Faith | A basketball coach can teach more to players than just how to win

I’ve spent many years coaching sports, from high school-aged kids down to first- and second-graders.

For the last two years, I’ve had the honor and privilege to coach soccer and basketball under two different sports organizations: Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and Upward Sports.

Both organizations have an incredible staff, volunteers and participating parents who help to make it great for the kids.

Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s vision is: “To see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.” Their mission is: “To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.”

They prioritize having a relationship with Jesus Christ, sportsmanship, fundamentals and teamwork in sports so that they can learn from winning or losing. The key is to honor God, do your best, be safe, and have fun.

Upwards Sports is similar in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and developing total athletes mentally, athletically, spiritually, and socially — making players who excel both on and off the field.

Even so, there can be times it’s hard to follow that ethic, and it can happen anywhere, including Christian organizations. Coaches, parents and kids can easily let their competitive human nature prioritize winning.

If you’re a parent, grandparent, or relative, I’m sure you — and possibly the majority — would prefer that their child gets to play, dribble, and shoot the ball, and hopefully, score on occasion. Just playing is much more important than winning, especially for first- and second-graders.

While coaching at that level in soccer and basketball these last two years, and recently coaching the Golden Dragons basketball team this season, my own grandson only took one shot for the whole season. Why?

Because he didn’t get many opportunities, plus he knew he would probably miss. But I got him to shoot the ball in our last game by offering him a reward. Yes, he did miss, but he took the shot and immediately came over to the bench for his reward.

Some coaches fail to read or understand the rules, or think they know best. Some care more about winning than giving all the kids an opportunity to play the game.

There can be issues beyond a coach. For instance, there are some parents who are more vocal than others. There are also kids who have big feelings over a certain call, or when the whistle is blown during their play. Other concerns can be kids who don’t know how to share.

Even so, God wants us all to practice forgiveness, grace, and gratitude with others all of the time, not just in coaching or playing sports.

As a parent or grandparent, a co-worker or friend, or as a kid at school or anywhere else, we need to adhere to these values in our everyday life.

It’s been very rewarding to coach in a program where I can openly pray and talk about God, sharing how to have a relationship with him. It’s not only allowed by these organizations., it’s encouraged and they support us.

Both of these ministries do a great job of presenting the gospel, teaching Godly principles, and encouraging sportsmanship and fundamental values to the kids and coaches.

But most importantly, these ministries give kids the opportunity to find true meaning and purpose in life: To have inner peace and joy now, and happiness forever in heaven by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.