Resources for Coaches
Featured
In cultivating the habit in our own lives, and modeling it to our kids, we are “imaging” our Creator. We are making a conscious effort to look and act like him. And when we align our thoughts and actions with his character, it brings him glory—and it best positions our kids to grow and flex their own “patience muscles'' when the moment calls for it.
Praying scripture for your family will not solve the daily pressure and demands you face as a coach. It certainly won’t solve choosing between another meeting and making it home to enjoy dinner with your spouse (and kids). But it will, hopefully, give you a few action steps to choose your family while you are still on the field or in the office.
As a coach, your calendar often feels like it’s not your own. Between early practices, travel weekends, recruiting calls, film breakdowns, and game prep, the margins are razor-thin. And when you finally do get home, you're often running on fumes. You’re constantly pulled in a dozen directions. Sometimes, the people closest to you—like your spouse or kids—end up getting the least of you.
You can’t give everyone all your time, but you can give them your best time. And when you do, you reflect the heart of a God who is never too busy to be fully present with us.
Most of us understand there is some level of expectation to model Christ-like behavior to the athletes under our leadership. But what does it look like for us to grow in our walk with the Lord?
Coaches need to be discipled too.
Praying Scripture is one of the best ways we can pray for our players because the Bible expresses God’s will, God’s character, and God’s promises.
Sport culture often equates weakness with failure, but the biblical narrative offers Christian athletes and coaches a countercultural view: we are actually strongest when we embrace our weakness.
Prayer isn’t about being seen or celebrated. It’s a quiet act of faith. It’s not meant to be flashy or something to post on social media. When it comes to prayer, sometimes athletes and coaches just need a place to start.
Dude Perfect presents a potential model for what play and sports could look like on the New Earth.
Most coaches have a plan for X’s and O’s, but what about one for building a healthy team culture? What does it look like to gameplan for culture in the same way that we gameplan for championships? And what, if anything, can we learn about this from the ministry of Jesus?
Coaches must do the hard work of introspection. It honors God, creates space for reflection and growth, and helps us better serve those we are called to lead.
5 things for Christians to consider when athletes talk about God after the game
Yeah, Mahomes messed up. But his statement of remorse should be celebrated. The foundation of Christianity is not perfection, but forgiveness.
Paul does five things in Acts 17 that we would do well to take notice of and put into practice in our own efforts to share the Gospel in the context of sports.
Gratitude functions like any other muscle in our body—it gets stronger if we consistently give it attention and push it beyond its level of comfort. Conversely, if we fail to work it out, our ability to be thankful naturally atrophies. It needs to become a habit.
How can coaches be proactive in their approach to an athlete’s mental health instead of reactive? I have a resource that I think will help.
Discipleship takes place in the huddle. Here are 7 things I tried to impart to the kids I coached this year.
The best quotes from Keller’s book that I think will deeply resonate with anyone interested in integrating their faith with their vocational calling as a coach.
7 tips to help Christian athletes practice the presence of God in competition and practice.
10 of the most provocative quotes from Frank Deford's Religion in Sport series published almost 50 years ago.
Athletic trainers are positioned in one of the most strategic places in all of sports to be used by God in significant ways.
How have Christians changed over the past two thousand years with how we have thought about and engaged in sports? How have we stayed the same? And how did the historical context influence our thinking?
Is it possible to coach with an Audience of One mindset? If so, what does it look like practically?
7 ways to make sure that every player on your team knows they are loved.
For the athlete who has heard at various points that winning isn’t everything, what does it truly look like to win beyond the scoreboard?
The following post is a 30 minute presentation to the athletic department of a Christian university that has been transcribed. The university is prioritizing mental health conversations throughout the school year and Linsey and I provided the introduction to the topic. We asked and answered 5 questions at the intersection of mental health, faith, and sport.
Love and worship are built into who we are as the human race. We cannot help ourselves.
Athletes, coaches, and athletic directors, what if we flipped the script and chose the path of honoring over hazing?
Aligning ourselves with God’s character causes people made in His image to pay attention, be intrigued, and come back wanting more.
Coaches must make an effort to do four things after a loss if they want to help athletes learn the most from it.
Sabbath is both a gift from God and a form of resistance to sport culture that teaches us we are only as worthy as we are productive.