Coach Tom Osborne Letter to Beechwood High School Football Team

God works in mysterious ways.

A few weeks ago Ed Johansen, our regional coordinator in the Nebraska-Iowa-Missouri area, decided to come and observe one of our team camps. It was with the Beechwood High School football team from Northern KY. As Ed was waiting for his plane he noticed that Tom Osborne sat down a few feet in front of him.

Tom Osborne was the Head football coach at the University of Nebraska for 25 years, 1973-1997, compiling a record of 255-49-3 winning 3 National Championships in the process in 1994, 1995 and 1997. After coaching, Osborne was elected to Congress in 2000 and served six years in the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska's 3rd congressional district.

Osborne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2000, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, ESPN honored Osborne as the coach of the decade for the 1990s. This honor is even more impressive considering the fact that he did not coach for 20% of the decade. In a 2007 online ESPN poll, Osborne was voted the "greatest college football coach of all time". Osborne was chosen as the 2008 recipient of the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) highest honor, the Tuss McLaughry Award for the highest distinction in service to others.

He is currently the athletic director of the University of Nebraska.

Ed approached Coach Osborne, told him about SportsLeader, his work and that he was going to be spending the next few days with a high school football team. He asked coach if he would like to send the team a message or some words of encouragement. Ed said that Coach paused for a bit and then said, "Tell them that there is no secret sauce to forming a great team, no magic wand. It is all about sacrifice. Every player has to sacrifice something: for some it will be alcohol, for others it will be pleasures, for others time ... Everyone must sacrifice something. That is the key to building great teams."

Ed shared that experience with all of us around the campfire that night. Later during the camp we decided to have all the players write down what they were going to personally sacrifice for their team this season. We gave each player an index card and they wrote them addressed to Coach Osborne. Ed sent them all to Coach along with a team photo ...

It must have made an impression on Coach Osborne. Here below is a letter addressed to the Beechwood Team. He also invited Ed to set up a meeting with him to discuss SportsLeader ... This is a good thing!

God bless, Lou

SportsLeader at Paris High School and Lexington Tide Youth Football

Yesterday I was blessed to spend the day at Paris High School. In the morning we had a training with most of the athletic staff: AD, HS and MS football coaches, golf, track, basketball and baseball ... What an inspiring group of men. These kids are so blessed to have these men working with them.

Head coach, JJ Everage, has been striving to bring SportsLeader to the entire school because he does not want the fruit from football season to "wear off" when they go on to other sports. He wants their lives to be truly "transformed."

In the afternoon we had a team camp for the football players. The players responded better than ever expected. The team has suffered a bit from apathy and a lack of commitment at times but we believe yesterday was a turning point. The kids were enthusiastic and tough. They want to be a "new" team.

Toward the end of the day, Coach Everage shared a story with all of us. He has 4 beautiful daughters - 2 are 3 yr old twins now. They were born 3 months pre-mature and that brought a considerable amount of suffering and sacrifice to their lives. I have rarely been in a room where you could physically feel the attitude of a room change as when Coach emotionally described what he went through as a man, a husband and a father ... and how much he wanted them to be great men and great fathers in the future.

After Paris, we traveled to Lexington to be with an awesome youth football team. They are 5th-7th graders. Assistant Coach Mike Black gave the Humility talk to the young men after practice. The young men had the "assignment" the night before, as part of the virtue of Charity, to do something for their families without being asked. "I made dinner - egg sandwiches", "I took out the trash", "I picked up my room made my bed", "I fed the dog", "I took in the groceries", "I fed the rabbits", "I played with my younger brother" ...

Virtue in action - not just talking about it - doing it!

God bless, Lou

Covington Catholic Team Retreat

Covington Catholic High School, an all boys HS in Northern KY, had a team retreat with SportsLeader this past Saturday. New head coach, Dave Wirth, organized an incredible day for his players combining faith, family, fun, food and football ... Covington Catholic has a great football tradition - 6 state championships.

The day started with Mass celebrated by Father Robert DeCesare, LC in the Covington Catholic chapel for all 80 of the football players - Sophomores through Seniors.

Then came some meetings, football practice, testimonials from alumni, Dads, a former Pro football player, Bob Crable and an amazingly inspiring talk on integrity by assistant head coach Todd Naumann. What made it that much more impressive was that Todd and his wife just welcomed their third child into the world a few shirt days ago.

The day ended with something truly special. All the players met in the locker room, put on their game jerseys and walked over to the new grotto. They prayed a mystery of the rosary and offered up some prayer intentions to our Lord and our Blessed Mother.

Afterwards they walked out to midfield and had a commitment ceremony. Parents had lined the entire field with luminaries so it really looked awesome. I overheard a few kids say that this was one of the coolest things they had ever been a part of.

Each player walked to the center of the circle with football in hand and announced to the team what they were going to sacrifice and commit to during the season. Then the players received their commitment cards from their mentor coaches.

Being that the 7th-8th grade football program has joined SportsLeader as well we have around 220 young men growing in virtue associated with Covington Catholic.

May our Lord bless all of these young men and their coaches and inspire them to do great things for their families, school and community.

God bless, Lou

Tim Tebow is saving himself for marriage

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09073001.html


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uR1981qW0A

If you would like to watch the entire interview you click below

http://stream.hostinteractive.com/links/sec/2009/07/2009_0723_fb_10.asx


Florida Quarterback Tebow Leaves Reporters Speechless: "Yes I am" Saving Myself for MarriageAlso says he is grateful that his mother's story has helped women choose not to have an abortion

By John Jalsevac
July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last week Florida Gators Quarterback Tim Tebow's photo may have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the same magazine that is best known for its annual "swimsuit issue," but the contrast between the two cover stories couldn't have been more glaring.

