Serving a Team Through a Losing Season

Across my thirty years of serving collegiate sports teams, I have endured two 1 win & 10 loss seasons, one 2 win & 10 loss seasons, many sub .500 seasons, and some painfully long losing streaks. In addition, seven of the coaches I served were fired at season’s end. As Jesus was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, I am certainly acquainted with the pain of losing seasons.

 

For anyone in the sporting environment, enduring a losing streak of a few games is painful. Imagine an entire season of more than thirty games with the gnawing, gut-wrenching ache of consistently coming up short on the scoreboard. It’s awful.

 

The local or national media pile on, question and criticize. Worse, social media is even more sudden and brutal in its assassination of everyone and everything related to the team. They have no clue as to how the trend can be reversed, but they offer their ridiculous solutions anyway. Usually it sounds like, “Fire the coach!”

 

We can even begin to doubt ourselves and our value to the team. Coaches begin to brush up their resumes, anticipating the worst. Players consider transferring from the program, imagining greener pastures elsewhere. Some coaches and players contemplate leaving the game entirely. The once gleaming fortune of competing in collegiate sport has lost its luster. Despair chokes the life from these once courageous hearts.

 

I’m their character coach, what am I supposed to do in this swirling vortex of loss and despair? I will do these simple and basic things:

·      I will maintain perspective. I will endeavor to see through, above, and beyond all these strong and confusing emotions.

·      I will love extravagantly – my loyalty is valued.

·      I will serve selflessly – my consistency builds trust.

·      I will encourage constantly – my voice makes a difference. I will offer no criticism, nor suggestions related to strategy or tactics. I will encourage effort and attitude with my voice, on paper, via text messages, in gesture, in body language, in every way I can imagine – I will encourage.

 

This season of losing will not last forever, I promise. Changes in personnel are likely to occur. It will be painful and grievous, but things will improve. In the meantime; maintain perspective, love, serve, and encourage.