So You want to be a Christian AND a Navy SEAL? Get ready for troubles and injustice!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16: 33

"One time during INDOC while we were out on a night run, one of the instructors actually climbed up the outside of a building, came through an open window, and trashed a guy’s room, threw everything everywhere, emptied detergent over his bed gear. He went back out the way he’d come in, waited for us to return, and then tapped the guy’s door and demanded a room inspection. The guy couldn’t work out whether to be furious or heartbroken, but he spent most of the night cleaning up and still had to be in the showers at 0430 with the rest of us.

I asked our drill sergeant, Reno, about this, weeks later and he said, “Marcus, the body can take near anything. It’s the mind that needs training. The question that guy was being asked involved mental strength. Can you handle such injustice? Can you cope with that kind of unfairness, that much of a setback? And still come back with your jaw set, still determined, swearing to God you will never quit? That’ what we’re looking for.” Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell (excerpt on the two week boot camp Navy SEALS must complete before official training starts.)

I was a victim of injustice today. Another coach gave one of my athletes a hard time for being a wrestler, really messed with his mind(although I really don’t think the coach realized how much of an impact he had on the kid, do any of us really understand our impact?) I was pissed, felt betrayed, felt terrible for the kid, and was ready to give that guy a piece of mind. Sound familiar?? How many times have you been a victim of injustice? You get fired or don’t get the job. You lose your position to another guy. The coach is playing favorites! You get a bad grade or evaluation. You are overlooked on a daily basis. You don’t get the credit for making the play or making the right call. According to Christ and the little excerpt on the Navy Seals, welcome to life as a Christian, a Navy Seal….in short a man.

We have been warned that our lives on earth will be filled with troubles, trials, injustice, unfairness, rejection, misunderstanding, etc… Why does it surprise us when it happens? I want everything to go according to plan, everything organized, on time, in the right place. But the devil loves messing with our plans, loves messing with our minds.

I’ve decided today, that I need to get ready for my plans to go amiss. I have to plan for injustices and troubles. I have to prepare for mishaps to occur because these are signals that I’m not incompetent, but that I’m doing exactly what God wants me to do….my mission from God is being attacked. What an honor! What is more, I need to prepare my wrestlers for this reality as well. My guys, will be persecuted for being brutal on the mat, will be persecuted for “being gay” wearing tights and rolling around on a mat with another guy, will be persecuted for dieting and not eating whatever they want, whenever they want it (like so many Americans these days), persecuted for giving their time and devotion to a minor sport, persecuted for doing the right thing in the classroom and in the community, persecuted for helping others when it’s not cool for teens to think of others. I told my wrestler this today and I think he understands better. What was best, I told him I loved him and cared about him whether he wrestled or not. I know after today, that he came one more step closer to being a man. And it would have never happened if my mission hadn’t been attacked today.

Isn’t that like Christ, to take an injustice and turn it around so it becomes a blessing? I witnessed the power of God today, what an honor! I hope you have the grace to suffer through injustices as well, try to control your anger, ask God for guidance and then hold on for the ride, of Christ making it all good. Believe and have faith!

HOOYAH!
Coach Willertz
Winton Woods Wrestling: Fighting the Good Fight!

The Least of These

As coaches, it goes without saying that a primary aspect of the job is to win. Not figuratively or in the metaphorical sense, but to literally win. That's why coaches and athletes put in the long hours, mastering their sport and sacrificing so much.

In this pursuit of a larger "W" column, there is an obvious tendency to devote more time to those athletes on the team who are going to win for the team. While understandable and probably necessary to some extent, this often leaves the "runts" of the team on the sideline. I notice this in my own coaching and can't help but think it happens elsewhere.

The "runts," the players who might never even see a varsity line-up, they can still find meaning and purpose being part of a greater team. But for them to realize this, we must not further isolate them because of their lack of athletic ability. Honestly, in my wrestling career, both as a competitor and a coach, I have seen some terrible wrestlers. Yet, these guys with 0-15 records were absolutely vital to our team. They made the room fun. They made me a better man.

When you see the runt on the field and think to yourself, "This just isn't going to happen for this kid," remember that Jesus came and spent His time among "the least of these." We are reminded of the order of the Kingdom of God and that the last shall be first. While medals and trophies and titles are all great rewards for dedication, don't forget to love "the least of these."

