I once heard a well-meaning adult tell a group of teens, “in the big scheme of things, basketball doesn’t matter.” I can still hear her voice and remember how those words hit my ears. There were no words I could utter at that moment. Of course, I know what she meant… she was talking about the NCAA tournament debate the kids were having. All in good fun. But, what those 14-year-olds heard was “sports don’t matter.”
I beg to differ. BIG time.
A couple of months later, I watched this drama unfold in a game of 8-10 year-olds…
They were in extra innings… Bottom of the 7th, bases loaded, down by 2, 1 out. Coach came out of dugout, calling for a pitching change. Even when a pitcher is having a great outing, when the outs aren’t coming, sometimes the only thing you can do is change out the pitcher. The kid handed the ball to the coach and headed to the dugout hanging his head, feeling he has let his team down. The kid headed to the mound seemed to have a hop in his step, ready for the challenge… eyes centered on him, heart pounding, in awe of the pressure and adrenaline running through his body.
After a few warm-up pitches, he walked the first batter… which scored a run. Then he walked the second batter… scoring another run. Score was tied at 14. Another pitching change. Again, the kid headed to the dugout felt dejected. Quite a swing of emotions in 5 minutes. The kid headed to the mound… scared to death. Ball 1, ball 2, passed ball. The runner on 3rd took off for home. Just like that, the game was over: 15-14. Wow. The feeling of both teams in that moment. The emotions and lessons learned.
Don’t tell me sports don’t matter. This is real life. And THIS is the very reason that youth sports is my calling… not only to teach the kids, but also to teach the grown-ups.
Still not sure? Let me share some insights from me (and quotes from some of the greats) on lessons we can all learn from sports…
WORK HARD.
My son’s basketball team has a unique way of breaking their huddle. Instead of saying their team name or another cheer, they yell “Hard Work!” in unison. This always makes me smile, because that is exactly my fear for this generation. Things are so convenient now; and what I often see is kids who don’t want to work at something that doesn’t come easy for them. This breaks my heart. Practicing, preparing, disciplining yourself, building your strength… these all add character and develop a healthy work ethic for life.
“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” – Derek Jeter
“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
“Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” – Arnold Palmer
“The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.”
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great!” – Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own
IT’S OKAY TO MESS UP.
We will never be perfect, and that’s okay. In life, we will make mistakes every single day. The important thing is how we respond to those mistakes. Will we wallow in our misery and let our minds knock us down? Or will we learn from the mistakes and become stronger?
“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.”– Ted Williams
“What do do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” – Dean Smith
“There’s no crying in baseball.” – Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.
Don’t be a ball hog. Don’t be the superstar. Work to make everyone around you better! Teamwork is important in every area of our lives. Sports CAN be one of the main arenas when kids learn to become less self-centered. Through sports, they learn that one man does not make a team. We need each other!
“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team. ” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” – Michael Jordan
MIND OVER MATTER.
“Clear the mechanism.” This is my favorite scene from my favorite movie. So much can be said about these three words. How much of sports is mental? Just thinking back to the baseball situation at the beginning of this post, you can see just how much of the game is in our minds. Many incredibly gifted athletes have not reached their potential because of this very one thing. The mental strength in an athlete is what sets him/her apart. God has given us His strength to get us through every situation we face. This means on the ball field, the court, in the classroom, at home, or in the workplace. If we trust that He’s got us and we keep His strength forefront in our minds, we will reach our full potential in life. Don’t let your mind hold you back… let it push you forward. Play to win instead of playing NOT to lose. This is a daily mental battle.
“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” – Laird Hamilton
“Only he who sees the invisible can do the impossible.” – Frank L. Gaines
“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
NO FEAR.
This goes along with Mind Over Matter, but it deserves its own category. Because I believe this is the key to so many things, I’m going to repeat it: Play to WIN instead of playing NOT TO LOSE. Don’t worry about striking out. Don’t worry about walking the guy. Don’t worry about missing the shot. Don’t worry about getting knocked down. Take the charge. Be strong with the ball. Don’t worry about what people think. Don’t worry about messing up. The only way to overcome your fears is to face them. Go against the stronger team and do not feel intimidated. Believe that God has put you there for a reason. Believe that you are the strongest YOU that you can be and that you are in a situation for a reason.
“I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.” – Sandy Koufax
“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
“Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.” – Lou Brock
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” – Fred Devito
FOLLOW THROUGH.
The pitching motion itself teaches follow-through. Wrapping your whole upper body over your lower body after the ball has left your hand. It’s a beautiful picture of not only having good intentions, but completing the work. When you pour every ounce of you into something in life, you have already won. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been so interesting in pitching mechanics. It is one of the best sports pictures of not only starting well, but finishing well. Any little glitch in the motion can cause injury, can reduce speed, and can decrease accuracy.
“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.” – Zig Ziglar
YOU’RE NOT ALWAYS GOING TO WIN.
This may be the one soapbox you don’t want to get into a discussion with me about. In this age of participation trophies, and “everybody plays, everybody wins” attitude toward youth sports, kids are being cheated of the lessons learned when you don’t get your way. Guess what? We DON’T always get our way! Every kid ISN’T the best player on the team. These participation trophy generation kids are going to grow up and not know how to handle it when they get turned away from a job, or excluded from a club, or so many other situations. Again, this breaks my heart, and my teaching does not reflect that whole philosophy. I would rather kids feel the pain of defeat now than to grow up as entitled adults who pout when life hurts them.
“I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry
“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
BE A GOOD SPORT.
One of the things I try to teach kids is to be a good sport when you lose AND when you win. This means not rubbing in the other guy’s face when you win… and it also means not lashing out at others when you lose. The above video is one of the most beautiful displays of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen. Along with being nice in victory AND defeat, sportsmanship also means not complaining about calls that were perceived to be incorrect. Referees make mistakes too, and they deserve grace. Learning good sportsmanship teaches self-control, patience, kindness, humility, and level-headedness. Obviously, these traits will serve us well in life.
“One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.”– Knute Rockne
“The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.”
NEVER GIVE UP.
No matter what is happening in life, we should never give up. Sports obviously teach this well. The above video is an example of never giving up. The 2004 Boston Red Sox. If you remember, the Red Sox were the WILD CARD that year. They easily got past the Angels and prepared for the Yankees in the ALCS. Then the Yankees were suddenly up 3-0 in the series. Remember what happened? History was made! The Red Sox came back to win the ALCS 4-3 and then went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series! The Curse of the Bambino was broken. How much can we learn from this? The Red Sox could have given up based on odds, based on exhaustion, based on a lack of confidence. But they went into game 4 with everything they had and ended up the victors! So much to learn from this. Never give up. No matter what.
“My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.” – Hank Aaron
“Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.” – Jim Valvano
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
Obviously, there are many other life lessons in sports. These are just a few to get you thinking. Yes, indeed… sports DO matter in the big scheme of things.
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