Sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in. And sometimes it’s easy for us to grow impatient or feel like our effort isn’t making a difference. And then sometimes we hear stories like this one.
A high school Head Football Coach told me about how one of his friends at the school, a guy who coaches 9th grade basketball, was sharing some frustrations about the lack of impact he was having on his players. The basketball coach was being really intentional to give players life lessons and character development opportunities as part of their basketball experience. He had the idea that he could be used to change lives and to steer these young men in new directions. And yet, he was feeling like it wasn’t working and that he wasn’t making a difference.
The football coach recently began meeting with his new senior class, discussing the upcoming summer and 2013 season, working to lay down some expectations and goals for the year. They talked about core values for the team and ways to build those into their program. And wouldn’t you know it, in the course of that discussion, there were a handful of players who had been on the 9th grade basketball team a couple years earlier. These players had all kinds of ideas and things they remembered from their experience with their coach…the same guy who was just wondering if anything he was doing was making an impression.
So the football coach had the privilege of calling his friend and letting him know about some of the young men who not only remembered what they’d been shown, but thought enough of it all to want to make it part of their last season of high school football. The basketball coach was floored. He had no idea, and was greatly, greatly encouraged.
The point is clear. Coaches, please resolve to make a difference. Plant seeds. Give your players more than simply the game…dare to change their lives. And when you feel like it’s not working — know that it is. It might take years for the lessons to click, and you might never get a phone call telling you how you’ve changed lives, but the role you play in the lives of young men and women is absolutely essential. And the impact coaches can have on our nation and our world is incalculable. Persevere with patience and faith.