"Fighting is the best thing a man can have in his soul." -Renzo Gracie

Mike Baria - Moeller Wrestling
Harvard University '06
Wright State Boonshoft School Of Medicine '11
Wright State Raj Soin College of Business '11

My Greatest Win

By Dan Duddy

Head Football Coach New Jersey

In comparison to many football coaches on the high school level I have been blessed with many wins. I am also truly amazed at how many victories other coaches have accumulated, well above my count, some with fewer years in. My high school head coach is 82 years of age, has over 350 wins and is still coaching. I have been coaching for 31 years; head coach for 16 years and am closing in on my first 100. I plan on surpassing my head coach, but the challenge is that I will be 106 years old when it happens.

I have lots of great memories, a few cold ice-buckets over the head, and once I was carried off the field on the shoulders of a bunch of great kids. Now, that was cool.

My greatest win of all though happened on the weekend of Friday January 22nd through Sunday the 24th. I write this to you as my plane taxis for take-off from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Atlanta, Georgia. When I arrive, with my wife Maura, we will meet Avery Renee for the first time. She's a beautiful little girl of 4 months. I have seen her photos. Now I will hold her in my arms. I will be her Godfather on Saturday at her Christening. I am flying to my biggest win ever.

Her dad, Louis C. Brown III has a huge place in my heart as an ex-player, but more so as the man he is today. He is family to me. He will be thirty years old on the 31st, next weekend. I want my sons to know him more. I want him to be their big brother, I love my sons more than anything and I want Louis in my family. To me he is a son as well, and will always have his place in my home amongst my five sons.

Lou came to my football program in his sophomore year. I knew immediately that he was a football player because of the thunderous thud his pads made when he collided with another football player. The new young kid had something to prove, and he proved it quickly, and he did so among a bunch of very tough kids.

I didn't know much about him personally except that he was being raised by his mother, and that he kept a vigilant eye on his younger sister Virginia. It was a family built on faith and love. Mom, who I have come to call Vanessa, had laid down some tremendous character prerequisites for football. I asked her one day, "What's your secret?” She said "Just Keep loving him".

Well, I do love Louis Brown. As he was that very first day, although in a much deeper way today, fifteen years later, he is a confident, strong and clean living man of great virtue; a humble and loving man-servant, yet a proud and tough father with great memories of his football days. Those memories include the span of the triumphs of a great "scoop and score" of a fumble recovery in his senior year of high school, to the scars on both his knees from the multiple surgeries while at Lehigh University, where he gained fame once more for his signature collisions.

Louis stands stoically as protector, provider and leader of his family with his beautiful wife Renee. When Louis asked me to serve as Godfather of his little girl it was powerful, not only because of his deep love for her, but faith is important to him. This was no social courtesy. Coaching football had now brought a victory to my life that was far greater than any before. This immediately presented a perspective to coaching that is life changing and will consequently change the lives of future football players in my program.

My wife Maura shared this moment with me entirely and unselfishly, a revelation that made me feel tremendously blessed and lifted us to a higher level of intimacy. After all, she was the catalyst for my new-born faith and all my works within this vocation. Maura told me "I am so proud of you", and I will never forget that.

Every man fundamentally wants to be a woman's hero. Both want his heroism to stem from conquests. Every woman innately wants a man to scoop her up on his horse, proclaim her as his prize, and ride off into the sunset to begin a life together, to lead her and her children, provide for all, and protect them from evil and harm.

A man who can't do this hasn't healed from his adolescent wounds or was just never mentored or led by another man, and a woman who denies this and claims a proud independence of it suffers as well, either from wounds, or a plain lack of manly example in her past.

I have been blessed to be in Louis' family and I know he feels the same. We both have been blessed with great women, and I believe they too feel the same about their men.

In Proverbs you will find the verse that says "As Iron Sharpens Iron, So does One Man Sharpen Another". I am a stronger and sharper servant because of the verb, my title, “Coach", which Avery will call me as Louis and Renee continue to do so, and I love that. But now completely intermingled in that word for the first time in my life is "GODFATHER" of Louis' and Renee's precious baby girl and my wife, Maura, completely indulged herself , and...It made her proud.

THIS IS A MAN'S GREATEST VICTORY.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

Dads, did you know that your daughter most likely craves physical affection from you? And if you don't give her hugs and kisses on the cheek every day and tell her you love her, she'll most likely get it from another guy her age? It's a bit unsettling, isn't it? But it's true. A study from Dr. Meg Meeker shows that girls who have that kind of affection connection with their fathers are far more likely to stay away from drugs, pre-marital sex, do better in school and be happier. So even if it feels a little weird, give her the hugs and kisses.

You'll definitely want to give her a hug and kiss after you watch this!


