July 26, 2021 - "I Got To Tell Him He Won!"

I just finished up a week of leadership/hoops training with a group of high-school-aged girls; during it I went through John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success (Building Blocks for a Better Life), which I talk about… write about… think about… often. I love Coach Wooden’s perspectives on life/team… 

During the week, I had the girls help run a kids’ hoops clinic with me… to learn how to implement our “mission” into the teaching of the game. One young man that participated showed to be a really good athlete/player for his age. (Not to mention the HS girls thought we was “so cute”!) The boy’s name is Crocker, and I immediately could see that he not only loves to play, but is used to being successful, based upon his solid motor skills and understanding of the game. During one of the days a friend stopped in, that knows Crocker and his family, and told me that Crocker is even a better baseball player. Then Crocker’s mom mentioned that he had a swim meet coming up… let’s just say the boy is a good, old-fashioned, all-around athlete.

I tell you all of this due to a post I just read this morning from Crocker’s mom. Over the weekend he competed in a state swim meet… and I was anxious to see her post to see how this little “stud” athlete did. The momma started by sharing about Crocker’s sister and her great commitment to the sport/team… then she moved on to Crocker with these words, “Crocker has had a tough swim season and is having to learn a lot of lessons, and to learn to cope with disappointment and loss. No medals at all this year.”

Losing is hard… especially when you are used to being one of the better/more talented players. For a young guy, or an old one, it is truly a lesson of humility and growth. Yet, something I have taught (that I adapted a bit from Coach Wooden’s philosophies) is that sports not only build character, but in the words of Wooden, they reveal character. Crocker’s momma is right, these are times of “lessons”, but also she got to see a revelation…

Momma went on to say, “Crocker comes home so excited for his friend who showed out big time in the last lap of a race. The very friend, who he could have spent all summer jealous of. But, he was so proud of him! Then his (the friend’s) mom sends me the picture of him (Crocker) helping him out of the water. Crocker’s words to me were ‘Mom, I got to tell him he won!’ That right there, that is why. That is why I am more proud of him this weekend than I think I could ever be if he had won that race himself. I want my kids to love others more than they love themselves. And I think he learned how rewarding that can be.”

Wow! I think I could just stop there, but the purpose of this weekly devotion is to expound on “game plans for life” as found in God’s “Playbook.” Crocker just gave a great illustration of what the body of Christ should look like…

1 Corinthians 12:26-27 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ (TEAM), and members individually.

John Wooden, “I once heard team spirit defined as a willingness to lose oneself in the group for the good of the group… I changed ‘willingness’ to ‘eagerness.’ Willingness is more like, ‘I will if I have to.’ Eagerness communicates an attitude of ‘I’ll be happy to sacrifice personal accomplishments for the good of the team.’”

ARE YOU EAGER TO SERVE THE TEAM? ARE YOU EAGER TO SUFFER WITH ONE ANOTHER? ARE YOU EAGER TO REJOICE IN THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OTHERS?