At 21 years of age and graced with boyish good looks, Tebow is one of the most talked about rising stars of the NCAA; but the football superstar literally left reporters speechless last week when he answered a question during a press conference about whether or not he is "saving himself" for marriage.

"Yes I am," said Tebow briefly, who then indicated he was ready for the next question. However, in the video of the press conference, a reporter is heard stumbling over his words in the background as he tries to ask a follow-up question. Tebow then laughs, obviously reacting to the reactions of the reporters in the room.

"I think y'all were stunned by that," he says. "Y'all can't even ask a question. Wow. I mean, I was ready for that question. I don't think y'all were."

It wasn't the only controversial remark that Tebow made that day. In response to another question about whether or not people may be tired of the volume of coverage devoted to the young football star, Tebow, a devout Christian, said that the level of exposure he receives is a mixed blessing. However, he said, he looks at the positive side that, thanks to his fame, he has been able to share his Christian faith with so many people.

In addition, the football star told the reporters that he believes that the publicity given to his mother's story has helped other women choose not to abort their unborn children. Tebow's mother, who serves as a Christian missionary together with her husband, was pressured to abort Tebow following a life-threatening infection she suffered while pregnant with him. Doctors pressured her to abort her son to save her own life, but she ultimately resisted the pressure and both mother and child survived the birth.

"There has been a lot of people that have been encouraged not to have an abortion because they heard the story of my mom, or they have been encouraged because they have heard me give my faith on TV or in a report or something," said Tebow.

"You know what, although there has been a backlash, oh, well. You know what, I'll deal with it if I have to. It's not a big deal to me because of the kids and people that have been encouraged by the stories we have tried to tell and by the life that I've tried to live."

Growing up Tebow would often help his parents with their Christian mission work in the Philippines. He was homeschooled by his mother, who instilled in her children strong Christian values.

Tebow was the first home-schooled athlete to be nominated for the Heisman Trophy. "That's really cool," he said at the time. "A lot of times people have this stereotype of homeschoolers as not very athletic - it's like, go win a spelling bee or something like that - it's an honor for me to be the first one to do that."

A Dad's Perspective on SportsLeader

Coaches,

I received this letter from a parent. Aweome!

Dear Lou

I am actually the husband of Erin ... She has been writing you in regards to our son's team and the inspiration they have brought out of us the last several months. I know she has given them much due respect and admiration. Yet, I feel it is my duty and honor to share a perspective of my own below.

I was brought up to believe and condition in my mind that anyone other than myself was considered competition and that I had to beat/defeat the individual(s) in order for me to succeed and be “good” at whatever I did. No matter who it was, I had to find a way to overcome, defeat, and many times own the competition. This was not only athletically; it was also academically, in friendships and in relationships. Every coach I ever had (yes, everyone) would continually tell me everything I did wrong on a daily basis as their means of inspiration. I could often hear my HS basketball coach tell me that “I couldn’t even guard my own shadow” and that even though I was unstoppable on offense, my defense was horrific. I had a baseball coach in HS also that never once showed me how to hit, field, or even slide for that matter. It was the most non-motivating environment I was ever in. To say the least it was frustrating.

I can remember being fortunate enough to earn a full basketball scholarship to a smaller Division II university in IL. It was something I worked very hard for with thousands of hours of playing probably the best competition in the U.S. (Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Antoine Walker, Donavan Mcnabb, Tom Kleinschmidt, Jerry Gee, Anthony Parker, and etc..) These were not just people I played against; they were people I competed against. Yet, I always had bitterness towards them because they went on and I didn’t. It was a feeling of failure for me in many ways that I ended up as a Division I transfer to a small Division II school. The feelings must have been mutual among all the players on my team as we never had any collaberativeness or “team spirit” in the 4 years I attended this small university. We were all “egos” doing our own thing for ourselves with little concern for anyone. There was an empty space deep inside of me as it almost seemed everything I had worked for was now lost and even forgotten. It was as if there was no reason I went through what I did and felt like it was a wasted effort.

I decided to then walk on in Baseball. The odds were stacked against me as there was no history at this university of anyone playing both sports full time. In addition, this team was nationally ranked each year for the past 15 years, so for a walk on to make it, was extremely challenging. I gave it a go. I would watch the best hitters on our team and notice the little things they did that made a difference. My coach was a former Minor League pitcher and unfortunately did not have the knowledge one needed to really exceed at hitting with technique. So, I took it upon myself to study the best hitters I saw and model their patterns and behaviors. I made the Varsity team as a sophomore and traveled with them during the NCAA playoffs. I went into pinch hit on occasion, but more importantly felt I had succeeded as a walk on while others had laughed from day one. Midway through my Junior year, I earned and won a starting position which I kept throughout my senior year. I led that team in homeruns my senior year with 16. the most I had ever hit before was 2. This all happened with little instruction and meaningful guidance. Somehow, I created my success in spite of many set backs. It felt like an accomplishment.

As most competitive people do, they take this aspect of their life and conditioned thinking with them. As an employee, it seemed when I sold appliances/electronics, mortgages, and other services, I had to be “making money”. I had to beat out others and be ahead of the “competition”. It was often a toss up as to whether it was for the best interest of the people/consumer as opposed to the best interest of my pay check (and supporting my family/bills). I felt like I was in it for developing and helping others grow, yet I think I wanted others to grow so it made me look better and I could grow. I wanted to be on top, and that was my motivation.