Father of the Bride - The Wedding from Family First on Vimeo.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17444

Here is a sampling. If you would like to read the whole interview click on the link above.
Q&A: Dr. Meg Meeker on 'Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters'

by Ivy J. Sellers

Having spent more than 20 years in the medical profession practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine and counseling teens and parents, Dr. Meg Meeker has learned a thing or two about the impact fathers can have on their daughters—whether for good or for bad.

In her latest book, “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know” (published by Regnery, a HUMAN EVENTS' sister company), Meeker explains the important role fathers play in the lives of their daughters and how they can best utilize that role to instill strong moral values and healthy self-images in their daughters.

Will a daughter’s relationship with her father really affect her future relationships?
Dr. Meeker: Absolutely. Unfortunately, most research identifies what’s wrong in a girl’s life when she doesn’t have a good father, rather than what’s right when she does. So to encourage men, I tried to show them what can go well in their lives. We know that girls wait longer to initiate sex, are less likely to suffer from depression, and are less likely to take drugs, drink alcohol, and have eating disorders if their fathers are involved in their lives. Any and all of these affect a girl’s future because they keep her from maturing and from excelling both academically and emotionally.

Why are fathers the most important men in their daughters’ lives?
Dr. Meeker: Fathers are their daughters’ first experience of male love, compassion, kindness, anger, and cruelty. These early experiences are imprinted on a girl’s brain and heart. For the rest of her life, every experience she has with a male is filtered through her experiences with her father. So if she trusts her father at an early age, she is more likely to trust men. If she has been hurt by her father, she will shy away from men.

In your book you mention that girls can come to view their fathers as their heroes. How does that happen?
Dr. Meeker: Girls very naturally assign the role of hero to their fathers, usually without the father knowing it. A girl believes that her father is the strongest, smartest, and most capable man on earth. All he has to do is live a life of integrity, truthfulness, and moral clarity and he will be her hero forever. Girls don’t need their fathers to rescue people or make a lot of money or live in a big house. They define heroism as a dad who has stronger character than their friends’ dads. If a girl’s dad stays married to her critically ill mother, he is his daughter’s hero. If he leaves her, he fails as a hero. This is what girls are looking for. Is that essential? Yes and no. She gives him the role of hero, so if he fails, she is disappointed. However, if he fails and recognizes that he disappointed his daughter, he redeems himself.

A Brief History of Moral Education in America

By Randy Traeger
Head Football Coach Oregon

We are compelled, we are called, to address the problem of rebuilding the moral foundation of America's youth. Our society struggles with finding solutions to our current moral crisis. How can we teach morality and virtue to our youth when today’s society tells us that no morality or virtue set can be validated? How in the world did we end up where we are at today? We believe that in order to fight today’s moral battle, it’s important to know where we have been, and how we got here.

To that end, we offer the following history of moral education in America.

1650 Colonial Morality: Puritan morality is taught in the American Colonies.

1700 Revolutionary Christian Morality: Children are taught moral living from the Bible. Emphasis was placed on afterlife, sin, and salvation through Jesus Christ.

1750 Industrial Morality: The Christian virtues of colonial America are replaced with bourgeois virtues of industrial America. A new virtue set is emphasized of industry, hard work, loyalty, thrift, and individualism. We go from teaching that the benefits of living a life of virtue will be realized in heaven, to teaching that the benefits of these new “industrial virtues” will be material rewards in this present world.

1850 Second Great Awakening Morality: America falls back on Christian Virtues as the basis of morality. A time of great religious revival in America.

1900 Pre-Progressive Morality: Fueled by a collectivist-democratic spirit, this morality was based on ethical tentativeness. The beginning of moral relativity. Virtues cannot be given fixed meanings because they are relative to the particular habits of the individual. Their habits define their character. Child rearing was not about exercising authority and teaching virtue, but about nurturing the “natural” development of the child.

1950 Progressive Morality: Highly impacted by Benjamin Spock’s Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care published in 1946. If you want your child to do what you want him to do when you want him to do it, then you must first learn to do for your child what he wants you to do when he wants you to do it. If you conform to the child’s wishes, he will conform to yours. Morality is relative to what the child wants.

1966 Great Society and Values Clarification Morality: America's youth rebels against education because the curriculum doesn’t acknowledge their needs and interests. This rebellion is a backlash of “Progressive Morality” as the youth had grown up in homes where parental conformity to childish wishes was a pre condition for the child’s conforming to parental wisdom. Morality becomes, “If it feels good, do it.” There are no right and wrong answers. “Values Clarification” rejects any morality as conformity to an external code or set of values that are established by social institutions (the man), religion, science, reason, or tradition.

