1.6.20
Quote/Thought of the Week
HBCA/FCA Tournament Scheduled
February 22–23 in Washington County
Many more details will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks about the upcoming HBCA/FCA basketball tournament for boys and girls in grades 2-8. The tournament will be called the Southern Indiana Championships and will be hosted by Salem, West Washington, and Eastern Pekin High Schools in Washington County, smack dab in the middle of the HBCA. The event will raise money for the HBCA scholarship foundation and FCA ministries in southern Indiana. Mark the dates and share information with all coaches in your feeder programs.
One of the best things about the tournament is that we will have a Sunday morning devotional at Salem HS prior to games getting started. Because teams, coaches and families will be away from home we are going to give them this time to come in and have some prayer, devotional, and message time with members of the FCA staff.
Coaches Insider Drills and Videos
2 Dribbles Max . . .
Coach Saddi Washington of the University of Michigan discusses the number one rule to help post players from holding on to the ball too long.
Dr. Dish Drills of the Week
Louisville X-Out Close-outs
In this team shooting drill, Coach Sam Purcell of the University of Louisville Women's Basketball program demonstrates a great drill to work on finishing at the rim. The drill also incorporates pivoting, attacking the basket, finishing in multiple directions, and outlet passes.
Message from Coach Thompson
One Word
It’s hard to simplify life. Narrowing the focus seems impossible. Over this past year, you may have been asked hundreds of times, “How is it going?” Your response was probably something like, “I have been SO busy!” You never hear someone say, “I’ve had so much time on my hands, and I’m looking for something new to do.” That person doesn’t exist.
As an athlete or coach, you have tons of responsibilities, and your schedule is crazy. You feel like you are sprinting on the field and also sprinting in life. That is why we need to be intentional about clarifying and simplifying life. For the past fifteen years, we have been sharing with many people the simple discipline of developing just one word as a theme for the upcoming year. That is right, just One Word. We decided to stop listing the resolutions and start living One Word. And it has become catalytic.
In the movie, “City Slickers,” there is a scene that reveals the value and magnitude of one thing. Billy Crystal plays Mitch, a vacationing businessman who, along with two friends, takes on the adventure of a cattle drive. In the middle of the drive, a rough-necked cowhand named Curly tells Mitch that the secret to life is just one thing. Curly emphasizes the point by holding one finger up and saying, "You need to stick to that one thing." To this, Mitch replies, "What is that one thing?" Curly responds back, "That is what you gotta figure out."
Curly is not a Bible scholar, but he does recognize the power of just one thing. Even though the Bible does not have the phrase “One Word theme," it is interesting to note that the phrase "one thing" appears five times in the Bible: once in Philippians and four times in the Gospels.
In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul uses the phrase "one thing" to bring focus and clarity to his calling. In Luke 10:42, Jesus says to Martha, "only one thing is needed." Both Luke 18:22 and Mark 10:21 include His words to the rich man and express a lack of "one thing." John 9:25 also includes this phrase as the blind man tells the Pharisees, "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" In the same way that Scripture uses these words, we also can put it to use by asking God to reveal a One Word theme for us this year.
When we first started this process, half of the fun was choosing the word for the year, but we have learned that it is not necessarily us who chooses the word, but rather God who reveals it to us. God can, indeed, drop an anointed, specific word into your soul. In our first few years, we admit that it was 99 percent us picking the word and one percent God speaking. Even so, God still used it! But as we became more experienced in the process, we learned to really listen and watch for God's leading in selecting the word. You want a God-word, not just a good-word.
Every day, you'll be blessed as you experience God revealing to you powerful truths about your One Word theme. Everywhere you turn, there will be new insights and valuable lessons associated with that word. Enjoy the process and remember: just One Word. Not a phrase. Not even two words. Narrow the focus for life change. Just One Word.
FCA Message from Jason Brand & Billy Holder
The Magnifier and the Magnified
Ready
"And Mary said: 'My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me-holy is his name.His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.'" Luke 1:46-55
Set
There is no doubt that Mary was well acquainted with the Old Testament Scriptures and the covenant of loyalty and love God had made with her people. Upon reading her song of worship, you might even notice the similarities of hers to Hannah's in 1 Samuel 2. Her knowledge and her belief preceded her song. To magnify something is to increase its size. As all of the properties of that something increases, the magnifier begins to fade away. The magnifier's perspective changes. Receiving a promise to have your pain and sin alleviated will change your perspective. We must magnify Him to the highest power so to see our throbbing pain of self-sufficiency replaced with the glow of joyful humility.
A cultural shift has zapped our world not only rebalancing our scales of autonomy and collectivity but rewriting them altogether. Timothy Keller puts it best when he says, "to serve someone else's promotion and success does not compromise your dignity and greatness. Rather, it establishes it". This is exactly what Mary exemplified throughout her song. Her song of magnification is not shared with us in order for us to adore her but rather, to magnify her Son along with her. Mary reveals her deepest affections when she meditates on what God has already done for her. Like her, the things we do in private will show us exactly what our deepest affections are and are not. Ask yourself these questions?
What does my soul magnify?
What does my spirit rejoice in?
How do I try to be my own savior?
Go
Athletes, let's not kid ourselves by thinking we are stand-alone unstoppable. And coaches, by thinking your story of victory is shared because of your sole contribution. Jesus' arrival, life, and death violated every boundary known to man. For the sake of His Name, Mary's were overstepped as well. Nonetheless, there are many people whose knowledge of the truth depends on us. This extends across boundaries of age and culture. "From generation to generation" Mary says, the way in which the older treats the younger and the younger the older will vitalize or quench, magnify or shrink the sharing of this truth. To the coach and the athlete, the parent and child, remember that the way generations treat one another bears great weight in the passing of biblical truth from one generation to the next.
Overtime
Lord, You say in Your Word that you give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). Move my desires to be Your desires! You are the only thing in my life that deserves to be magnified. Give me opportunities to share this life-changing truth with people that are both older and younger than me and most of all, help me to take these opportunities. Thank You for the reminder Christmas brings me of Your willingness to humble Yourself. In the Name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
This devotional comes from FCA Resources.
Contact Us
Coach Thompson - coachthompson44@gmail.com - @coachthompson44
Luke Zeller - lukezeller@distinxion.org - @lukezeller40 and @distinxion
Patrick Kohan - patrick@coachesinsider.com
Nick Bartlett - nick@drdishbasketball.com
Jason Brand - jbrand@fca.org