When I was still a HS coach I had a few times where I was
faced with a difficult decision concerning how to utilize players. By this I mean
it was hard philosophically… you see one goal of coaching a team is obviously
to win games; therefore the obvious choice of how to utilize a player is determining
how he will most help the team to achieve this goal. The problem is that at the
high school level a young man that is 6’4” or 6’5” tall will most of the time
be needed as a front court player. At the high school level this young man will
most often be used as a “big.” Seems like a simple choice for a coach… But what
if this young man has dreams of college ball? At that height he is nowhere near
being a “big” and will most certainly only have a shot as a wing player (a
guard.)
This is where my dilemma would come in. Was my goal going
to be just the team winning games or was it going to be to consider the
individual player’s best interest? I will confess that I am a “player’s coach.”
I was always concerned with trying to help individuals achieve goals. I
remember telling kids that if they would work hard at the skill sets they
needed to play at the next level, I would play them at the position they would
play at the next level. But in the deal I would also tell them if they didn’t
work hard at that I would put them at whatever position I felt most helped the
high school team. (I know some may want to argue my philosophy… yet the reality
is that my players still tend to have great relationships with me and seem to
be “winning” in life – which to me is more important than just winning games…)
As I sat in church yesterday Pastor Joel was sharing more
in our “Parental Guidance” series. He was encouraging parents to truly find out
the individuality of their kids that is “knit” in them by God and to nourish
that instead of forcing them into a mold the parents create…
I love the fact that God sees and loves us as
individuals. I love the fact that we are all unique. I love the admonition to
parents to view their kids in the same way. I have 5 kids and can tell you that
they are all different; different interests, different personalities, different
gifts and talents…
Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “train up a child in the way he
should go…”
Joel gave a twist to this verse I had never considered.
We obviously see the need to train in the Word (God’s ways) as is stated
throughout Scripture. (See Deuteronomy 6:4-9) But there is also more to this
verse… it is not a blanket one size fits all statement.
Apologetics Press words it this way: “Children, even in
the same family unit, have differing personalities and abilities, and do not
respond uniformly to instruction. The phrase ‘in the way he should go’ actually
verifies this fact…the ‘way’… (in Hebrew refers) to the singular
characteristics of each child. Parents (are to train) their children in the way
paved by their unique dispositions…”
Do you see this duel truth in Proverbs? Our training is
to center on teaching God’s ways (the overall team game plan) in light of the
unique creation of each child (each player’s unique path.)
I highly endorse groups like Uniquely You that provide
personality testing to help us understand ourselves, others, and how we relate
to one another. In fact I am working on providing InBounds Ministries’ Total
Player Academy Personality Profiles that have been created by Uniquely You to
help coach and player relationships (parent/child, teacher/student, etc.)
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