1980 Self Esteem Morality: It was inevitable that the Great Society morality would fall out of favor with parents because it was too subjective and the effects were obvious moral decay. Enter Self Esteem morality which was based on helping young peoples psychological well being by building up (even if only artificially) their self esteem. It was believed that by building up self esteem, that moral conduct and achievement would follow. Self Esteem Morality was largely practiced by creating unearned pride about oneself as a person, such as one might experience after repeating the mantra “I am a good person” or “I am smart”, and never confronting the reality if it was true of not. This movement also contributed vastly to the creation of the “me-generation” and the entitlement thatmany of today’s young people feel.

1990 Objective Values Morality: The Self Esteem movement eventually lost steam because in reality there is no association between psychological well-being and moral conduct. Enter the Objective Values Morality.

2008 Socially Objective Morality: This is the current movement that we believe we are a part of. This movement is a hybrid combination of all three forms of Objective Values Morality (Neo-Classical, Communitarian, and Psychological). The foundation of Socially Objective Morality is the creation and teaching of a set of “Social Virtues” as a means of achieving the long term goals of ones life.

These Social Virtues are:
• Objective, Concrete, Extensive, Precise, and Consistent.
• Historically, philosophically, and culturally relevant to our civilization.
• Easy to understand, hard to evade or misinterpret.
• Socially agreed upon by the community at large.
• Sensitive to judgmental sub-communities and their peaceful coexistence.
• Psychologically rewarding.
• Address basic human decency and human rights.
• Easily integrated and adapted into practical action oriented lessons.
• Inclusive with no specific religious or political agenda.

We live in a time when our youth have been robbed of their moral foundations and all we have left is relativism and the moral decadence it breeds. It’s time for a change. While Americans might disagree about a lot of things, including religion and morality, it seems that we are united by a basic set of “Social Virtues”. What Mother doesn’t want her son to be respectful? What Father doesn’t want his son to be courageous? Let’s use this common ground to help our youth re-construct their moral foundations.

Band of Brothers

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.  Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 3 33-35

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.”

1 John 2 9-10

I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, we are in this together!  We are a band of brothers. (and sisters and mothers as Christ says in the first excerpt)  I have so many brothers, so many guys I’ve shared experiences with, so many guys I’ve broken bread with, so many guys I have loved and have loved me back.  Guys like Steve and Jerry who taught me so much as a young man and athlete in high school and college.  My best friends, C.J. and Beek, we grew up so much in college and maybe not so much in Saugatuck right after college.  Tim was another who befriended me and mentored me as a young coach and continues to mentor me.  Joe, Bob and Lou who have helped me take my coaching to another level.  And who can forget Hurricane Kelly and how he taught me loving God was a manly thing to do.  All these guys (and hundreds more!) alive and dead (Dad, DBK, Ron Hughes, Ranear, Jordan) and I have been in this thing together.

As I get older, I wonder more and more what this brotherhood means.  What does it really mean?  If I don’t spend much time with these guys, how many shared experiences are we really having?  Is it more nostalgic and less real?  Just tonight as I was getting ready to write, it dawned on me that the brotherhood is alive and strong.  It is real.  How so you might ask.

Christ says, anybody doing God’s will is your brother, sister or mother. (so applicable with Mother’s Day on Sunday!)  I know so many of my friends, former players, fellow coaches, Warrior wrestling donors, family members are trying to do God’s will.  Some may not know it but they are building God’s Kingdom.  I thought to myself, anybody that does something for somebody else, gives their time, money and energy to help somebody else out is doing God’s will.  He/She is loving, and since God is love, he/she is doing God’s will.  People we have so much to have joy about!  We are helping other people.  

Whether it’s me and the donors at Winton Woods helping young men discover their strength through wrestling, or C.J. loving that beautiful wife and daughter of his, or Greg and Gordo giving Spartan fans something to cheer about or John putting his heart and soul into teaching young men and women how to throw the discus for a school record, all are examples of men and women loving people.  We ARE building the Kingdom of God.

I am proud that you are my brothers!  We have to remind ourselves that we are all on the same team…every day.  My successes are your successes.  Your failures are my failures.  My crisis is your crisis and your prayers are my prayers.  I have your back, brothers, sisters and mothers.  And I know you have mine.  What an honor it is to serve God my Father with you at my side.  

Let’s recruit more to the fight.  Let’s get it done.  Let’s love the people that God has put in our life…to the fullest.  And by doing so add another one to our ranks!  It’s the only way we can really live this brotherhood.  And it’s the only way that we can repay the people that chose to love us instead of themselves;  that did it for us.

Have a great week!

