The Best Coach in the World

When our son was six we signed him up for baseball. In typical proud daddy fashion, it wasn’t long before I was an assisstant coach, then a head coach, leading to a youth coaching career that lasted eight years. During those eight years, my love of the game was surpassed only by my love of working with young athletes.

The best part about coaching youth sports is the players. I enjoyed and appreciated every single one of them. Even though not all players possessed the same talent, as a coach, it was my duty to take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of each player, then devise strategies to mold a collection of players into a team. To do this, I spent hundreds of hours doing research, learning the fundamentals of baseball, the footwork, and the proper techniques. About half of this research time was spent simply learning how to coach young people. Whenever a parent would complain to me about how I managed their player, I would remind them they were only concerned with one player, and that I, too, am concerned with their player, but that I am also responsible for the entire team.

If the players are the best part of youth sports, the worst part is the parents. I’ve talked to many youth coaches at different levels in different sports, and we are all of the same mind. To be fair, not all parents fall into this category, but if one bad apple spoils the whole barrel, it only takes one or two parents to turn a season into a lifetime. During one of my last seasons coaching, I had a delightful young man on my team named Doug. Doug never complained and was always happy to play any position. He had very little experience, but a fantastic attitude. One of the other players on the team was an unusually tall young man named Kelvin. At twelve years old, Kelvin stood six feet tall and was quickly becoming man-strong. And he had talent.

No matter how I managed Doug, his mother was never satisfied. Other parents would come up to me after games and tell me that all during the game her entire monologue was a negative appraisal of my coaching skills. Contrast that with Kelvin’s mom. Kelvin could throw a ball harder than most players two or three years older than him. He could also swing a bat with authority. After some basic instruction on pitching and hitting, Kelvin became quite proficient at both. One game in particular, Kelvin had an all-star performance both pitching and hitting. His fastball overpowered the opposing batters. They got a couple of hits and a few walks, but other than that it was a long day for them. When Kelvin came to the plate they did their best to pitch around him, but with arms longer than most players’ legs, that was difficult. One particular at bat, Kelvin turned on a fastball and easily cleared the center field fence. About forty feet beyond the fence sat a brand new BMW, parked along the curb, still sporting paper plates and the sticker in the window. As luck would have it, Kelvin’s ball landed smack in the middle of the BMW’s roof, making a dent about three inches deep and three feet in diameter. Needless to say, we won the game and Kelvin got the game ball; the same one that hit the BMW. After the game, Kelvin’s mother proclaimed me the best coach in the world as Doug’s mother huffed away in anger.

Throughout my tenure as a youth coach, I coached my players to take things in stride. Some games they would play better than others, but to always learn from the experience. Over the years I had been told many things as a coach, some complimentary and some not so complimentary. The stark difference in the evaluation of my skill as a coach by Doug and Kelvin’s mothers helped me realize  the only parents who had ever expressed a negative opinion of my coaching skills were those of the least talented players. The parents of the more gifted players tended to view me as good coach.

In my life, I have encountered many people who deny either the existence of God or his omnipotence. If God is so good, they ask, why did so many bad things happen to me? It’s as if they are basing their acceptance of God on whether or not God has blessed them with the talents they want, rather than appreciating God and wanting the talents with which He has blessed them. Ephesians 2:8 tells us “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God;” Just as our talents, including that of playing baseball, are a gift, so is our faith. God gives us exactly what we need to accomplish His plan for us. Just like a good coach, He enjoys and appreciates every one of us. He does not endow us all with the same gifts because He has different plans for each of us. He takes stock of our strengths and weaknesses and devises strategies to mold a collection of individuals into His church. His concern is for each of us individually, but beyond that He is concered for His entire church. He does this because He is not just a good coach, He is the best coach in the world.