A Defense for Coaches

There are much bigger issues in life than winning or losing ball games. Few people are any more competitive than me. I do not enjoy playing board games with anyone because I do not enjoy losing on any level. Take yesterday for instance. While visiting a friend in student ministry he gave me a tour of his new student facilities. We both eyed a pool table and took up a "friendly game of pool." He killed me for most of the game but I made a come back. I missed the eight ball twice and he finally sunk it to win. I hated losing.

Yet in the big scale of life that game of pool does not make any difference. There are men and women who have devoted themselves professionally to training young men and women to play games where there will always be a winner and a loser. People all over America have made sports an idol. Don't believe me. Just look at the financial records over the last year so see how much money was spent on: private lessons, sports tournament teams, sports equipment, travel to and from games, league fees, and uniforms. This does not even take into account time spent.

Coaches have devoted themselves to a livelihood where teenagers during junior high and high school will determine the coaches professional futures. These young athletes often get distracted by parents who always blame the coach for everything wrong. That negative attitude often infiltrates the students and they refuse to buy into the program. In this day when parents promote self over team, highlight statistics over team results, and the glory of their child over the team or community coaches can hardly win. The pressure to succeed is immense. Far too many parents think their child is the next superstar. Parents are more vocal in public and at home, more confrontational, and more unrealistic in their expectations. I often wonder why anyone would want to be a coach. The hours are long, the pay not that great, and the pressure is intense to win at any cost.

I have spent a good deal of time in Paradise, TX and among our athletes. To this day I still go into the weight room to lift with my boys. I have seen how few lifted or trained during the summer months. I have seen how this translated into poor performances on the field, court, or track. No parent wants to talk about that. Coaches do not get to play. They do not get to put in the work in the weight room and out pounding the pavement. This the athlete must do and what have seen in this community is that few have been willing to pay the price. Yet the coaches get blamed. I say to every parent of every athlete get off your bottoms and lead your kids to work out. Get them to buy in. Fully invest in the program. If you are not willing to do that and you are looking for someone to blame for the lack of success start with your child and yourself. That is not the coaches' fault.

Due to intense pressure our Athletic Director resigned a week ago after eighteen years of investing his life in this community. Football season was disappointing for all and we ended up with a 1-9 record. The fact that there were many more winning seasons, championships, and playoff runs in the past did not seem to matter. A good man was pressured into leaving.

Now good coaches who have been in this school for many years have their futures hanging in the balance. Good people. Good teachers. Good coaches. Good solid men and women of character do not know if they will have a job next fall. Confusion abounds and the whole community is talking. I for one must do more than talk.

[Prov 11:10-11] "When it goes well with the righteous the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish. there is joyful shouting. By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down." [Prov 29:2] When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, people groan."

My greatest concern now is not whether we can get a new Athletic Director who can turn the program around and bring championships here. I am most concerned about the Godly character of who that man will be and that we have Godly men and women coaching in this community. I for one do not want them to be removed. There are more important things at stake than wins and losses. I like the no profanity rule that has been in this place for coaches and athletes. I like the devotion lead by one of the football coaches before games. I like the life lessons taught by our coaches on the field and in the classroom. I like the fact that most of our coaches have wives teaching in the classroom who make positive investments in students from kindergarten up through twelfth grade. No price tag can be put on those contributions to our school district and community.

I am taking a public stand for our coaches to be preserved in this community. I am calling the whole community to rise up and take action. If you do not we may lose some of the best coaches, teachers, and people in general this community has ever known. I am calling tax payers and students to make your voices known. I am calling you to take a public stand and to make a difference.

How, you might ask. First I am urging all concerned citizens to attend the March 18th School Board Meeting at 6:30 p.m. I am asking you to sign the appropriate forms to get on the agenda to make your voice heard at this meeting to save our coaches and their families from being terminated by a new Athletic Director. There are qualified coaches on staff who should be given a shot. I for one want righteous coaches influencing my children and the children of this community. I want righteous teachers in the classroom instructing my children and the children of this community. By your attendance at the next school board meeting you can let your voice, as well as the voice of this community, be heard loud and clear. We do not want to lose our coaches.

