As a Coach…
It saddened me to hear the news that Coach John Wooden passed away last week. I have never met him, but I have studied him and his coaching style and philosophies, and to me (as well as to many others) Coach Wooden was one of the greatest basketball coaches of all times. I not only respect him for all the great things that he accomplished on the court, but I respect his goals, family life and over all the way that he lived.
As a coach he had only one losing season, that being his very first. He also set records for most consecutive victories in a row (88); NCAA Championships (10, 7 in a row from ’67-’73); consecutive tournament games won (38); plus more. His over-all college record was 664-162, an unbelievable 80.4% winning percentage! You could list many other stats, records, and details to his 40 year coaching career and they all speak to the amazing coach that he was.
But one of the biggest reasons I have studied his coaching methods in the past few years is that I find I think alike in a lot of the things that he emphasized not only as a coach, but as a mentor to youth. He saw himself as more then just a coach, he sought to influence and mentor his players to become all that they could be both on and off the court. His view of success what not about winning at all cost, but about being the best that “you” possibly could be and giving your all towards accomplishing your best! If you do your best you are already successful, no matter the outcome.
He lived his life as an example, not demanding from others what he was not willing to live for himself. For example, I love this quote of his “No written word, no oral plea, can teach our youth what they should be; nor all the books on all the shelves, it’s what the teachers are themselves.” He longed for his faith to shine through in everything that he did and hoped that if he was one day brought to trial for his faith, that he would be convicted. It is easy to see that his faith was the basis on how he defined himself and it was the foundation and everything else was after that, including basketball. It wasn’t about the wins, the trophies, the championships or records; it was about glorifying God with everything that he had.
One of my all-time favorite quotes of his is a follows:
“I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior.”
This is what I try to strive to emphasize to my girls. I want them to realize that basketball is just a game and there is so much more to life then this. It is not about the wins and the losses. It is not about the score, the all-stars, the championships. It is about Jesus Christ and glorifying God with the ability that He has blessed us with. We play to have fun. We play hard and clean and we play to glorify Him alone! For He alone is the reason that we live and the reason that we are able to play. When you put your life in perspective it really makes a difference.
It really does sadden me at the state of athletics in the US and in the world. It is a cut-throat world that demands perfection, total time and dedication. Success in sports in our world means winning, no matter the costs. Coaching in a lot of ways means that you have to win or you are out. There is not a development of youth. There is not a demand for growth on and off the field of sport. If you contribute to the win, no matter how a mess you are off the field, you are a star! It is a win at all cost field, and that saddens me.
When I first started playing basketball it was because I loved it. The summer that broke my arm I sat on my basketball staring at the hoop, longing for the day when I could play again. Then basketball became my life. It was how I let myself be defined. I saw myself as Kristin, the basketball player/star. I worked endlessly to perfect my craft, I strove towards goals of varsity letters, win, scoring and then college. All the while I kept hearing God calling me back to Him, to let Him in and see myself as He saw me.
I fought with God in college before finally giving up the sport that I loved. It was hard, because it was how I defined myself. But after giving it up I realized the how incompletely I had defined my life. I learned what my true definition was, Child of God. From that point on I was gradually able to give up the sport, all my goals and desires for the future to Him, and His blessings abounded because of it.
I met my husband, was married and now have three beautiful sons. I never thought I would be involved in basketball again, but God opened doors and gave me opportunities that I never dreamed possible. I am humbled as I look back and see where He brought me from, the lessons I have learned and what He has given me for giving my dreams up to Him. I have a few quotes on my desktop at work that keep my life in perspective.
The first is “God cannot be a co-pursuit”. He alone deserves the number one spot in our lives. Is it easy? Not in any way. Is it a once and done choice. Nope. It is a continual thing, because as you move in life things will constantly pop up for your full-attention. If you allow those things to take that number one spot, you will struggle. Whether it be family, life, work or fun there must be an order to your priorities. And I will never forget how my parents emphasized to me growing up that the number one priority is God, then family and so on.
The next thing I have taped to my monitor is the following: “It’s amazing how God move when you give up control and leave it in His hands!” This is especially hard for me. I admit it, I am a control freak. I like things all planned out. From an early age my goals in life were to play college basketball and then coach after that. I realized the dream to play college ball, but after God got my attention I gave up the dream of coaching. I wanted more to live and glorify Him then reach that goal. I never saw a time when basketball would be back in my life and as hard as that may have been at one time, I was ok with it.
Amazingly God has brought basketball back and I love it! But I take the responsibility with it that He was me to glorify Him in all I do in that position. I long to teach the girls to be ALL that God wants them to be, and that doesn’t mean just on that court, but mostly off of it. Life goes on after basketball and what they will take from it are the lessons learned that they have been able to apply off the court. I want to be the type of mentor that Coach Wooden was. That is my goal and I give it to God and ask Him to use me as He sees fit for as longs as He blesses me with this opportunity to serve Him!
I will leave you with one final poem from Coach Wooden. It was something he wrote about parenting and something that I think of when I see not only my boys following me around, but my team looking towards me for leadership. Be blessed, Coach Davis!
A careful man I want to be, a little fellow follows me
I do not dare to go astray, for fear he’ll go the self-same way
I cannot once escape his eyes, whate’er he sees me do he tries
Like me, he says he’s going to be, the little chap who follows me.
He thinks that I am good and fine, believes in every word of mine
The base in me, he must not see, that little fellow who follows me
I must remember as I go, through summer’s sun and winter’s snow
I am building for the years to be, in the little chap who follows me.
You can read more about Coach Wooden at his website.