Coach Willertz

Winton Woods Wrestling where we separate the men from the boys!

WIN – What’s It All About?

We live in a world that promotes instant gratification.  Everything from television, to the internet, to fast food restaurants are designed to meet our immediate needs.  Our young people are continually bombarded with messages counter to those promoted by our Christian faith.  As adults, we have a responsibility to shed light on what should be the important priorities in our children’s lives.

As a high school football coach I am well aware that our society measures much of our team’s success by what gets done on the football field.  In short, many people expect us to win and to win now!  As coaches, we must be the best we can be in order to give our athletes the opportunity to be successful on game day.  However, we have been blessed with a mission that goes far beyond the field.

At Covington Catholic High School we talk about winning all the time.  For us, WIN means focusing on What’s Important Now.  This often used acronym has great value in our program.  Our message as coaches is that “the process” is the key to our success.  We hammer home the concept of taking one day, one play, and one game at a time, helping to promote a sense of focus for our kids.  As coaches, our desire is for our players to be their very best each day.   

We want our kids to be great players, but more importantly, we want them to be outstanding Christian young men.  When our athletes focus on getting a WIN in the classroom, a WIN in their prayer life, a WIN with their family , and a WIN on the field, the process takes shape.  A series of WINs in a person’s daily life helps to put priorities in their proper order.  At Covington Catholic we want to win all of our games, but we don’t want our athletes to use a football scoreboard to determine their level of success in life.

As scripture says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)  Our athletes can win game after game, and not be on the right track in their personal lives.  As coaches we have a profound impact on the message that our young people receive.  Take time this day to explain to your kids the value of “the process” and the risks of short term gratification.  When our players take care of what is truly important, the WIN will take care of itself.

God Bless,

Todd Naumann

Please Pray for Francis Xavier Duddy

Franics Xavier Duddy, the father of Coach Dan Duddy, passed away today. Dan is one of SportsLeader's finest.

Let us pray for the repose of his soul.

"Pop died today around 330. he took a nice peaceful last breath, he had received all of his sacraments. he raised five children and was a loyal and hardworking husband and father ..."

Modeling Love and Respect For Women

By: Steve Frommeyer, principal and Head Football Coach, Eminence High School
Mother’s Day weekend this year again reminds me how important it is to say thank you to our own mothers as well as the mother of our children (our wives). They have and will continue to make great sacrifices for all of us in athletics. One of the most valuable gifts/lessons that you can give your athletes is to allow them into your personal life to see how you treat your wife and/or mother. Modeling love and concern is an invaluable gift to give in particular to young male athletes. Many of our athletes do not see quality male/female relationships modeled at home on a daily basis. Simple gestures, comments, or short, positive, caring interactions can speak volumes to young men about how to treat their own mothers and females in general. Take the time between now and the end of the school year to say or do a small gesture of love and respect about your wife or mother to your players.

The Compromise of Truth

By Mike Baria

Asst. Wrestling Coach, Moeller High School Cincinnati

I was blessed to have the opportunity to be educated at Harvard University.  I also had the privilege of starting for and being captain of the varsity wrestling team.  It was an amazing four years that taught me so much, but I find that even 4 years after graduating Harvard is still teaching me important lessons. 

Harvard is famous for its motto, "Veritas," which is latin for "truth."  What a great message to send to the faculty and students; that the goal of one's education is to KNOW and LIVE the truth.  This pursuit of truth rings more clearly in my life now as John 8:31-32 has become my favorite verse in Scripture.  Jesus tells His followers, "If you hold to My teachings, then you really are My disciples.  Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  What an amazing promise.  What a charge to us as coaches; that we should hold to the truth of Christ and then share that with our athletes. 

In this charge, we also find the temptation to compromise truth in the name of making our message palatable to our audience.  Harvard gave up ground.  The motto wasn't always "Veritas."  It used to be "Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae," (Truth for Christ and the Church), but it was decided that a more generic pursuit was preferable. 

I pray we do not compromise the message that Jesus has given to us in the way that Harvard surrendered its convictions.  I pray that we do not compromise, not just in what we say, but in how we live out His message.  

My encouragement to the coaching community today is to be strong, yet gentle, in sharing the truth of the Gospel with our young people and letting them know that they have a Savior in Jesus.  And right alongside this, may they see us living out the truth.  May they see in us the genuine love, compassion, integrity and courage to do what is right in a world that tells us to compromise.  

The authenticity of any message is validated by the private lives of those proclaiming it.  I'm excited to see the work God is doing in each of our lives and in the lives of our athletes.

