Determination

As I’ve mentioned in this space before, I coach a fourth-grade boys' basketball team.   This past weekend was our final weekend of the season, a weekend of tournament that involved seven other fourth-grade teams.

The first game on Saturday the boys played pretty well but not up to their potential.  Yet, they battled through a number of mistakes and won the game.

A few hours later we got our second shot for the day.  I’m not sure if it was the long layoff or what, but the boys came out with no emotion at all in that game.  They really lacked any fire, and that lack of fire caused them to lose a close game by 3.  I then told the boys after the game that if they don’t want to be there then don’t come back on Sunday, but if they want to give me everything they have and a fire to win, then show up and we’ll get to work.

So we come back to the tournament on Sunday and all the boys show up, and they have a different look in their eyes.  They are all focused on beating a team that is undefeated all season long.  A team that hasn’t scored fewer than 40 points in any game they’ve played this season.  A team that had beat us 44-19 earlier in the season.  Not only did we take the fight to this team, but we had them on the ropes throughout the game.  We were losing 4-2 at half time and only gave up 20 points to them in the entire game.  No, we didn’t win, but that effort allowed us to win a tie breaker that put us in the semifinals.

That semifinal game pitted us against a team that has already beat us twice this year, both times in very close games.  We’ve battled them very tough every time we’ve played them and this game was no different.  My boys worked extremely hard, and again a lack of putting the ball through the rim was what killed our chances.  We lost by three points in yet another close game.

My point in rehashing the weekend with you is to show you that with hard work anything is possible.  This team has a record this season of 3-8.  Yet, that doesn’t tell you the whole story.  They were determined to get better and determined to fight for all they were worth.  Week after week this season they wanted to get better, and although we didn’t often come out on the winning side of things, it didn’t slow these boys down.  They kept working hard, and as they kept fighting week after week, they improved.  The final record might not show it, but they are a group of kids that the rest of the NOL better be ready to battle for years to come.

I will use this team as a reminder to myself to never give up and to continue to improve myself every day in my Christian walk.  If I continue to be determined to be better, then there is no stopping me in the future.  I have valued the time that I’ve spent with these boys and am proud of each and every one of them.  As I told them on Sunday, it’s only eight months until we start it all over again.  They need to keep working on their own until we get the team back together again in November…a fact that I know will be followed by all of these determined boys.

Coaching

Recently I started coaching my son Andrew’s 4^th grade travel basketball team.  Ok, not real recently, as we’ve now played 2 three games and have been practicing since the week before Thanksgiving.  I really wanted to coach this team because I really love the game of basketball and enjoy spending time with my son.  Plus, I have so much free time anyway….lol.

To be honest, when we first started practices these kids were really rough.  They have varying amounts of skill and were all coming from different backgrounds in the game of basketball.  The plan quickly became to start from square one and build them together as a team, each learning the same fundamentals at the same time.  After we worked on putting in that foundation we then continued to build on it.  You see, none of the kids has ever played “real basketball”, as I was calling it.  This level of basketball is set up like a high school varsity team’s play instead of the earlier levels that give just the basics.

So, now that we’ve played the three game the kids have had a good taste of what basketball is really all about.  They continue to learn and want to keep getting better.  You can see it in their eyes...the will to improve every practice and every game.  It’s really a cool thing to see and very welcome to anyone who has ever coached.

I mention this today because I have to imagine that this is the same kind of look that God is looking for in our eyes.  That will to be better than who we are and to continually make progress.  Maybe we won’t win every day, but the desire to make ourselves more than we already are has to light up His heart.

So, if you think you are ready for some of God’s coaching, just open His word and find the best gameplan for your life.