Tag Archives: soccer

Never Quit

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Some of you know that I help out at the girls’ summer practices and open fields. It gives me an opportunity to help support an organization I believe in while getting to know the coaches and students better so we have fun with the photos I take during the season. On Wednesday, the girls were faced with the dreaded Cooper Test.

Based on what I’ve read, we do a variation of the test. We run three laps on the track, rest for 60 seconds, then sprint one more lap. On of the students needed a partner to track their time, so I decided I’d jump in and run it as well.

Brutal.

In the second group, one of the other students was hurting pretty bad by the end of her three laps. We all encouraged her to give it her best shot. She needed some extra rest, then she went to walk the last lap with a few of us to make sure she was alright.

But then something really cool happened. We got to the last 100 meters, and she says out loud, “I’m finishing this,” and she took off on a sprint. I hollered, “I’m right there with you,” and we sprinted out the last part of that test.

The interesting thing is at this point, the coaches and the rest of the team was already moving to the next part of practice. She didn’t have to do anything other than walk it out. But instead, she wanted to finish…and finish strong.

I’m so proud of these girls.

Thanks for reading,
Jon Cole

Unity

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Coach Bechtel sent the girls on their water break yesterday during practice. They sat in the shade to recoup and chat with each other. Then, something really cool happened.

I hadn’t noticed that the freshmen had sat down in their own little group away from the rest of the team at first. Then, one of the veterans hollered toward the freshmen, “hey…come over with us. We don’t bite! You’re a part of this team!”

This is one of the many reasons I love this team. They are one. They are family. They have each others’ backs. And they don’t leave anyone behind.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen some churches who could take a lesson from my girls. We’re all in this together.

Team Huddle 2011

2011

Thanks for reading,
Jon Cole

86,400

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Friday was the first official day that coaches could hold practices with the girls. I was looking forward to it, so I worked out my schedule so I could be there, too. It was fun, throughout the day, to see the girls posting via Facebook and Twitter how excited they were to get back to the game they love.

During water breaks, the coaches would talk to the girls about what is expected and mindsets they should have going into this season. Coach Laux came forward with a sheet of paper that had “86,400” on it. He asked the girls what they thought it meant. One of the freshman almost immediately called out the answer.

86,400 is the number of seconds in one day. Coach wanted to be sure that the girls realized that every second is a chance to do something…a chance to work toward a goal. He reminded the girls that you can’t save those seconds. Once they are gone, they are gone.

I thought about all this while he was relating his life experience to the girls in order to encourage them to keep moving forward. Yes, he was encouraging them to work hard in soccer and do their best. But he was also, without going into a lot of detail, was encouraging them in their lives. There are people all around us…friends, family, classmates, co-workers, etc…that are impacted by  what we do. We don’t know how many sets of 86,400 we will get.

Case in point: one of my best friends had updated his Facebook tonight with something that told me he had something on his mind. I got on the phone with him to find out that while he was driving home from a day trip he took, he witnessed a horrendous accident. The thing is: he had just changed lanes on the highway when another vehicle slammed into the vehicle that took the spot he had just left. Had he stayed there, he could have been on the receiving end of that accident.

Each day we are given is a gift. We need to make a positive impact. We need to love.

And if you are member of the Lady Colts soccer team, we need to leave it all out on the field. No limits. 🙂

Thanks for reading,
Jon Cole