I found this also to be a conditioned way of thinking with my relationships. Now, I want to be certain that we understand that I have remained faithful to my wife. Yet, there was always this “flirtatious way” about me that wanted to prove that I could sweet talk and “Be the Man” around other women. It was almost like it was a challenge for them to say how great, cute, and wonderful I was. I have even told my wife that there were times that I looked outside our marriage for happiness. As if it would be better with someone else. This is not something I am proud of, yet it was an experience I participated in. As you can see from my history, getting to the next level with anything was a big goal of mine. Being happy in the present and enjoying what I have, was not something really considered. It was always “What will be my next win?” What do I need to get/obtain next? There were many other experiences in many other aspects of my life. However, it would take too long to write in this one simple letter.

My experience, my knowledge, and my identity have all recently shifted. And, this is where your program comes in. We were asked to have one parent at this event called “Sports Leader” back in March. After the presentation, we all felt moved in some way. Half jokingly, all the dads and coaches stood up and said “I love you” as the lights went back on. We all laughed and enjoyed the moment, yet I did not really know where this would all lead and how drastically my life would change based on this simple statement/feeling. As time went on, we had sent emails that ended in “I love you”. We would hug after every game, practice, and social gathering. At no point did any parent ever question where there kid was playing or why. Every play was a “great attempt”. Every parent voraciously cheered for every kid. There was no me or I. There was only “Us/We”. After every awards ceremony, while other players were given trophies from their coaches and a hand shake with congratulations, our coaches hugged everyone of our players and the reward they received was far more than a piece of hardware. It was the love, admiration, and respect they all deserved. And, that is why all of those amazing kids played with everything they had. They knew they were all loved. Not one more than any other. It was collective as a team and as a family.

I can go on and on about the three most amazing and incredible coaches we have had the pleasure of being a family with. I can also write on for a while about your program sports leader. Along with some divine intervention, my life and the way I look at it has changed forever. It especially has dramatically transformed with my son. Even when I get on him to hustle, at the end of the day we always hug/kiss and say I love you. The fact that he knows what he means to me is far more important than any accomplishment have ever had on a field or a court. And because of this, he works that much harder and performs that much better. It is my true hope that teams around the world can have wonderful coaches, players, and families that we have experienced this year alone. It is now more clear than ever to me that if I truly would want something to change, then I have to change and others will not only notice the change, but will change in addition. In the 10 months we have been together as a team, my life has dramatically shifted from Selfishness to Selflessness. My wife almost fell over one day when I went up directly to her and apologized for being “selfish” and that I was going to change the things I said and did going forward. All it took was a shift in Identity, Attitude, and Perspective. Now, I can’t even imagine what it was like to be the way I was. It is also clearer to me more than ever that when you have individuals that show the selfless love and respect that these three individuals have, it can change a game, a team, a state, a country, and even a world. It all starts with an individual. Thank you for your program. I have often said that I was going to write a book one day, yet I wasn’t quite sure how, when, or why. I can tell you that the book is on its way and it will probably involve the experiences of this team and how it transformed my life and hopefully others. You know, I guess when the Beatles sang “All you need is Love”, they must have really known something.

Love,

Adam

A Coach, Soup Kitchen and Mass

Coaches,

Below is an email I just received from an Assistant Football Coach at Nazareth Academy in Chicago. Tom is the linebackers coach for the Sophomore team and he is writing it to Mike Cemeno, one of the men who has been key in getting SL off the ground in Chicago.

God bless, Lou

Mike,

Thanks for leading us through the SL program here at Nazareth Academy. We understand the impact it will make on these young men, but I wanted to share a story about its positive influence on our head soph coach in its early implementation. Part of our work on charity includes work at a local soup kitchen. Last Saturday, this coach decided to attend with his son and nephew who are on the soph team. He was so moved by this experience, he decided to attend Sunday Mass with his son which was the first time in over 10 years. You can imagine the significance this spiritual growth will have on he and his family. He is a great leader on the football field but now I realize that he is a great leader in is home as well. I am blessed to have witnessed this and invite you to share this with others as well. I can't wait to see the impact on the rest of the team once we really get this off the ground.

Thankfully,

Doc

Tebow a combination of unique traits

Coaches,

I recommend making copies of this for all your players ...

God bless, Lou

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=4318570

Tebow a combination of unique traits

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It is July on the Florida campus, which means by the time you walk from your car to the football building you need a towel and a sweet tea. The word "languid" comes to mind. Coach Urban Meyer's office is dark, its occupant stealing the last moments of summer on a coach's calendar.

And then Tim Tebow bounds up the stairs after a noontime workout. It is July on the Florida campus, but the word "languid" never applies to Tebow. He is wearing a black Gators T-shirt, shorts, blue and orange Crocs and a summer beard.

Not that the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Tebow ever resembled a fuzzy-cheeked boy, but the beard is a subtle visual cue that one of the (already) memorable careers in the history of the game has begun its final year.

"It's gone by fast," Tebow said. "It's been a fun ride down here."

A fun ride? Two national championships wrapped around a 2007 Heisman Trophy is a hero sandwich, Gators-style. He has evolved from relief pitcher for Chris Leak to one-man backfield (32 touchdowns passing, 23 touchdowns rushing in 2007) to the more polished passer of last season. He has helped one mentor get an SEC head coaching job (Dan Mullen at Mississippi State) and welcomed another (Scot Loeffler, who recruited him to Michigan).