What specific battle do you see yourself engaged in with your players

I had lunch with a wrestling coach recently. We were discussing what our young men are going through these days ... that kids who live in the inner city have the "battle" of gangs, drugs, real physical violence.

But for those us who coach/teach in a "safer suburb" what are the battles our young men have against them?

His answer was complacency.

So what specific battle do you see yourself engaged in with your players?

I'd like your thoughts. Please go to the bottom of this post and click on comments and please share your point of view.

When Hiring a New Coach

Coach Mike Gims is the new head football coach at Potomac Falls High School in Virginia. I have known Mike for a number of years. He is a man of great faith. I still remember when he called his coaches aside minutes before taking the field for a game so they could all pray together alone and ask for the strength to lead their young men with virtue and passion. It was inspiring to see a group of men do that with such calm and vision in the midst of the excitement that is Friday Night football.

Mike is in the process of putting his new coaching staff together and I asked him if he had a sort of checklist ... the “must haves” to hire a coach. I think we should all have a similar list.

1. Transcendent Cause – Does he have a purpose in life other than football and winning?
2. Character – Can I trust him?  Will he be loyal to me and the program?  He must be ALL IN!
3. Serve – Is he willing to mentor the players?  Will he take an active role in their lives (academics, character, and skills)? Will he go the extra mile for his players? Is he willing to do the little things?  
4. Knowledge – Does he understand the game (skills, concepts, practice org. etc)?
5. Teach – Is he a teacher? Can he communicate his knowledge to his players?
6. Motivate – Can he properly motivate the players to do what needs to be done?  Can he influence them?  (we will not motivate out of fear)
7. Take Action – Is he task oriented, willing to jump right in? 

Here is a prayer Coach Gims wrote this past season.

Father Lord God Holy One

Hear my voice, oh blessed Son

See my works, Born from above

May they be an expression of your love

Let my life heed your call

Help me Lord God sacrifice all

As I fight this battle on earth

All the adversity like giving birth

Satan attacks constant and fierce

Each penetrating blow consistently pierce

Can I go another round?

Or will I be taken to the ground

Battles of flesh I fight with my thoughts

I depend on scripture and verses He taught

Battles with pride selfishness or serve

The eyes of Jesus, helps me preserve

Battles with fear to stand firm or take flight

Hearing Gods voice gets me through the night

So on and on the battle wanes

Blow after blow causing many growth pains

How do I win this battle with in?

Abide in Christ draw strength from Him

Work for the Lord and walk in His light

The blessings of God to partake in His flight

Father Lord God Holy One

Hear my voice, oh blessed Son

See my works, Born from above

May they be an expression of your love

Let my life heed your call

Help me Lord God sacrifice all

They Are Watching Us

By Randy Traeger

2009 SportsLeader Coach of Uncommon Strength

     Our mission is to help our young people grow moral virtues through education, deliberate virtuous acts, perseverance in struggles, and by following good examples. I would like to drill down a little deeper into the “example” part of this equation.

     Aristotle had a pretty good handle on the learning process, and modern psychology and other contemporary studies back him up.  Learning by example is monumental in our young people’s development.

     If we want our players to learn how to be virtuous men and women, there is an indispensable condition: They must be in the presence of coaches who live virtuously.  This is the only way that they will learn that virtue is not just a game, not just talk, but rather that it is the code that successful people live by.  They can see right in front of their faces, real people with real responsibilities, living virtuously.  

     If you are fake, if you are putting on a charade, today’s kids will see right through that and they will chew you up and spit you out. I can’t tell you how many new first or second year coaches I have seen take coaching jobs who weren’t “genuine”.  The kids know they are fake and these guys usually end up lasting only about one or two years. 

     We coaches need to be the consummate example of living virtuously….living heroically. If you can’t do that, then you are in the wrong business.  Get out now before somebody gets hurt. 

     We try to instill virtue in our kids all the time by what we “say”. But they are closely observing what we “do”, even when we don't mean for them to. Our actions speak so loudly sometimes that they can’t hear what we are saying. A lot of coaches mean well, but they aren't really aware that their actions are actually teaching a lesson opposite of what they intend.

     Coaches can't say, “Don't use me as an example today,” or “Do as I say, not as I do.” Coaches need to be constantly aware of how their behavior affects players.  Fortunately, even screwing up can turn into a lesson. When players catch coaches messing up, that's when it's most important to be a role model. By taking responsibility for our actions and trying to fix what we did wrong, we're giving our players a great example.

