Today I spent some time out on the football field at Kincaid Stadium, home to Carter and Kimball High Schools. There were about 150 middle school football players participating in an FCA/DISD “In The Zone” partnership camp. Along with the students there were about 25 high school coaches volunteering their time to impact student-athletes.
The athletes and coaches gathered at center field to hear from chaplain, Jon Randles.
All the athletes were sitting on the ground and as he began to speak he took a knee so that he could be eye level with them, face to face for them to see his emotion and vice-versa.
He spoke boldly and truthfully about not quitting, keeping their commitment to football, striving to be the best athlete they can and how that will pay off when they get into “the real world”. But with great passion and compassion he lovingly told them that if they really wanted to make a difference, the other component is to be people of character. Sometimes people with less skills and less natural abilities can, with hard work and commitment, be more successful than the top athlete with all the skills who don’t care about being a young man or woman of character.
Coach Tom Landry once said, “Give me a choice between an outstanding athlete with poor character and a lesser athlete with good character and I’ll choose the latter every time.”
Here is what I love about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization. With the help of coaches, FCA teaches student athletes new skills about their sport of choice through clinics and camps, but most importantly we get to love on these kids, speak truth into them and encourage them. And our hope is that they will grow up to be adults who make a huge impact in their communities … for the good!
The Greater Dallas Fellowship of Christian Athletes serves 200 middle schools, high schools and college/universities in the Dallas metroplex. As a student or parent, if you would like learn more, please give me a call or send me an email so we can connect. Our website: www.fcadallas.org is a great source of information and inspiration as well. (rbowles@fca.org / 214-739-8003)
Don’t forget, our 2nd Annual Sports Leadership Camp for high school athletes is June 26-29 at Dallas Baptist University. Call us ASAP to see if there is still room.
Showing posts with label character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tebowing?
Recently I attended a Cowboys game and was given the opportunity to walk the sidelines before the game. As you can imagine, there were many sights and sounds to take in as the players warmed up, threw the football around and went through their normal rituals of getting ready to play a game they have loved most of their lives.
But there was one particular sight that grabbed my attention. One of the Cowboy’s coaches had gathered three of his players into a circle and they prayed together before heading into the locker room one last time before the game started.
Through the many years of professional sports, players and coaches have publicly shared their faith in ways that feel comfortable to them so this was not a new sight to behold. Many players kneel in a short prayer before a game while others point the index finger to the sky and look upwards after making a great play.
Since high school, through college and now in the professional ranks, Tim Tebow has gotten on one knee and said a quiet prayer before playing. Now what he does is described as “Tebowing”. Some say it with respect to him and his faith while others seem to make it a mockery. Why is this?
It seems to me that if Tim Tebow had not been so bold in his Christian faith, not as vocal about his missions trips to serve others, and if he hadn’t been as much of a strong leader, this all would not be the talk of sports radio or headlines in national sports newspapers.
You and I can debate all day on whether Tebow should be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but I would hope that whether you agree or not with his Christian faith you will acknowledge it is nice to hear about a young professional athlete who lets their character, leadership and integrity “ooze” out of them. As a friend of mine once said, character is what “oozes” out of you. Or, in other words, what you “do” is better than what you “say.”
Every day we see young men and women student-athletes do some amazing athletic feats. We also see these same teens and young adults walk the walk of faith. If anything is learned from “Tebowing” it should be that it’s ok to be bold for what you believe in. Bowing to God is better than bowing to peer pressure.
But there was one particular sight that grabbed my attention. One of the Cowboy’s coaches had gathered three of his players into a circle and they prayed together before heading into the locker room one last time before the game started.
Through the many years of professional sports, players and coaches have publicly shared their faith in ways that feel comfortable to them so this was not a new sight to behold. Many players kneel in a short prayer before a game while others point the index finger to the sky and look upwards after making a great play.
Since high school, through college and now in the professional ranks, Tim Tebow has gotten on one knee and said a quiet prayer before playing. Now what he does is described as “Tebowing”. Some say it with respect to him and his faith while others seem to make it a mockery. Why is this?
It seems to me that if Tim Tebow had not been so bold in his Christian faith, not as vocal about his missions trips to serve others, and if he hadn’t been as much of a strong leader, this all would not be the talk of sports radio or headlines in national sports newspapers.
You and I can debate all day on whether Tebow should be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but I would hope that whether you agree or not with his Christian faith you will acknowledge it is nice to hear about a young professional athlete who lets their character, leadership and integrity “ooze” out of them. As a friend of mine once said, character is what “oozes” out of you. Or, in other words, what you “do” is better than what you “say.”
Every day we see young men and women student-athletes do some amazing athletic feats. We also see these same teens and young adults walk the walk of faith. If anything is learned from “Tebowing” it should be that it’s ok to be bold for what you believe in. Bowing to God is better than bowing to peer pressure.
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