The Both / And Coach: Grow Your Roots

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The Both / And Coach: Grow Your Roots

Written by: Mike Walker

There are two things that should drive coaches to show up to work everyday energized and excited…

The first is simple: You should strive to give every athlete the opportunity to play for a championship. As Believers, we are called to do things to the best of our ability and to measure ourselves against that best. We want to build high-functioning programs and teach young people what it takes to pursue something difficult. We want them to learn how to prepare, sacrifice, compete, respond to adversity, and become the absolute best version of themselves. Pursuing excellence does not guarantee championships. Athletics doesn't work that way. But the striving is worth it. There is tremendous value in asking young people to commit themselves to something difficult and teaching them what it takes to pursue it with discipline and consistency.

The second is where the magic: We should aspire to have every athlete who comes through our programs to someday have a story about how God got hold of their life, and to not be able to share what God did without mentioning the experience and relationships of their sports team. We want relationships between coaches and athletes to be meaningful and impactful. We want our athletes to remember lessons that last far beyond the final score.

That is the BOTH / AND.

As Athletic Director at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Georgia, I am driven to make sure we have everything in place to be a BOTH / AND school. A BOTH / AND athletic department. A place where our head coaches can lead BOTH / AND programs.

We don't have to choose between competitive excellence and spiritual formation. We don't have to choose between pursuing championships and pursuing Christ. We don't have to choose between developing great athletes and developing great people.

We can—and should—do both.

In fact, I believe the combination of those two things is one of the great opportunities in all of athletics. Young people play differently when they understand why they are playing. They play more freely. They play with greater confidence. They are willing to give greater effort. They can handle failure better because the outcome of the game does not determine their identity.

At the same time, young people have an incredible opportunity to be a light in a dark world when they are good at what they do. Excellence creates a platform. Character gives that platform credibility. Relationships give us access to speak into a young person's life.

When coaches and athletes understand that connection, excellence becomes a byproduct of the proper perspective and the proper pursuit of competitiveness.

But building that kind of program requires more than a great mission statement. It requires coaches who understand that culture is caught before it is taught.

There is a picture I love to use when I talk about both/and leadership: a large, mature tree with enormous roots stretching deep beneath the ground.

If the branches of the tree are seen as impact, the roots become the character and personal growth of the coach. You see, your impact will never outreach your roots. If you desire to have a big impact on your athletes, tend your roots. Grow in your walk with the Lord, share your

growth with your athletes. Grow in your leadership capacity and also grow in your knowledge of the sport you are coaching.

Grow right in front of them.

Our athletes don't need us to pretend we have everything figured out. They need to see what it looks like to pursue growth. They need to see us admit when we're wrong, apologize, wrestle with disappointment, seek God when things don't go our way, and continue pursuing excellence when the results aren't what we hoped for.

They need to see that our faith isn't something we pull out for a pregame prayer and put away when the competition begins. They need to see that our faith actually informs how we live and how we lead.

Coaches, I encourage you to know your school's core values and know them so well that you can recognize them in action. When an athlete lives one out, celebrate it. When an athlete does the opposite, don't simply correct the behavior. Connect the moment back to the value. Give them a real-life example. Help them understand why it matters.

A coach that proclaims Christ and leads from that perspective should not simply have moments where we talk about God. Our faith should shape the way we lead. It should influence how we respond to losing, how we handle winning, how we treat officials, how we communicate with parents, and how we treat the athlete who starts every game and the athlete who rarely gets off the bench.

Your roots don't have to be perfect. They have to be growing. That matters more than ever because our athletes have changed. They have Google. They have ChatGPT. They have YouTube. Many have personal trainers, specialized coaches, podcasts, and an endless stream of information available to them.

They are not immediately impressed by us, and they typically don't give respect based on our title alone.

Our athletes may eventually discover our résumé. They may eventually learn where we played, who we coached, what championships we won, or what credentials appear behind our name.

But don't start there.

Be relevant. Be someone who adds value to their life. Then, when they want to know your story, tell them. The leader's résumé may open a door, but the relationship is what allows us to walk through it.

I Timothy 3:1 says that anyone who aspires to leadership desires a noble task.

I love that description of coaching. Coaching is a noble task.

But James gives us an equally important warning. James 3:1 says, "Not many of you should become teachers... because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."

That should cause every coach to pause.

Because whether we realize it or not, we are teaching every day.

We teach through what we say, but we also teach through what we tolerate. We teach through how we respond when we are frustrated. We teach through how we treat people who cannot do anything for us. We teach through how we respond when an official makes a bad call. We teach through how we handle success and how we handle failure.

The question isn't whether we're teaching. The question is what we're teaching.

Billy Graham is often credited with saying, "A coach will impact more young people in a year than the average person does in a lifetime."

Think about the weight of that.

A coach has an extraordinary platform, but also an extraordinary responsibility.

Marcus Aurelius wrote, "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one."

For the Christian coach, the application is straightforward. Don't spend all your time talking about character. Be a person of character. Don't spend all your time talking about faith. Live a life of faith. Don't spend all your time telling your athletes to grow. Make sure you are growing.

They may not understand everything happening beneath the surface. They may not appreciate it immediately. They may never tell you that they noticed.

But they are watching.

And eventually, the fruit tells the story.

That is why I believe so strongly in BOTH / AND.

Perhaps the greatest measure of our success won't ultimately be found in the trophy case.

Maybe it will be years later, when one of our former athletes sits across from us and says, "Coach, I don't remember every game we played. But I remember who you were. I remember how you treated me. I remember what you taught me. And somewhere along the way, God used

you to help change my life."

If that happens, then we will know we got the BOTH / AND right.

So keep chasing excellence. Keep pursuing championships. Keep building great programs. But while you are doing it, grow your roots.

Grow spiritually. Grow relationally. Grow professionally. And most importantly, grow right in front of your athletes.

Because the goal isn't simply to produce better athletes.

The goal is to use athletics to help produce better people.

And when we get BOTH / AND right, we don't have to choose between developing champions and developing disciples.

We get the opportunity to do both.