I attended a women’s basketball game recently in which the home team sought to win the regular season conference championship against the visiting perennial conference power. I didn’t know anything about either team—their strengths or personnel. The first few quarters were close, but the home team led. At the beginning of the third quarter, I predicted …
This presentation of the Disney Sports Spirit Award to Pitt running back, James Connor, touched me deeply: Obviously the fact that Conner went from chemo to practice was pretty amazing. But even more moving was the “randomness” of a woman thousands of miles away in a heap of tears and pain on the …
In my role here at Cedarville University, one of my responsibilities is growing our booster club. Co-workers and I were discussing our basketball hospitality suite and strategies we could adopt to make it a more attractive benefit for boosters. As we created a list of ideas, one of them reminded us that we could implement …
One thing I’ve realized about the Holidays—they’re not “Happy” for everyone. For the next month we’ll be bombarded with commercials and images that create unrealistic expectations about our experience of Christmastime. And when real-life doesn’t match up to the visuals of what our Western culture deems a “perfect” Christmas, we can feel sad, lonely and …
When we take a moment to reflect on life, we realize the many lives that have touched us. People who positively impacted us in one way or another. Perhaps a coach or teacher. Maybe a friend or neighbor. One team building exercise I love to do with teams allows team members to talk about someone …
I loved the stories surrounding the 2016 World Series! So much drama with the Cubs and Indians trying to avoid going yet another year without a championship. One of my favorite stories happened during the rain delay after the 9th inning in Game 7. The Cubs were dejected and shaken after blowing a three run …
You may not be able to acquire and consume and exercise your way to happiness, but you can serve and volunteer your way there. —Andy Stanley In a recent message, Andy Stanley referred to a study in the UK that looked at 40 different studies that spanned over 20 years to determine if there was …
Many of you probably remember when Ohio State quarterback JT Barrett was arrested for DUI. Thankfully that wasn’t the end of his story. The same is true for your players. At some point this season, one or more of your players will mess up. Even the “good kids” will probably make a poor decision at …
One of the things that makes the Ryder & Solheim Cups so special is watching golfers experience the joy of participating on a team. In case you don’t follow golf, the Ryder and Solheim Cups are the men’s and women’s biennial golf competitions between the USA and Europe. Athletes who normally exhibit steady self-control during the …
A college coach and I were chatting recently about team culture. She’s been a coach for a number of years, mainly in an assistant role with a variety of head coaches. During our discussion, she compared/contrasted two coaches for whom she worked. She enjoyed both, but the experiences felt different. One example she cited was team …