     Here are a few areas where coaches sometimes send unintentional messages to players:

• Bad Call by an Official: You tell your players not to talk back to the officials and “Next Play”, but you and your coaching staff spend the next few minutes in a tirade screaming at and belittling the referees. 
• Your Reaction to a player late to practice because he was studying getting his grades up: Every kid on your team is waiting and listening for your reaction thinking “Does coach really care about academics?”
• How you administer discipline: Your players are closely watching how you administer discipline. Is it fair, is it even, is it equitable?  Do you play favorites? Do you equitably discipline the star athlete? 
• Do you love everyone on the team equally? Or do you seem to show more love, pay more attention to the guys who score the most touchdowns and make the most tackles. How much time do you spend serving players who don’t put points on the scoreboard?  When you helped the least of my brethren you were helping me. Top players pay close attention to how lower caliber athletes are loved by coaches. 
• How do your players see you treat your wife and children: For many players with broken homes, the example you set as a husband and father is the only “manly” modeling they will ever have. Players are closely watching how coach lives by his priorities of God, Family, Football, and Career. 

Our players won’t take virtue seriously until we coaches demand virtue from ourselves and others.

Priorities: A Personal and Honest Look

There is a cliché in high school and college athletics about priorities.  I don’t know who started it, but it always goes something like, God, family, school and sport(insert whatever sport you participate in.)  It seems every coach at least one time a season, describes how in “his” program, these are the priorities.  His boys and coaches live by this creed.  At Winton Woods High School, we also preach this doctrine.  However, I don’t know if we know any better what form this actually looks like on a daily basis.  Let me offer some insight on how I try to live this creed.

Priority #1:  God

After my father’s death in August 2002, God has become a central part of my life.  What this means is, I have really tried to communicate with God.  I’ve really tried to figure out what God wants in my life; what my mission is.  So I try to pray everyday.  This includes formal prayers in the morning, Gospel reflections and prayers from the heart.  In the evening I try to pray an evening prayer of reflection of the day.  I pray a couple decades of the rosary daily as well, asking our Mother Mary for guidance.  Then of course, I attend Mass every Sunday and get a day of fasting in once a week.  I do all of this for many reasons.  Saying thanks to God, begging for help, acts of worship, etc..  I’ve seen God manifest Himself so much in the last eight years of my life that I really believe in Him.  He must come first.  I have to do these things, I want to do these things.  Ultimately, God helps me be a better husband, father, teacher, friend and coach.  I must always put time aside for Him.

Priority #2:  Family

I tease my wife that she is high maintenance….and she agrees with a laugh because that is how it is supposed to be.  I’m discovering my kids are high maintenance too.  I never thought having a family would be so much work but create so much joy.  For me, family means when I come home from school or practice, its family time.  There is no sitting down and watching TV or hanging out.  Maria(my 3 year old), needs attention, Alec my 10 year old boy, needs to do his homework.  Raegan, my 15 year old daughter, needs to be taken to piano lessons, and Krista my beautiful wife and I need to talk about our days and our common mission of educating the youth of today.  There is no such thing as “my time” when you have three kids.  All work and wrestling must stop when family calls.  This means missing work when the kids are sick, leaving a coaching clinic early because family is in from out of town, sleeping on the floor of my 3 year old’s bedroom to make sure she doesn’t escape down the hall off of her new toddler bed, or watching wrestling tape at Midnight after the kids are in bed.  Family must take quantity time.

Priority #3:  School

My job is a high school history teacher.  I would love to do wrestling all day…but I can’t, I have 5 classes to teach, 125 students total.  For me, school means teaching, active involvement.  Not, “you students get to work, so I can work on wrestling”.  Or “you students get to work, so I can look on ESPN all bell.”  I am paid a salary, I have a duty to do my job and to do it well.  I’m not going to lie, from time to time, it’s hard.  Teenagers and school work don’t jive all the time, their motivation is lacking and it is frustrating.  But it’s what I get paid for.  We all must remember to not neglect our work.

Priority #4:  Wrestling

I love wrestling!  I’m an athlete and a coach and I love the sport.  I could do it all day, every day.  I work hard to improve my players abilities and to improve my own knowledge and teaching of the sport.  I want to do it right and I feel my wrestlers deserve the best coaching they can get.  So I put my heart and soul into it……..I wouldn’t have it any other way.  So, when I coach, there are a lot of extras; senior trips to Gatlinburg, special 3000 workouts, community service, “optional workouts”, wrestling camp, etc..  I feel that every kid should have the opportunity to get a special program to work in.  So in season I’m going six days a week for four months.  In the fall and spring, I work on wrestling five days a week, three days with the kids and two days working on the program.  I am keeping my summers free…..for now at least!  It is just how it should be…thank God He has given me this attitude.

