Volume 18, Issue 4 | September 18, 2018
Love
Watch the video above and consider what St. Ignatius High School teacher and coach Anne Stricherz has to say about the importance of love in coaching. Consider that loving your athletes may be the most important thing that you do as a coach.

At the beginning of each of our Play Like a Champion Clinics, we ask coaches to share about a coach who made an important impact in their lives. While the characteristics of the coaches may be different for each individual, there is one particular attribute that repeatedly comes up in every session we do. The coaches who make the biggest impact in our lives are memorable because they cared about us as people, not just as athletes.

So how can we improve the relationship we have with the players on our teams? Ask them about how life is going off the field or court, paying attention to what they say so you can continue to check-in. Be empathetic. Put yourself in the shoes of the athlete and try to understand where he or she is coming from. Admit when you make mistakes and ask for input in the team throughout the season (giving Ownership demonstrates that you care by making the team athlete-focused). We should be aware at all times of the message we are sending through our words and actions: does it put the athlete first or suggest that the coach is the most important person in the room?

Love is at the very core of the Christian experience. God is Love. By demonstrating this love to others we can answer His call to be an effective Coach Minister and make a tremendous impact in the lives of the children on our teams.
The Weekly Game Plan

When you attended your first Play Like a Champion coach clinic, you were invited to complete a "Coaching for Character Game Plan." This is the most important Game Plan you will create all seasonbecause if you coach as a minister, all the X's and O's will fall into place.  Click Here to Print and Complete a
renewed Coaching for Character Game Plan
for this sport season. Pay particular attention to the second question: "How will you commit to be a 'Coach Minister' this season."
Share your Game Plan with your fellow coaches, your athletes and their parents, so your whole community understands your broader purpose in coaching: to create excellent athletes and a winning team - not just in the physical sense, but socially, morally and spiritually. 
Last Week to Register & Win!
Time is running out to register for the #wechampionPLAY contest! On Friday, September 21st we'll be giving away a free registration for the 2019 Play Like a Champion Sports Leadership Conference. Click Here to visit the official site and enter the contest for free to have a chance to win. Then get in the game and tell us how you champion PLAY!
A Prayer for the Servant Leader
Lord, as we discern the meaning of our call to servant leadership, help us recognize the ways you seek to minister through our lives. Inspired by the knowledge of your abiding presence, may we have the courage to reach out and support one another, to stand firm in what is true, to decrease when others should increase, and to lead with vision and compassion, as faithful followers of Jesus, your Son. We make this prayer to you in His name. Amen.
Check out our Online Prayer resource for a sort-able library of prayers for teams & more!
Play Like a Champion Today Educational Series
PO Box 72, Notre Dame, IN 46556 | information@playlikeachampion.org