Tebow's value as a player -- he has passed and run for 8,427 yards and 110 touchdowns -- is surpassed only by his value as a leader. The time will come when his postgame speech after the Ole Miss loss last season will be recited daily by Florida schoolchildren.

That leadership has been needed since the Gators left Dolphin Stadium last January, crystal football in hand. Coaches who have won a national championship learn to dread the Year After and the sense of entitlement that pervades the locker room like a staph infection. Gators, have no fear. Dr. Tebow will see you now.

"When a team wins," Tebow said, "I think they get complacent." His speech raced and the pitch of his voice rose. "I think the great thing about our team is we haven't gotten complacent. We've worked so much harder than we did last year leading up to it, because we know what it takes to get there and we want to get there again. … You hear guys looking forward to two-a-days! You never hear that."

Great players can be found at the intersection of Talent and Passion. But that is an incomplete address for the Florida quarterback. He has what few 21-year-old athletes possess. He has what few 21-year-old anythings possess. Tebow has perspective.

"He's a vicious competitor, OK?" Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio said. "But yet his compassion is endless. How many times have you seen that?"

Through his family's evangelism, Tebow has seen the Third World. Through his own outreach, he speaks at prisons in Central Florida. He visits local hospitals.

"I think more so than playing football and being a competitor and trying to win," Tebow said, "compassion and love for helping people is so much more important than any of those other qualities can ever amount to being."

"Compassion" is not a word often heard in football, unless it's the fourth quarter and Florida is pummeling Charleston Southern. It is not a trait the sport prizes. Tebow has all the traits football prizes: toughness, competitiveness, desire. None of them is first on his list.

"Just helping, being someone who, when someone needs something, you're there for them; if it's a teammate, if it's a Make-a-Wish kid, if it's someone in the hospital," Tebow said. "And not just someone who does it here and there, now and then. That's my life. That's what I want it to be. When I'm done playing football, my life isn't over."

One of a quarterback's greatest talents is the ability to see the whole field. A month before he turns 22, a month before practice begins for his final college football season, Tebow sounded as if he is able to see the whole field -- in uniform or out. "I think a good way of explaining it is football is what I do but it's not who I am," he said. "So many people get caught up in 'This is who I am. I'm a football player.' No, that's what I do. I play football and I love playing football. … I'm so much more outside of that.

"I don't want to be labeled as a football player. I want to be labeled as someone who, when someone needed something, or when someone asked me to do something, I was there for them. I was there to support them. I wanted to help them genuinely, not because it looked good or not because someone was going to write about it, but because I genuinely cared about helping someone else."

All of which led to the question: If Tebow had never played football, what would be his normal life?

"I don't really think about normal," Tebow said. "I think normal is something I never wanted to be."

There was never any danger of that. No danger at all.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/sports/1653209,4_2_JO06_GSVICTORY_S1-090706.article

'Victory' in baseball -- on & off field

July 6, 2009

By TOMMY STOKKE For The Herald News

When Jonathan Voss started Victory Baseball, he wanted more than just a travel baseball program. He wanted kids to learn about more than just the game of baseball.

In his effort to build kids both on and off the field, he brought in the Sportsleader program. Sportsleader, which is a program designed to build the kids' virtue, has taken Victory Baseball to the next level.

"Our goal is to develop kids more from a social and character side other than X's and O's of baseball," Voss said. "We instituted it in all of our programs this year and are teaching them to accept responsibility and lead courageously. Baseball is the byproduct of communication for it."

Sportsleader was started by former Ohio State football player Joe Lukens and Paul Passafiume. It is endorsed by Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel and Chicago Bears co-owner Patrick McCaskey. It is used across the country and continues to spread. According to Voss, Providence Catholic instituted the program as well this year.

While Victory Baseball has been extremely successful with an overall winning percentage of .800, the program is more focused on building young men.

"The wins aren't important," Voss said. "Baseball won't determine who these young men are and will be in the future. Instead we are focused on getting good kids to be pillars in society. That is the legacy we are trying to lead."

Voss first heard of the program from Mike Cemeno, owner of Cemeno's Pizza. Voss and his coaches then attended character-building conferences in Cincinnati. Each coach went through a formal four-week training program.

"We have great coaches who realize they are in the mentoring-type role. It's their job to give the youth something more than just baseball," Voss said.

"We want to teach the kids how to not only be good baseball players, but more importantly good young men, adults, fathers, and sons," 12U coach Bart Pernai said.

There are three major aspects of Sportsleader that the coaches focus on -- charity, humility and courage. Pernai said the group is learning how to take ownership for their own game and own actions. The players have picked up on this aspect quickly.

"We work together and don't criticize each other if someone makes a mistake," catcher/infielder Drew Voss said.

"If someone gets down we always pick him up," Johnny Bylina added.

"We realize there's always another chance so just get it the next play," Brian Dusatka said.

The selflessness and charity have been evident. According to Brandon Kaminiski, the team volunteered at a Ronald McDonald House, where they served food. Also, Jim O'Brien and his 9U team have received national recognition for their jerseys. While most teams have the player's last name on the back of the jersey, the 9U team does not because they believe they are playing for the name on the front, not the back.

"We're just trying to be better people and set good examples," Drew Voss said.

Pernai's team has experienced some success on the field as well. The team is headed to Cooperstown this week to play against competition from across the nation. The winning could be a direct result of the Sportsleader lessons.

