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Hockey Chat: A goal on a break away is a sweet play to watch. But even better is when the team works together and through a series of good moves and great passes they get a goal. When all these elements fall into place it makes for a truly good play and tough puck for the goalie to stop. A half-hearted toss at the net is no real challenge for the goaltender.
Hockey Chat: The chest protectors that goalies wear are essential to protecting them. They allow for 100+ miles per hour vulcanized rubber biscuits to bounce off them with no pain to the goaltender. That keeps him confidently in the game.
Shane was a college lacrosse goalie who was playing on our men’s FCA Lacrosse team in Vail, Colorado. It was a ministry outreach that we had done for a couple of years to reach the lacrosse community for Christ, and the Vail Shootout Lacrosse Tournament was at the time the biggest and best tournament to mobilize our efforts. God did amazing things on the field, but what He did off the field was even more amazing. God got ahold of Shane, and I remember being with Him when he asked Jesus to be the Savoir and Lord of his life.
At the beginning of this soccer season, we had a good combination of experienced/inexperienced starters and substitutes. I thought we were right where we needed to be. We jumped out to a 3-0 record. But then we lost a key forward due to a broken leg, and, two weeks later, our leading scorer broke his ankle. Fortunately, my players took it upon themselves to step it up. The bad thing was that each player did what he thought the team needed. They stopped listening to coaching instruction, stopped playing as a team and relied on their own individual talents. The season started to fall apart, and they found themselves at 3-4. It was time to rally the troops!
After injuries to ligaments in both knees cut his 2001 and 2002 seasons short, Oklahoma quarterback Jason White wanted desperately to get back on the field with his teammates. “For a while, it didn’t seem like it would happen,” White said.
White not only got back on the field in 2003, but he also led the Sooners to a 12-1 record and won the Heisman Trophy, the highest honor in college football. When reflecting on the grueling rehab that he had gone through to get to this point, White said, “I’d go through it all again.”
Through adjustments and adversity, know there is a loving Lord whose arms are wide open:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
-John 3:16 (NIV)
Through trials and pain, know there is a Lord ready to comfort:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles. . ."
-2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Through struggles and despair, know there is a Lord in whom you can confide:
When I decided to set my goal of being the first person with multiple sclerosis to compete in an NPC bodybuilding competition, I knew I would need help, but I never knew how generous and selfless so many people would be.
As Christians, our ultimate purpose on earth is twofold: to bring honor and glory to our Lord and Savior, and to share His goodness and love with others. So often we forget that people are watching us and that God has commanded that we be a light to a lost and dying world. When I think of “letting my light shine,” I think of three ways that, as a coach and Christian man, I try to do that every day.
We all have times when we feel unmotivated to do our work. It’s not that we don’t love coaching, or the athletes, or the sport, but we do get discouraged by what often seems like a fruitless and tedious process. We feel burdened by the monotony of working, and this detracts from the joy that Jesus Christ gave us.
Every new year my wife buys me a running journal. It's a great little book that allows me to log in my weekly mileage, my times and even the weather conditions. If you were to glance through my book you would learn that it tells a story about me.
Three years ago I was in great shape, and the pages of that journal reflected that in all of the entries. Nearly every page was full. Last year's journal, however, told a different story. Many of the pages were empty, and they revealed my decline in fitness.
Hockey Chat: You can score a lot of goals playing hockey without an opposing team skating against you. Nobody to knock you down either. When you get into a game you find that goal is not just to get the puck in the back of the net, but to get past your opponents first and foremost. It is then that you realize what the game is really about.
Ok, so you’re an athlete. You’ve probably read or heard this verse before. But when was the last time you stopped and thought about it? What was Paul trying to say? Is the athlete the metaphor, or how the athlete trains? My take on this passage is that every Christian is an athlete; so, that leaves the training in this verse to be the focus.
In sixteen years as the coach of the Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach guided his team to nine NBA championships. He retired after the 1966 season as the winningest coach in NBA history with 938 wins. While his teams had some great players, they were characterized more by their team play, which included a new concept of using role players. According to Auerback, a role player is one who “willingly undertakes the thankless job that has to be done in order to make the whole package fly.”
After an All-American college basketball career at Kansas State University, Shalee Lehning experienced a breakout rookie season in the WNBA as a guard for the Atlanta Dream. Not only did she help the team set a franchise record in wins, but also ranked individually among the top 10 in the WNBA in total assists. Now between pro seasons, Lehning is serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater under Coach Deb Patterson.
Hockey Lesson: In our recreational games, sometimes we’re on the receiving end of a stinging wack or some harsh words. You have two choices. First forget that you came there to play hockey, let rage overtake reason, and go after the guy. Or second, remember all the wacks and words that you’ve dished out in the past and got away with, and play on. The choice of what to do is totally yours, but the reactions for your actions (fighting, getting hurt much worse, ejected from the game) are not.
As Christians, we are told over and over again that our bodies are the temples of the Lord, meaning that our physical bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” It’s a truth that we should take seriously, and we should let it motivate us to care for our physical bodies, keeping them in good health. As athletes and coaches, we usually don’t have a problem with this since it’s part of our nature and our daily routine.
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