I had a suspicion last Monday that I was in for a pretty wild week. Most of that feeling came from the opportunity to prepare my team for a game that had championship implications against a team that has been a favorite opponent of mine dating back to a play-off year at Lynbrook in 1981. A special week, a special opponent, and a special goal. It’s like the icing on the “cake of coaching”.
Well, I woke up at 4:30 on that Monday thinking about the game. I got up and diagramed a couple of special plays I would put in for St. Francis. Something they wouldn’t be able to prepare for because they hadn’t seen us run it. Then, as often happens to me when I start thinking I’m really clever, I read or hear something that shows me the reality of the situation. In this case, I got a double dose - I read AND heard this reality check. A devotional I’m reading included a quote from Bill Walsh, former great 49er head coach. It read: “It’s not about who wants it most. We both want it. The team that wins will be the one that executes.” Walsh wasn’t talking about trick plays or doing the unexpected or being more “flashy” than your opponent - it was about executing the fundamentals better than your opponent. This is a hard, but very important lesson for me as a coach to keep first and foremost in my coaching. It is blocking and tackling and protecting the ball that will win football games. So, I knew that I needed to spend most practice time on the fundamentals to be successful this last week.
What are the fundamentals in your area of coaching or teaching that you need to concentrate on? Do you work on them every practice session? If it is true that you’ll be successful by executing the fundamentals at the highest possible level, how much time do you spend in your practice session on those fundamentals?
Then, I heard Jim Cymbala from the Brooklyn Tabernacle talking about the need for individuals to be practicing the fundamentals of the Christian life instead of the fluff or glitz that passes for “conforming to the image of Christ”. When I heard Cymbala say “fundamentals”, I knew God had a word or two just for me. So, I listened. What were these fundamentals? Do I work on them each day? What percent of my time each day do I spend in developing those fundamentals in my life? How hard do I work on doing those fundamentals during my day? Here were some fundamentals suggested by Cymbala that I, or any Christian, might think of as “that very basic part” of our life of service to Christ. These are the “basic parts”, “essential stuff”, “pith”, “core”, if you will: PRAY without ceasing (I Thes. 5:17), GIVE THANKS in everything (1 Thes. 5:18), LOVE GOD AND MY NEIGHBOR (Matt. 22:37-38), STUDY (2 Tim. 2:15), GO TEACH (Matt. 28:19-20), BE MY WITNESS (Acts 1:8).
As I write this, I think of many of my players. They love the “fancies” on game day. Special tape on their shoes or colored cloth on wrists or ankles, messages on their back pads and the black paint on their faces. None of this ever made a block or tackle and hasn’t put points on any scoreboard, yet. But, I look at my Christian life and see how much I concentrate on “how people perceive my Christian walk” and not on the real basics I’ve listed above. I pray that I, as I encourage you, will concentrate on the “fundamentals”. I need to work on my life’s “game plan”.
Coach Hitch