"It teaches the kids to give all you've got because you don't want to let your teammate down," Jonathan Voss said. "If the kids are able to do that, the winning takes care of itself. We say bust your tail for two hours and we will let the chips fall where they may."

Jonathan Voss has noticed not only a change with attitude on the field, but at home as well with his son, Drew.

"It's great to see his growth and maturity as he is being a good kid around the house, even if it's just taking out the garbage," he said. "He is taking a proactive role at home. I've seen all the kids bring that leadership they have off the field onto the field and it is raising their level of play."

For Voss, the biggest result from Sportsleader is the effect on family.

"The most important thing is the growth it brings as a family," he said. "Before the season we have dads hand out the jersey to their son and each dad told their son what he was proud of. It challenges the kids then to be leaders and take responsibility. This is the difference I want Victory Baseball to have on a young man's life, in any sport and in anything that they do."

Just because Victory Baseball won't be seen getting in another team's face or heard smack-talking, they should not be taken lightly.

"Some teams come in thinking we're soft, but I think our winning percentage speaks for itself," Voss said.

"We feel that anyone can go out and throw a baseball around and many teams are successful, but what matters is what the kids can do for the community and culture, and Sportsleader has taught us that. Not all professional athletes are positive so this is an opportunity for kids to get a positive impact. It's a process that we still need to get better, but it will only continue to grow."

Anyone interested in Victory Baseball should check out the team web site at www.leaguelineup.com/victorybaseballclubofjoliet. For more information on Sportsleader, go to www.sportsleader.org. There you can find more information on how to take responsibility as well as teach it, as Voss has done.

"I feel it's my responsibility to give these kids more than just a typical program, and Victory Baseball does that," he said.

Another great article can be found by clicking on the link below

http://regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=364&ca=198&te=782&id=26695

Eastern Hancock Team Camp

This week we had another SportsLeader Team Camp. This time with Eastern Hancock High School - a public school east of Indianapolis.

They brought 28 players, 4 coaches and 4 dads plus we had 5 other men observe and help in different capacities.

Toward the end of the camp I asked them to write what they liked best about the camp on an index card. Most of the players mentioned the same elements, which is no surprise. Some mentioned various aspects. Here are some of the stats:

"The competition" - 11 players
"Team bonding" - 10 players
"The Campfire" - 8 players
"The public speaking presentations" - 4 players
"The cold shower" - 3 players
I had never before witnessed such a passion for a cold shower. I guess 93 degree weather helps.
"Dodgeball" - 2 players
"Movie Clips" -1 player

Here are a few complete comments:

"I liked the team bonding and the competition atmosphere. I also liked the opportunity to lead my teammates to victory. It was a humbling and motivating experience." - SS# 12 QB

"I liked how this team camp allowed our team to both work together and compete against each other. I also liked how it brought us closer together not only as a team but as a family." - CN# 44

"I liked the team bonding because it's almost impossible for any team to get the type of bonding that we have without attending a camp like this." - Sam Pfaff # 6

"I liked the fact that our team actually opened up verbally and physically supported each other." - JD #63

"I liked the running, the campfire, the marshmallows and the people." - JTM #86

"I enjoyed it when we had our time to talk in front of the team. Some of the stories were very interesting."
- KC # 8

"I liked the challenges because it brought me and my teammates closer together. It felt like they were working for me and I worked for them. I just really liked the whole thing overall. It brought me closer to these guys."
- JG # 82

"I liked being out here having fun with all my friends." - KP # 3

Tips for Men on How to Be Great Dads

I highly recommend forwarding this article to all of your friends, coaches, co-workers, etc.

God bless, Lou

http://regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=364&ca=197&te=782&id=26561

Tips for Men on How to Be Great Dads

The dad is a child’s first experience of the love of God the Father, so he needs to be a strong protector and provider who is present in the children’s lives.

By Fr Michael Sliney, LC, and Matt Williams

Like God the Father, a dad should give his children a constant and stable love, providing what is good for his family unconditionally (“What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone?”Luke 11:11). This means providing what the children need, not necessarily what they want. It also means protecting them from what is harmful.

A dad cannot model God’s love if he is not present in his children’s lives as God is constantly present in all of ours. So modeling the love of God the Father also means being there, day in and day out. Sometimes the ordinary days are the most important in the long run.

With these thoughts in mind, here is a list of practical tips for being a great dad. With the generous help of Matt Williams, we once again interviewed moms, dads, and their children to help compile the following list:

1. Be Faithful to Your Spouse: The best gift you can give your kids is to have a great marriage. Love your wife unconditionally, openly and affectionately in front of your children.

a. Support her decisions and never openly undermine, criticize, or ridicule any discipline decision given by her in front of your children.

b. Be a unified front with her ensuring that she is always on the same page in any decision involving the kids.

c. Treat a child’s disrespect of their mother as a serious offense.

2. Be the Spiritual Head of the Family: A family’s faith has to come primarily from the dad. No matter how holy their mother is, it will be to no avail if you are not strong as well.

a. Live your faith openly in front of your children and teach/encourage them to do the same.

b. Offer daily prayers and sacrifices for your children.

c. Set spiritual goals for each of your children (reinforce a particular virtue).

d. Go to church and pray with your family (even if you are not Catholic).

e. Read Scripture to learn about God the Father so as to echo his paternal qualities.

