More than Wins and Losses

There’s so much more that goes into Friday night lights than meets the eye. In a world where it’s all about the win and having a winning record the real story sometimes gets missed.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather win than lose, but I know there’s more to it than just that.  I know that coaching is a ministry and that my husband and his fellow coaches are out there every day teaching young men and women how to maneuver through life and to be who God has called them to be in life. 

Just today on my Facebook feed I’ve seen stories about teaching a young man how to tie a tie. I’ve see a coach who went home and got a pair of his own jeans for a player to wear because his had holes in them and violated dress code. Turns out that poor kid had more problems than just holes in his jeans. He had just learned that his mom was dying.  I know of a player who lost his mom to cancer and is still angry with God about it. There’s an entire team dealing with the sudden loss of one of their coaches.  It’s our coaches that are there to teach valuable life lessons to these kids and to be the shoulder they need to cry on and to teach these kids that the Lord is in control.

Those players and students are watching as our coaches’ deal with the pressures of the season. They are watching to see how to win with humility and lose with grace. They are watching as our coaches’ act and react to staffing changes, teaching full class loads while in season. They are watching as our coaches interact with their families before and after practices and games.  Each action and reaction our coaches take, players are watching. They are looking for role models. They are determining if that’s the kind of man or woman they want to be when they grow up.

Coaching is more than X's and O's. It's more that winning games.  It's a chance to dive deep into the lives of the young men and women and to be their spiritual coach as well.  On average coaches spend at least 20 hours a week with their players - just in practices, games, watching film, etc. Once you add in the hours of teaching and game planning, and all of the other duties of a coach, the work time can exceed 80 hours a week.  While they are away from their families, they at school getting to know their kids on a deep and personal level.  They have the opportunity to see where these kids are spiritually and share their faith with them.  This is an amazing opportunity and it's what God has called them to do.

Being the wife of coach isn't always easy and sometimes the hours are long and the frustration level is high but there are rewards. The greatest reward is to see these young men come back after they have graduated and to hear them tell my coach thank you.  They say thank you for investing in them and spending time with them. They thank him for not killing them when sometimes they needed killing. Others thank him for just being there and listening. I even heard one thank him for all the times my coach yelled at him because he said that’s exactly what he needed. He went on to say that he needed someone to believe in him and he knew that as long as my coach was yelling at him and directing him on the practice field that he knew that my coach believed in him and hadn’t given up on him. That’s what coaching is all about.

Our coaches are making a daily impact in the lives of the young men and women they coach. Often times it’s the coaches that know more about what’s going on with a player than his/her own family does. It goes way beyond Friday night lights. It’s about molding the lives of these young men and women to become the person that God has called them to be and it’s up to our coaches and the wives of coaches to do our part in the process.

Cheering you on!
Laurel