garza

1. Pray, pray, pray.

2. Be there consistently be on time and do what you say you will.

3. Be a good listener and respond with God’s Word.

 

From Tim Schneckloth of IllIowa FCA (USA)

The single greatest chaplain strategy we have used to date is the “Be With” method. Just showing up to practice (after getting the ok from the coaches), setting up meetings with coaches in their offices or with athletes outside of practice, it’s the power of just being with and taking the time to be in their lives within their world of sport and beyond.

 

What type of ministry is done when we use the Be With method you ask, we call it the ministry of “Shut Up and Listen.” If we earn the trust and respect of the coaches and athletes that we serve by being with them then they start to open up and share their lives with us. This may take a few day or a few years, but if we as Chaplains are consistent and come with no agenda or alternative motives we actually become the person that God wants us to be to them, a real friend (salt & light).

 

This does not mean that we as Chaplains do not set goals or have a vision for our ministry but these methods that we have used puts God’s will first not our own which means we pray constantly for those coaches and athletes he has put into our lives and truly minister to their spiritual needs instead of signing them up for our ministry program.

 

It’s all about the relationships with these very special people as Christ intended us to have as His disciples. I am blessed to be a part of that type of ministry, one that is more concerned about people rather than numbers.

 

A Note from Romania

Below is an email I received this week from a colleague in Romania. Emanuela (Manu) Traica is a young coach and chaplain for women’s basketball and handball teams in Romania and a key member of the Serving the People of Sport Council (http://servingthepeopleofsport.net).  She is doing a tremendous job of serving those in her sporting world. We both hope these notes will be an encouragement to you.

 

Roger,

I have written below a kind of testimony of the way how I have served a few basketball players in Romania. I hope it will encourage others.

 

In Romania there is a great opportunity to serve the foreigner players who are coming to play in my country. I will refer to basketball because for the last 2 years I have served a few basketball players who came to play in Romania. They didn't know anyone else here. The only person they we all knew in common was a lady (who is not living in Romania) who knew one player and also knew me. I started to connect by email, skype and mobile phone with this player. Then through her, I met another of her teammates. Both are Christians.

 

I saw their needs: there were many.

• Being in a totally different culture,

• Learning a new language,

• Playing with a new team,

• Playing for a new coach,

• Being far away from home, family, friends, church...

• Everything was different and new and they were completely alone here.

• Just trainings and traveling for playing the games. That's all.

 

We started to talk more about their everyday lives, challenges at trainings or games and then started to do devotionals together through skype, to read together from the Bible and talk about it.

 

I was looking for opportunities to travel to the cities near mine where their team played just to meet with them before and after the game. I was just there and was available for them for anything they needed and I could help.

 

Another way of serving was just giving information about how different things are going on in our culture. How to navigate public transport for example, different websites for planning some trips. These were small things that helped to build a relationship with these players.

 

One of them is playing now in a different country where I knew a person involved in sport ministry. I gave her contact information and put them both in contact with one another. Again small things, but sometimes it’s so important for them to meet another Christian who understands their world of sport.

 

I am trying just to show my availability to talk, to listen, to pray, and to support...

Manu

Journal Entry - Game at ISU

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, “What do you do in a typical day?” I have to answer that no day is all that typical, but there is a rhythm to most weeks. The paragraphs below are an excerpt from this past season’s journal of Saluki Football. This was my nineteenth season to serve in this capacity with the coaches, players and support personnel of Southern Illinois University. I hope this gives you a glimpse of how I approach this opportunity and may even spark an idea for how you serve.

 

Friday October 5 – Due to a very busy work schedule, I was only able to attend practice on Wednesday afternoon this week. I met the buses at the parking lot just after 7:20 this morning and settled in for the ride to Normal, IL and the game vs. Illinois State University. They are ranked #9 in the nation after their first 5 and 0 start since the 1960s.

 

The bus ride was quiet as most of the players were sleeping. I read a book most of the way to our lunch at the I Hotel in Champaign. The lunch was quite good and we were soon back on the bus for the remainder of the trip. We arrived on time and had a 20 minute turnaround for practice at the stadium. It was quite chilly and breezy as we were on the field and some of us were ill prepared for the temperature. The practice ended with good energy and Coach Lennon shaped expectations with his final thoughts on the field.

 

We returned to the hotel, had some down time and then meetings prior to dinner. Dinner was at 5:30 in the hotel and the usual team meeting followed in the hotel auditorium. Coach Lennon told a story, made his final remarks for the team and challenged them regarding “Attitude” and his expectations. That helped shape my chapel comments. Then Sharon, Mark Scally, Casey True, Adam Bortz and I went to Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream.

 

I returned to the hotel to prepare for chapel and to watch some baseball on television. I looked at several texts for my chapel talk, but could not settle on one and finally decided to nail it down in the morning. I turned in early, as is my routine on road trips, and was soon asleep.

 

Saturday October 6 – I woke up just after 4:00, but stayed in bed and dozed until around 6:00. I gathered my things and moved down to the lobby to read and to prepare. I did some reading and then set out to find the best possible text for the best possible attitude to challenge the team for this game. I wrestled with this for more than 90 minutes and finally settled on the attitude of being “relentless” as illustrated by I Corinthians 16:8-9. As I further prepared, I determined that I would tell a story about former Saluki linebacker, Ryan Hallahan, and his relentless nature.

 

After returning to the room briefly, I headed to the banquet room to lay out the devotional letters for today. Chapel began at 8:45 and I launched into my Ryan Hallahan story, read the scripture and then challenged the team to be relentless. The pre-game meal followed and then I returned to the room to finish preparations for the day. I dressed in layers, knowing it would be about 46 degrees and windy all day.

 

We arrived at the stadium on time and I went to the stadium, then back to the locker room to stay warm for a while. I layered up and went back to the field for the warm up period and pre-game was pretty much as usual. We returned to the locker room for the final moments and then back to the field to begin the game. I spoke briefly with Marion native and ISU starting quarterback, Matt Brown, after the coin toss, wishing him well. I had no idea how bad this day would be for him.

 

We took the ball first and were soon punting the ball. On one of ISU’s first possessions, our defense held them and forced a punt. Cameron James, who was a punt return substitution for Jayson DiManche, rushed from the right end of our line and blocked the punt. Anthony Williams scooped it up and scored a touchdown. We were up 7-0 and we had lots of momentum. In the second quarter we had a good drive which stalled at the 16 yard line and we successfully kicked a 33 yard field goal. The half time score was 10-0.

 

At half time we had great enthusiasm and solid confidence, but knew we had to put together another good 30 minutes of football. We had exactly that. We made a strong offensive drive and scored a touchdown. The defense was stifling, intercepting Brown 4 times on the afternoon. ISU was 0 for 12 on third down on the day. We finally made a big play on third down as we had a third and short situation and we completed a play action pass to Mycole Pruitt down the middle for 32 yards. The punting game was excellent again and helped us win with field position all day.

 

After taking a knee twice in Victory formation to end the game, we ran to the northwest corner of the stadium and celebrated with our fans by singing, “Go Southern Go.” We then jogged back to the locker room to celebrate. Coach Lennon stood on a chair and spoke to the excited players, affirming his expectations and congratulating “the best defense in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.” We sang, “Happy Birthday” to Miss Sharon (my wife) and then we took a knee to say, “The Lord’s Prayer.”

 

I went outside and spoke to Connor James and his family as well as a few other fans, then returned to the bus, gathered my post-game dinner from KFC and then relaxed on the bus, checking scores from other games on my phone. The bus ride home was relaxed and full of laughter. We watched two movies and arrived in Carbondale a little after 9:00.