I'm coaching now. Tonight was the first practice for my team, the Heat! The Heat consist of 12 2nd and 3rd graders. We have 10 guys and 2 gals. They're a good group of kids.
Previously I've coached Middle School baseball and 4-6th grade basketball. This group of 2nd and 3rd graders is a whole different monster :)
I spent most of my college years running an after school program for students 1-5 at what is now called Liberty Christian Academy. I also served as a substitute teacher, camp counselor and one summer was the director for their Summer Care Program. I've had a lot of experience with little ones. Being that for the last 6 years I've worked mostly with teens and adults, it was cool to get back in there with these little bottles of energy.
Some basics I remembered quickly:
1. The age/minute rule: A quick guide to attention span is to use the person's age. Therefore I broke practice up into 7 minute increments (give or take a minute or so) to keep the kids engaged. One parent commented about that afterwards. He noticed the difference it made.
2. Distractions are killer: Try talking to a dozen 7 & 8 year olds for any length of time. First of all it's next to impossible in a gym. Secondly if there is any distraction... you can guarantee that they will NOT hear you.
3. The name is the sweetest sound a person can hear. Being the first day I was stumbling over a few of the kids names. I got about half right away but not everyone. Toss in the mix the fact that I have a pair of twins... yeah.... moving on...
4. The quiet kids need attention too! In groups of kids you're tempted to just try to pay attention to the ones making mistakes or bouncing the ball when they are to listen... or getting the ball out when they are on the sideline... or smacking a friend in the head during a team huddle (all of which happened more than once today). But you have to be sure the quiet kid gets face time too.
5. All of us need encouragement. I'm a very competitive person (surprise I'm a planter)... But over the years I've toned it down a lot! As a teen I would curse myself out if I didn't play up to my ability. I'm serious... I wouldn't fight TOO MUCH with others... Most of the time I was saying my own name followed by an explicative. I found people in my life to encourage me along the way and it helped me to be less tough on myself. I find this ugly trait creeping up in my church life now and then... Although I don't curse anymore... I do get on myself sometimes too much. I'm fortunate to have encouragers in my life to love me back into gear. Kids are the same way. They know if they missed a shot... they know if they lost the ball. But the team can be a great enouragement instead of a negative enforcer. I'm already having our kids clap and cheer for each other. It's vital to them!
6. No one can do it alone. Sure you can do it but it will suck. (Yes I'm a Pastor and I say suck, get over yourself) Anyway, I had the help of a father named Gene (he's not Catholic... he's a dad to a kid on the team, although maybe he is Catholic... I dunno). Gene was a big help. Parking at our Y is terrible (it's the hottest ticket in town in January at 7pm mid-week). I was a minute or two behind. Gene had already gotten the team in a quick drill and all through the practice he did a great job. He's knowledgeable and took charge when I asked him to and he let me lead the practice with no questions... he is a huge asset. Compare this with the coach on the other half of the gym who was by himself. He was forced to run the team like a military camp b/c how else do you control everyone? He was yelling and blowing whistles and all... kinda crazy. I'm glad I had gene.
APPLICATION:
Hopefully you've already seen the application for churches (especially church planting!)
1. Age/minute rule: I can count on one hand the speakers I want to hear for more than 30/45 minutes at a time.
2. Distractions are Killer: How are our environments. God's word is amazing but if you have an air conditioner blowing constantly, it's a distraction that prevents a person from hearing it. If your projector is on the fritz... forget it... turn it off, don't try to fix it and cause a bigger distraction, etc.
3. The name is the sweetest sound a person can hear. Learn names and smile. Want a trick? If you forgot someone's name but you know that you should know it... have a friend introduce themselves. Your friend will say "Hi, I'm Bob" and the person will say "Ohh, Hi Bob, I'm Greg"... Then you as the super-pastor can follow with "Yeah Bob, Greg is a pretty cool guy... we enjoy seeing him hear." Now you're a stud. So many people don't know how to handle something like that so they ignore Greg for fear of failure. Have no fear... you read Tally's blog!
4. The quiet kids need attention too! I'm a big proponent of this one. I hate squeaky wheels. They say "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." But I say "The squeaky wheel gets replaced." I love people but after one or two conversations I have to focus on the rest of those I'm entrusted to lead. I've always tried to become a big defender for the quiet ones. They get shafted too much.
5. All of us need Encouragement: I'm bad at this if left to myself. For those close to me I think I do a good job but for the acquaintance out there I have to remind myself to do this. The other day I scheduled it as a to-do and followed through on cards and calls. Either Ed or Andy touch on this (I think it's Ed)... Anyway... they say something like "Celebrate the ones who put the ball through the hoop and score the touchdowns"
6. No one can do it alone: Ben and Gary have kicked my tail on this recently. I was great at this when we launched but I've leveled off on asking more people to join me in this church. I've only recently pushed our people on involvement... we're doing well for the core we have... but I always have to keep reminding myself to involve more and more people. You must not do this thing alone! Get assistant coaches. And get people who can outshine you in different areas... Drop your ego and get something done.
So, there you have it. Some observations from a basketball practice.
By the way, at the end of the night tonight one of my kids comes up to me and says
"So, I hear you're a Preacher!"
I smiled big and said "You hear that huh?"
He said "Yeah!"
I said "I don't really call myself a 'Preacher' but yeah I guess that works...."
He said "So what are you?"
I said "I'd say I'm a Pastor."
Without missing a beat he says as if he was 20 years older "Yeah... It's a big difference."
I said "Sure..."
The kid is like 8 years old!
It was so funny!
(I gave the parents a quick bio last week in a parent's meeting. In it I said something like "My wife won't bring Lawsuits [she's a legal secretary] to the games so I don't plan to bring my Pastoral hat either... I just want to encourage your family in any way possible this season and give your kids a great year.")
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