Last Updated: 23 January, 2011

"God-Talk" for Coaches


The Goal: To explore various ways to incorporate the Catholic Faith into your team’s practice time.

The Objectives:
At the conclusion of this presentation you will have…

1. Learned how other coaches insert prayer and spirituality into their team’s practices
2. Identified the stage of spiritual coaching at which you currently operate
3. Reviewed ways and means to further increase the faith content of your coaching instruction


Part One: An Overview of One Coach’s Approach
Here are some of the ways I incorporate prayer and talking about Christ into practice. First, I think one of the keys to "getting to" the kids is to get them involved.

• I get them all together and ask them..."who prayed today?" Then I ask some of the ones who say "yes" what or who they prayed for. At first some of the kids will be hesitant. But, after a few practices they will be jumping up and down and asking to tell their prayer first. I use this to remind them that prayer should be an everyday activity. 

• Ask if anyone has anything special that they want to pray for. I always get plenty of volunteers for that. 

• Ask someone to read a page out of our prayer book. Again, at first some may be hesitant, but soon you will have to assign a schedule for reading out of the book, because they all will want to every time. 

• Ask someone to pick a prayer, or lead the team in prayer.

     I think another key is to stay current or relevant. In other words bring up things going on in the parish ( Dave Smith's funeral) or top stories in the news ( hurricane relief efforts). It takes a little extra thought, but relating things in children’s lives to Christ, and being Christian, is very powerful.
     As far as to the timing; I like to use time somewhere in the middle of practice or pre-game warm-ups. I believe it is a psychological factor. I don't want prayer to be something at the beginning (let's get this over with), or at the end (as an afterthought). I want prayer to be "in the heart" of what we do.
     On a practical note, the middle is much better. On every team there are players who will be late for practice or games (thus missing prayer at the beginning). And the end of practices are far to hectic. Making sure all players are being picked up, gathering equipment, making sure the lights are turned out, etc... I don't want prayers to feel rushed.


Part Two: Stages of “Spiritual Coaching”

Stage One: Recited Prayers 
Prayers of this sort (the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the St. Al’s Team Prayer, etc.) help focus the team’s efforts and place the benefits of the sport within the framework of team-building and character development. When engaging this stage of spiritual coaching, coaches must endeavor to demonstrate personal sincerity as they lead the team in prayer and guard against “using” the prayer merely for the purpose of “calling to order.”

Stage Two: Applied Prayers
These are prayers that are accompanied with comments (from the coach or the kids). As seen in the above example, the comments can be directed toward a current event, a need in the community or an objective of the team (i.e. a prayer for faster feet, a united spirit, etc.)
The inclusion of input from the kids for “applied prayers” is an excellent idea.

Stage Three: Casual Faith Comments 
Coaches have certain phrases that they use over and over in order to drill a particular concept into the mindset of their team: “We play to win, we learn when we lose.”
Here are examples of phrases that connect “the Sport” to “the Faith:”
• Your best effort is your best prayer
• Strong on the court…strong for God
• Reach deep, reach for Christ
• Team-work is God-work

Stage Four: Applied Faith Comments
Coaches confront situations as teaching opportunities. Some of the most effective insights are conveyed not on the floor, but after a practice (or after laps have been run!) when some kids need to be pulled aside and some sort of “talk” is called for.
Here are a few instances of applying insights from Scripture and the faith:
     • Situation: Two boys on the team get into a fight: “Before you
        shake hands, I want you to realize that you’re not just 
        teammates, you’re brothers. Christ calls us brothers, got it?”
     • Situation: A player lacking in skill gets picked on: “When you make someone
        feel small, you know what happens? You make yourself smaller. The Bible
        tells us to build others up, not tear them down. You want others to look up
        to you? Then put others first, and that means everyone.”
     • Situation: There comes a point in the season when the team loses spirit and
        just doesn’t “get it:” “Kids, you’re not focused. You’re not “running the good
        race.” Have you heard those words before? They’re from St. Paul. He says
        we all “have to run the good race.” That’s what God expects! When you
        commit yourselves, you got to give…and keep on giving. It’s what God
        expects of you.”
     • Situation: The team loses: “We’ll learn from this. It’s like that tiny mustard
        seed that Jesus talked about. We’ll learn from our mistakes. We’ll turn them
        into seeds, plant them and a sturdy tree is going to sprout from these tiny
        seeds.”
     • Situation: Some players aren’t getting “play time:” “When God led Israel
       through the desert, they was a lot of grumbling. They couldn’t see the
       Promised Land up ahead; they couldn’t see ‘the bigger plan.’ There’s a ‘big
       plan’ at work here and you’re a part of it. What is God teaching you through
       it?”