“We have to contend with self, with fear of failure, with expectation, with one another.”
I believe we have story in our DNA.
Something that, from the beginning of time, was at work to be encoded within us and connect us all--across time and cultures. Something that ministers to our collective souls when we see order come from chaos, good triumph over evil, or a perilous journey completed.
We see it regularly in the illustrations from scripture: the creation and order of a world, a liberation of a people from bondage, or a claiming of a land promised generations before.
I don’t think it’s an accident that the stories move us and the tenants resonate deep within. It’s part of our divine spark--ignited by the Creator Himself to set us apart.
As a coach, I get to render the foundational truths of these ancient stories to my athletes--to hopefully speak to their spirit. However, in a public-school setting, “Bible Speak” is translated to “Track Speak.”
Now let me clarify, for me, coaching has two distinct and separate realms:
One side is the business of Track and Field where we work to win championships. And that’s so important. It’s our responsibility to pursue excellence when athletes are trusting us to develop them and help them reach their potential. And, quite honestly, we’re good at it.
The other is impacting athletes in an influential time in their lives–challenging them and helping them to develop fortitude and richness of character. It’s the seat where life lessons are learned and young women refined.
On any given day on the Reagan track one can hear our girls echo our driving claims that exist separate from event execution or race expectation. These claims ground us in practice, orient us in competition, and inspire us in our dedicated leadership development.
Our First Claim: You are Here on Purpose for a Purpose
The message to my athletes is simple: As my athletes, you are not here by accident or by chance. You are here because of a conscious decision made to participate in this tribe. Something attracted you here–maybe just track or maybe something deeper within pulled you here, is grounding you here, is growing you here.
You may not know what yet; take heed.
We believe that we each bear the responsibility of identifying our purpose and pursuing it to serve our team.
Each person has a different role–not just as an athlete on the team, but a member of the tribe. Find it! Are you a servant? A cheerleader? A standard-bearer? A Listener? A watch-me-first risk-taker? A challenger? Thinker? Buffer?
Why are you here?
Maybe the athlete who thought she joined track to run the hurdles is actually tied here because she knows people, is sensitive to others’ needs, and her hand is the first one extended to a teammate in a dark time. Maybe hurdles are the catalyst for a life saving interest in another human being–on purpose for a purpose.
Can the manifestation of this truth find its roots in the story of a Jewish wife to a Persian king who, in an unlikely place at an unlikely time, risked much to take a stand and save a nation?
Maybe “You are Here on Purpose for a Purpose” was woven in long ago.
Our Second Claim: Pressure is a Privilege
Difficult is necessary!
A race burned into the memory of an athlete is not typically a coast-to-the-finish, win-by-a-mile kind of race. No, the ones we remember are the ones we have to fight to win–and so it is with life.
At my very core, I BELIEVE in contending. In facing the dragon. In living in tension.
I believe we have to contend with our potential to accomplish it. It takes steely nerve to even think about trying to fully contend. We have to contend with self, with fear of failure, with expectation, with one another.
But we hold that pressure is a privilege, for no matter if we win or lose, a better woman stands on the other side.
This mantra is our team’s lifeblood.
The story of a young boy, turned future King, courageously trusting the Lord and facing down a giant when others wouldn’t is the same story as the girl facing a set of starting blocks that loom between her comfort and a race that will test her mettle as she battles a force seemingly bigger than a giant–her very own will!
Whether she meets victory or defeat, a better version of herself crosses the finish line and that’s the MOST we can hope for.
These stories of courage–generations apart–stir our blood in similar ways and point to one author–He who crafted the motif long ago: Pressure is a Privilege.
Our Third Claim: Process Over Outcome
Plastered on my desk at work is the quote, “The problem with shortcuts is that you arrive prematurely and unprepared.”
We cannot control the outcomes–we can’t even know all of the outcomes, so our team chooses to focus on the process. Our competition goals center around execution or attitude–not distances, times, or places.
We commit to settling into the journey and slowly chipping away at technique, at fitness, at mental strength–knowing that, in the end, a slowly chiseled product is our best hope of something we can truly be proud of. This process takes years to see to fruition–if we even do, but we surely can build more equipped human beings in the process.
We accept this delayed gratification and choose to run with endurance because we’ve heard the story of an improbable leader who spent forty years in bondage followed by four decades in the wilderness, whose story is punctuated with, “but then God…”
The faith present when crossing the Jordan is the birthplace of the faith at work when an athlete decides to compare herself to who she was yesterday not who someone else is today–committing to be better every day.
As a coach, awakening in my athletes what’s encoded in us all: that they have a responsibility to pursue purpose beyond track and field; that, to be fulfilled, they should embrace pressure-filled moments in their lives; and that choosing process over outcome brings the hope of being equipped for life, bears far more weight than teaching the phases of triple jump or how to exchange the baton in a relay.
All that’s left is to link our universal story DNA, hammered out in tenants learned in sport, to the One who sparked the narrative. For some it’s family, or friends, a church, or a campus organization like FCA that points the way to purpose, responsibility, and fulfillment.
Through FCA, I have seen “Track Speak” get connected to its inspiration as the coach who futilly tries to live out the example of Christ to her athletes can actually introduce them to Christ.
An unforgettable moment for me occurred during a Fields of Faith event at Reagan High School. Hundreds of athletes were in attendance. The invitation came for students to come forward if they wanted to receive Christ.
I will never forget making eye contact with one of my athletes sitting down the bleacher from me. Her look was marked with question: Coach? Should I?
I kept her gaze and nodded.
She stood straight to her feet–no hesitation.
Coaches were then invited to come down and pray over their athletes and as I made my way down the bleachers, I heard, “Coach! Wait!” as another one of my girls grabbed my hand and followed me down the stairs.
Praying over my athletes who had just then taken their first steps for Christ was one of the most meaningful moments of my career.
I’d like to think that my stand gave my athletes the courage necessary to take those steps. I wouldn’t trade that moment for any amount of coaching success. For my athletes, in that moment, the link of FCA helped it all make sense. For me that day, I had hope that my athletes would recognize that the journey had run through track and had traveled full circle–back to the Author of their story.
My hope is that athletes in my program develop the skills of track and field but find the markers of how to make sense of life.
And in life as they’re introduced to the spiritual stories of a hero conquering all, a prisoner finding joy in suffering, unlikely leaders facing down an enemy, or a heroine who garnered the strength to save a nation, maybe truths told through track will resonate:
You are here on purpose for a purpose; pressure is a privilege; be patient with the process.
And they’ll feel the connection not only to the ones who lived the same story generations before, but more importantly to the One who authored all of our stories across time–the One who brings order from chaos, whose goodness triumphs over evil, and who ever guides our perilous journeys.
From David, to Esther, to Joshua and to my athletes today–God’s relentless pursuit of his children and undeniable presence in our lives has inked every page.
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