3. Separate Work from Family Life: There is always more work to do. When you come home from work, you should separate from that world as much as possible.

a. Make an effort to come home at a reasonable hour and have a family dinner.

b. Shut down email and Blackberry from Friday through Sunday or while at sporting events, school plays, etc. (be engaged in what they are doing).

c. Be willing to spend significant time with your kids at night.

4. Be the Guardian of Your Daughter’s Virtue: Daughters will often marry someone like their dad. How you treat your daughter, encourage her to dress, etc., is often the measure of her virtue until her adolescence. She will gain confidence from her father and learn how guys are supposed to treat her.

a. Honor your wife in front of your daughters.

b. Go on Father/Daughter date nights (do what they like doing).

c. Leave girl things to girls: let your wife give her advice on girlfriends, gossip, cliques, and other feminine topics.

d. Give as much attention to your daughters as to your sons: this will directly impact her purity down the road (i.e. , no attention from her father will leave a girl looking for it from other men).

5. Be an Example for Your Children: No matter how much you tell your children what to do, it will have no effect unless you practice what you preach. What you do is carefully analyzed and assimilated.

a. Live by the standards you set for your children (especially as far as books, movies, and other media).

b. Be careful who you spend time with: your friends’ behavior will influence them as well (a side note: develop friendships with other dads to share experiences).

c. Avoid excess: drinking, TV, computer, etc.

d. Be an example of chivalry, ethics, honor, good language, and table manners.

6. Be Your Children’s Best Friend and Advisor: As a dad you should be approachable, someone your kids can turn to for whatever they need.

a. Be interested in what your kids are doing and even get to know their friends. Reach them where they are so as to help them.

b. Get your kids involved in work (lawn, cleaning car…) using it as an opportunity for formation.

c. Your advice really matters to your kids (take the time to explain key moral principles to your kids).

d. Seek to understand your kids and later to be understood by them (silence and listening are an important part of fatherhood).

e. Don’t treat every child the same (be sensitive to their differences).

f. Be generous in expressing pride and approval to your children (we love you, we’re proud of you, etc.).

g. Set clear expectations for your children.

h. Don’t make promises you cannot keep.

i. Give equal affection to all your children especially your sons (If a guy gets plenty of affection from his father, he will grow up to be an affectionate and compassionate man)

7. Be Present in Your Kids’ Lives: You cannot achieve any of this if you are not spending quantity time and quality time with your family.

a. Give them your undivided attention and avoid multitasking: if you are going to talk to you kids or do something with them focus completely on that.

b. Spend one-on-one time with each of your children: don’t have favorites (spend equal time & effort on each kid).

c. Try to take vacations that allow you to spend lots of time together: long road trips, camping, etc.

Great Article on the Need to help players after football - nutrition

FYI

From Sports Illustrated

This speaks volumes to the need to build men not just "machines" and to train coaches and personnel to really care for the lives of their players ...

God bless, Lou

I Want My Body Back

What happens to the biggest men on campus when their playing days end? Former Oregon linemen Jeff Kendall and Cole Linehan couldn't stomach being heavy off the field, so they gave up junk food and got serious about getting healthy

Less than six months ago Jeff Kendall and Cole Linehan were, as Kendall puts it, "Fat kids living the dream." They were senior linemen on Oregon's football team—Kendall on offense, Linehan on defense—and they shared a small two-bedroom apartment near Autzen Stadium on the outskirts of Eugene, a college town with blue-collar roots, where being a football player for the Ducks carries considerable cachet. But on Dec. 31, the day after Oregon's season ended with a 42--31 victory over Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl, Kendall and Linehan woke up to an unsettling reality: Neither had a future in football. There would be no invitations to the NFL scouting combine or to any training-camp tryout. Their football careers were over—or, as Kendall says, "All of sudden you go from being a fat kid living the dream to, well, just fat."

Tales of NFL prospects bulking up for the draft are common, but what about departing players who need to slim down? Less than 3% of college players go on to play professionally; the rest are left without the purpose and motivation for which they have been eating and lifting for years. "What happens most of the time, especially with the linemen, is that they are tired of working out and worn down from playing, and they just want to rest," says James Harris, Oregon's nutritionist and assistant athletic director. "They don't change the way they live and eat. A few years later they are 370 pounds and have serious health issues. It's a big, big problem."

A few former players such as the 6'3" Kendall and the 6'4" Linehan, each of whom once tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds, are outliers—examples of what can happen when athletes get guidance as their careers wind down. With Harris's support, the two linemen changed their eating habits and workout routines, and less than five months after the Holiday Bowl, they are "fat kids" no more, having lost 35 (Kendall) and 30 (Linehan) pounds, respectively. They feel as if they've gotten their bodies back, talk of being "normal" for the first time in years and relish simple pleasures such as walking without their knees aching.

"You realize that our bodies weren't meant to be that big," Kendall says. "As you get to be a size that is more what you are supposed to be, you feel so much better. You have more energy, you sleep better, your mood is better. It changes your life."

The majority of football players know surprisingly little about nutrition. At Nebraska the nutritional staff has used color-coded cards next to food served at its training table. Foods labeled with a green card (such as fruits, vegetables and lean meats) should be incorporated into every meal. Those tagged yellow (rice, pasta, potatoes) are meant to be eaten in moderation and increased on hard-workout days. Foods carrying a red label (cookies, prime rib, fried chicken, ice cream) are to be eaten sparingly.