I have discovered I really don’t have much time for anything else for once in my life.  It saddens me from time to time.  I used to be a popular guy, a lot of fun.  It’s not that I don’t like to goof off and have fun with old buddies, it’s just that my life is now a mission.  There is work to be done…and I get great joy every day in this work; loving God, loving family, liking work and loving wrestling.  

I hope you have the same joy in your life…and if you don’t hopefully soon you’ll discover it.

Coach Willertz

Winton Woods Wrestling, where our mission is to train warrior boys to become championship wrestlers and championship men!

After Game 7 loss, Capitals' Laich fixes tire for stranded family

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/After-Game-7-loss-Capitals-Laich-fixes-tire-fo?urn=nhl,237745

After Game 7 loss, Capitals' Laich fixes tire for stranded family
By Greg Wyshynski

Two weeks ago, Mary Ann Wangemann ordered a Washington Capitals jersey for her hockey-crazed 14-year-old daughter Lorraine: Forward Brooks Laich, No. 21, whose blue-collar approach to the game has made him a fan favorite.

The same Brooks Laich who was emotionally devastated on Wednesday night, after the Capitals were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a Game 7 loss at home to the Montreal Canadiens. Washington was the NHL's best regular-season team, and failed to advance after blowing a 3-1 series lead. It's been called the worst series defeat in franchise history.

Laich, so often the team's unofficial locker room spokesman, didn't speak to reporters after the game.

The same Brooks Laich who, on the night his season ended prematurely, stopped when he saw Wangemann and her daughter stranded alone on Washington D.C.'s Roosevelt Bridge and then fixed a flat tire on their 2008 Acura while cars sped past him.

"You know how some athletes can strike you as real jerks? I think [the Capitals] are genuinely good people. He could have driven by like everyone else did, and he didn't," said Wangemann, who was headed home to Ashburn, Va. after watching the Capitals fall in Game 7.

"I was so touched by what he did. I was praying. I was that worried [about our safety]. The fact that he came up out of nowhere ... he was like an angel that night."

It was a scene reminiscent of when New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi stopped to help a motorist who crashed her car into a wall on the Cross Country Parkway in suburban Westchester County -- hours after the Yankees has won the World Series in Oct. 2009.

As first reported by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post, Wangemann and her daughter were driving back from the game when their car hit a pot hole and the tire went flat:

So Mary Ann pulled over to the side of the bridge, and called Triple A. They said they had a heavy volume of calls, and that they weren't sure how long it would take to send help. Mary Ann and Lorraine, still wearing their Caps gear, got out of the car and watched the traffic whiz by.

"We were getting a little spooked," she told me. "You feel pretty vulnerable right there."

Finally, an SUV slowed down ahead of them and pulled over. And then Brooks Laich got out and asked if he could help.

Wangemann was eager to share her story about Laich after Game 7's undeniable depression.

"I felt like there was such negative news about the Caps that I just wanted people to know what the real players were like. It was such a nice thing for him to do," she said. "Here's a player that wasn't having the best of days. He could have driven by like everyone else did, and he didn't."

Laich emerged from his car wearing an expensive-looking suit and walked over to the mother and daughter, both having donned Capitals sweatshirts on a chilly evening. Lorraine had become a Caps fan two-and-a-half years ago; her mother began following the team last year, the first time she had ever taken an interest in sports fandom.

They both recognized Laich. "The first words out of his mouth were, 'I'm sorry we lost.' And he stayed with us for an hour," said Wangemann.
Wangemann simply wanted him to stay with them until help arrived, but Laich asked if they had a spare tire. He got down on the ground and began working on the car.

The bridge carries I-66 and U.S. Highway 50 over the Potomac River to D.C. Wangemann said changing the flat there was "putting his life at risk."
He kept calling the ground "the ice," she said; as in, "We have to get this tire off the ice." Her car also had a special widget on the tire that made removing it difficult. She said Laich exclaimed at one point, "'Wow, it really protects your tire here but it's a pain in the neck to get off.'" At another point, the car fell off the jack, and Laich placed it back on.

After about 40 minutes, the tire was changed and Laich offered some parting advice to take it slow and stop to call AAA if anything rattled.
Wangemann's last words to Laich: "Can I hug you?"

The NHL player hugged Wangemann, and then hugged her daughter, who immediately updated her Facebook status with "he hugged me."
They expect they'll see Laich again at one of the many fan functions the Capitals hold during the season and into the offseason. Wangemann is considering asking for a specific autograph.

"Next time I'll bring the tire. He'll know who we are."