Sterling's Last Game

By Creg

What a difference 2 years makes. Last year was Sterling's first season of playing tackle football. He joined a home-school team for Jr High kids & I volunteered to help coach. If you know Sterling very well you probably thought the same thing I did when he asked to join the team. This soft-spoken, mild mannered, polite, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly personality wants to play tackle football? The kind where you try to knock people down & get hit by other guys! He remembers his first play in last years first game saying, "I was so nervous I was shaking." By his last game this year, a 24-12 victory against Dallas Lakehill Prep Academy, he was a dominant player on offense & defense. He was the only player on our team who could tackle #42, their fullback, by himself.

 

Sterling, #50 with black elbow pads, lining up on offense, across from Mr. Big.

 Sterling was the team leader in total tackles, tackles for loss, & QB sacks. He was the most improved player on the team.

Sterling beats his blocker & sacks their quarterback

Sterling drive-blocks his man downfield.

 

On the sidelines with Steele, Sierra, Sterling, & Creg.

When I quit teaching 4 years ago I thought my coaching days were done. These past 2 years coaching Sterling's team made me realize how beneficial my 19 years of experience were. I coached under some excellent coaches in Abilene &what I learned allowed me to help this team prepare & be competitive in games against bigger & stronger teams. I'm not the same coach I was in my first few years of being on the sideline. My philosophies & strategies have changed as I've learned the ins & outs of different offenses & what makes plays work.

Thinking about Sterling's growth & maturity as a player and mine as a coach got me to relate this idea to spirituality. If we've been a Christian for decades & still have the same beliefs about everything, have we grown any? Obviously I'm not talking about the absolutes of Jesus, God & the Bible. I'm thinking of the "disputable matters" that Paul talks about in Romans 14. If our ideas about these matters haven't changed in 20 years, have we really been studying & challenging ourselves? Doesn't maturity involve change?

Part of Sterling's growth as a player involved a lot of difficult practices where he pushed himself to get better. Part of my growth as a coach was to listen to different offensive philosophies so I could compare them to what I knew & then make a decision based on those differences.

Maybe part of us growing spiritually is listening to those who have differing opinions on the "disputable matters" where we push ourselves to understand & maybe accept other views. And it might be difficult.