A few other Division I schools use similar systems, but no more than two dozen athletic departments employ full-time nutritionists. Kristine Clark, a registered dietician whom Penn State hired as its director of sports nutrition in 1991, believes she was the first. Clark assumed other schools would follow suit, as they did after Nebraska became the first program to hire a strength and conditioning coach in '69. "But it just hasn't caught fire like I thought it would," she says. Some schools hire outside dieticians for 10 to 15 hours a week to counsel athletes on nutrition or use a consultant from the university's health services department, but many don't go even that far. Notre Dame, with its $9 million-a-year NBC contract, only recently consulted with Clark about implementing a nutritional program.

If so few schools offer dietary guidance to current players, imagine how little is available to the guys who have used up their eligibility. "Unfortunately you can't spend as much time as you'd like with the kids who are leaving, because you've got a class of freshmen coming in," says Rob Skinner, Virginia's director of sports nutrition.

Had Oregon not hired Harris away from Nebraska in 2007, Kendall and Linehan would likely have been among the fat and forgotten. They had seen the school's previous nutritionist—who had a part-time contract with the athletic department—only intermittently, and their eating habits reflected it. When Kendall felt he needed to add weight during his sophomore year, he ate two lunches a day, one at Panda Express and the other at Subway. At night he would lie in bed with a tin of processed nacho cheese resting on his stomach and a bag of tortilla chips by his side. Linehan had a fondness for Slurpees and the taquitos sold at 7-Eleven. "I used to hit those hard," he recalls with a wry smile.

During Kendall's and Linehan's senior season, Harris planted a seed. "Think about what you are going to do after the season ends," he would say. "I'm not going to let you sit around and get fat." He educated them about proper nutrition during the season and introduced them to the Bod Pod, an egglike capsule that analyzes an athlete's body composition, including the percentage of fat and muscle. (Linehan's body-fat percentage at the end of his senior season was 30%; Kendall's was 33%.) Then, after the Holiday Bowl, he pushed them to construct new diets and workouts. Linehan had surgery to repair a torn labrum shortly after the season ended, and Kendall had a third operation on his left wrist in February. Harris used that to their advantage: Neither player would be able to lift weights for months, which would force them to turn their focus away from the muscle-building that had once been the goal.

The methods Kendall and Linehan used to reclaim their bodies differed significantly. Kendall, who grew up in San Jose and Colorado Springs, was named to the Pac-10 Conference All-Academic team last season, and he plans to attend law school in the fall. (He has been accepted at six schools, including Oregon.) The science of nutrition—specifically studies about the effects of eating whole, unprocessed foods—became his obsession. He pored over articles by food experts such as Michael Pollan and then took what he learned to Harris for feedback. After reading that organic whole milk can help heal broken bones, Kendall found a farm 25 miles from Eugene that sold it and drove there every other week to buy a 1.5-gallon bottle.

His passion for nutrition was evident one morning in April as Kendall stood in his kitchen making an omelet. It was his "second breakfast," he explained. He eats a small meal when he wakes up and then a bigger one at 10 a.m. This one consisted of organic eggs with organic spinach and sauteed elk meat that he had gotten from the father of a teammate. "That way you know for sure there are no hormones in the meat," he said. Later he would take his eight-month-old bassett hound, Abigail, on a trek to the top of Spencer Butte in Eugene, his big workout for the day. He would choose the steepest route up the 700-foot incline. The reward was a clear view of the Willamette Valley. "I've been doing this weird thing called hiking, which is something that was totally foreign to me until recently," he says with a cackle.

Kendall believes his focus on nutrition helped him manage the psychological challenges of losing football. A few months ago his former teammate Max Unger, a center who was drafted by the Seahawks, stood in front of his house near campus and tried to figure out how to get his scooter, a 194-pound Honda Ruckus with a four-foot wheelbase, into the back of his pickup truck. "Unger finally just picks it up and clean-lifts it right into the back," says Kendall. "It hit me that I would never again be that strong. That [realization] might have been harder [on] me if I hadn't learned that just because I am not as big and strong anymore doesn't mean I'm not healthy."

Kendall's quick and total embrace of a new diet is unusual among football players. Amy Bragg, the director of performance nutrition at Texas A&M, finds it so difficult to change the eating habits of former players that she gives them a PowerPoint presentation that includes pictures of plates of food. "I show them what a postfootball plate [should look] like compared with a plate they were eating when they still played," she says. Still, many football players ignore such advice or never learn about nutrition at all, and the consequences can be dire.

Michael DeLaGrange preceded Kendall on Oregon's offensive line and weighed about 350 pounds when he finished his senior season in 2004. He returned to Grant's Pass, Ore., to run the family's insurance business that his father, David, had managed before dying of a heart attack in 2004. "Right away I started a job where I sat at a desk all day," says DeLaGrange, 27, who now weighs 400 pounds. "I can't be this big for the rest of my life, or it's going to be a short life. I know I need to do something, but it is hard to break old habits.... If I had gotten some support back when I finished playing, that would have helped."

There have been several studies of the health problems common among former NFL players, including one in 2006 that found obese players were more than twice as likely as their slimmer teammates to die before the age of 50, mostly because of weight-related illnesses such as heart disease. The wellness of former college football players, in contrast, has gone largely unexamined, although anecdotal evidence supports similar concerns. "I get e-mail from former players five or six years after they've left saying, 'I'm in trouble. Please help me. I am prediabetic or my cholesterol is very high,'" says Penn State's Clark. "It's so sad." Skinner, Virginia's nutritionist, says he recently received a plea for help from a player he worked with 10 years ago who now weighs 370 pounds. "I feel an obligation to try and help him," Skinner says, "but the goal is to get offensive and defensive linemen into what I call a 'deconditioning program' long before they get to that point."