Secondly, I am inviting all concerned people to a Sunday afternoon, March 3rd, Community Rally for our coaches at the new high school gymnasium at 5:00 p.m. Many community leaders will have the opportunity to speak words of testimony and affirmation for our coaches and their families. The evening will climax with a time of prayer. If you care I urge you make attending this rally a priority. I know this is short notice but I felt holding such a meeting going into Spring Break would be pointless. We will hear from athletes, booster club members, parents, along with others. Mainly we will pray and support our coaching families.

I want to state firmly and publicly this is not a session to bash anyone. This is a rally to garner support for our coaches, affirm them in their jobs, and to pray for God to intervene to save their jobs. All bashing can be left at the coffee shops and beauty parlors. I will have no part of that. I cannot state urgently enough the need for your attendance to get behind our coaches. We have packed the gym for basketball games, pep rallies, and commencement exercises. Can't we pack the gym for men and women who have devoted their lives, thousands of hours, and their love for our children and grandchildren? When is the last time this community came together for an old fashioned prayer meeting. Your attendance is needed along with your faith.

There are two other things I am asking you to do. First, get the word out about the Community Rally on  Sunday night March 3rd at 5:00 p.m. Share it on facebook, text messaging and word of mouth. Challenge people to come support our coaches with their attendance and prayers. I would also like to challenge you to email or phone call our Superintendent, those on the interview committee (Mr. Edwards, Mr. Mathis, and Coach Fortenbury), as well as each school board member to let your voice be heard. If we stand together united as a community behind our coaches, who have stood in support of your athletes and students, I believe it will make a difference.

So here are the things I am challenging you to do.

1. Pray for and offer love and support for our coaches.
2. Attend the Community Rally for our coaches March 3, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. at Panther Gymnasium.
3. Get the word out about the Community Rally Through Facebook, texting, and emails.
4. Email our Superintendent, interview committee, and school board members to make your voice known.

Tears of Sorrow and Tears of Joy

These past few days have been interesting. More than one tear has been shed. In less than a week I have shed tears over seeing beloved friends come for a visit and leave. I have hurt with people I have counseled and who are being slammed by life. I visited the hospitals where people are facing life and death. I have hurt with church members who are facing uncertainties in their life.

I have also wept tears of joy as three more students trusted Christ as their Savior last Wednesday night. I have shed tears of joy with my wife as we recently renewed our wedding vows at a marriage retreat. We are closing in on twenty-two years of marriage.

Life is filled with tears of sorrow and tears of joy. At times we think the sorrowful tears will never end but they do in time. God comforts and sustains us in the hard times. Many think the tears of joy do not come often enough or last long enough. They do when God is the source of your joy.

Brothers and sisters as you weep in sorrow and joy I would remind all of us God is Sovereign over both. He does not abandon us in the times of sorrow. He is faithfully ministering, sustaining, and comforting. That may not mean our loved one is healed. He says precious in His sight is the death of His Godly ones. [Ps 116:15] There are times when God wills to take the saints home. The days for the wicked are numbered and then judgment comes. [Heb 9:27] These are days filled with sorrow.

We often do not take time to really experience joy. We can find joy in the little things. I found joy in the testimony of a friend who's wife flipped her car four times and but she came out not only alive but with barely a scratch. I find joy in the caresses of my wife and hugs of my boys. There is joy in having access to God's Word. I find joy in writing this blog and trusting God use it to minister to someone. I find joy in reading and praying earlier today. I found joy in a bagel with grape jelly.

I am convinced that as long as God leaves us here on planet earth life is going to be filled with a mixture of tears of joy and tears of sorrow. That is okay. In the sorrowful lines we lean in to the Lord closer and find He is sufficient. In the joyful times we lean into God and are reminded He is the source of all blessings. Either way He is faithful.