If there is a common link among those who successfully got their bodies back after football, it is that they began the process almost immediately. If Kendall had waited even six months before changing his diet, he would likely have felt as offensive lineman Kirk Elder did not long after his career at Texas A&M concluded in 2007. "I was 24 when I was done and weighed about 310 pounds, but my body felt a lot older, and I was burnt out on working out," he says. "I just took it easy for the rest of the school year. I didn't realize that I was losing muscle and gaining fat even though my weight was the same." As summer approached, Elder noticed his weight ticking upward and felt lethargic. "My body wasn't producing as much testosterone, and I wasn't getting the endorphins I used to get from working out," he says. "I felt terrible."

Elder was hired as a graduate assistant coach at Texas A&M in early 2008 and reconnected with Bragg. "I am down to 280 now," he says. "If I get to 250, I should be able to go to the mall and buy pants off the rack. I haven't been able to do that for years."

Former Nebraska center Brett Byford weighed 305 pounds in May 2008 when he was cut by the Jets after signing as an undrafted rookie free agent. Sensing that his chances of playing in the NFL were slim, he returned to Lincoln and concocted a diet that would make a nutritionist cringe. "For the first week I just ate one meal a day. Then I fasted for two days," he said. "I know it wasn't healthy, but I needed to do it to let my body know that I was in charge."

Byford also tried to walk as much as he could. "If I was going to Wal-Mart, I would park as far away from the door as possible." He eventually began jogging around his neighborhood. "I would run to one light pole, then walk to the next one and then run to the [one after that]. A few days later I could run to two light poles. I just built it up like that—one light pole at a time. On the first day of September, three months after starting a diet in which he avoided unnecessary sugar and fat, ate more fruits, vegetables and lean protein, and drank "tons" of water to curb his hunger, Byford weighed himself. He was 230; he had lost 75 pounds in three months.

"I look back now and think losing all that weight so quickly was me psychologically burning a bridge," he says. "Late in the summer, an [NFL] team called and offered me a tryout, but I had already lost so much weight that it wasn't an option. It forced me to move on."

On May 4, approximately one year after he gave up football, Byford, who is down to 225 pounds, ran a marathon. "My quality of life is so much better [now]," he says. "I wish every one of my former teammates could feel like I feel right now."

Linehan, a Portland native who started 25 games for the Ducks, is unlikely to ever complete a marathon; he used to tell his fellow linemen that when football was over he'd never run again. But as Kendall focused on nutrition, Linehan consulted with Harris on new workouts that would help him shed weight and satisfy his competitive urges. He made changes to his diet (swapping chips for carrots, for example), but mostly he obsessed over the numbers that the Bod Pod spit out when Harris measured his fat and muscle. (His body-fat percentage was down to 24% as of April.) He tried any workout that would help him better his marks, and eventually settled on ... running.

"When I started I would jog for a couple of minutes and then have to stop and walk, but I built up my endurance over the weeks," Linehan says. "[Before] every run I'd say to myself, 'Ten minutes more. Ten minutes more.'"

Harris fed Linehan's competitiveness with passive-aggressive comments. On April Fool's Day he posted on the wall of Linehan's Facebook page, "Today is the only day I can say your body looks good." The taunts seemed to do the trick. "If James weren't here, I probably would have eaten the same and gradually worked out less," Linehan says. "We used to joke in the locker room about who was going to be the fattest lineman 10 years from now. I never thought it would be me, but if I hadn't gotten help, it could have been."

On a sunny Tuesday in April, Linehan went for a run on Pre's Trail near campus, named for former Oregon distance runner Steve Prefontaine. He picked up the trail near Autzen Stadium and ran a four-mile stretch along the Willamette River. Early in the run Linehan was passed by Nick Symmonds—winner of the 800 meters at the last U.S. Olympic Trials—who glided, shirtless, as if his feet weren't touching the ground. "Pretty soon I'm going to look like that," Linehan joked.

There was nothing smooth about Linehan's stride; he is still a very large man. But he found a comfortable pace, ticking off a mile about every nine minutes, and he just kept going, one mile and then two and then three. Not long after he turned around for the run back to his car, he saw a familiar figure walking toward him: Nick Aliotti, Oregon's defensive coordinator. "Cole Linehan running?" Aliotti shouted. "I never thought I'd see that!"

"Hey, Coach," said Linehan, who seemed a little embarrassed. Once Aliotti was behind him, the former fat kid smiled and picked up the pace. His last mile was his best.

A humble coaching staff

I had a wonderful experience yesterday ... did a SportsLeader training with a group of High School football coaches from a public high school in western Ohio. They found out about us because they were seeking ways to coach character and virtue more intentionally. They came to the coaches clinic back in March and they thought it was awesome.

They are among the most Godly, Christ Centered group of coaches I have ever been around - and they coach at a public school.
I was hitting on all cylinders and they wanted more ...

Head Coach comes back at one point with the pizza and he tells everyone to stand up and pray. It was inspiring.

The head coach also took it upon himself to write a letter and send it to all of the area churches surrounding the high school inviting them to be a part of the training and hopefully get there help and support. One youth pastor came - he was in tears during the training.

What courage! I felt about 1 inch tall but I loved it. It was moving. They coach 50 young men.

Great men are out there. Let's find them!

God bless, Lou