Leadership Thoughts: Quotes I Shared with My Basketball Team Twenty-Five Years Ago

Dear Friends,

Twenty-five years ago, I had the privilege of becoming the first  school chaplain,  and first athletic director of Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The school was born from a congregation of 16,000 where I was one of 22 pastors. 

From humble beginnings in 2000 when the school started  with 200 students, the school has now grown to become the largest Christian School in the country with an enrollment of almost 3000 students. 

From the school’s beginning when I coached our first basketball team of 8th graders who played on an outdoor court while the first gym was being constructed, the school has  excelled athletically winning a number of  state championships in baseball, basketball and track and field. In the last few years, our basketball team was ranked among the top five schools nationally among all public and private schools in the county. Now with three gyms, and a 7-million-dollar field house, the school’s enrollment continues to grow both athletically and academically.

In each of the last three years I have had the privilege of spending a week at the school visiting coaches and teachers, some who are still there while I was teaching and coaching.  I still marvel at the growth and development of the school, but the quality that impresses me the most about the school is their continued commitment to developing the spiritual and moral character of every student. 

As I reflected on my eight years as pastor, teacher, coach, chaplain and athletic director, I thought of some of the values I sought to instill in my teams and in my family of athletic coaches.

Yesterday I pulled out a book of quotes that I would often share and discuss with my players at the beginning of each and every practice. Yes, I worked hard to develop their basketball abilities, but more importantly I was fully committed, as are the schools' coaches today, to the development of their moral and spiritual character. 

As I thumbed through some of the quotes from that book, I thought a few of them might be helpful to you as you teach and coach your own children and grandchildren. When I recorded the sources of the quotes, I included them, but unfortunately, I didn't always write them down.

 

            Some of the Quotes from My Personal Notebook

“The best way to inspire change is to be the change you want to see.”

“Act the way you'd like to be, and soon you'll be the way you act.” 

 “Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”

“The only thing that walks back from the grave and refuses to be buried is the character of a man”.

“Character consists of what you do on the 3rd and 4th tries.” Senator Dan Coats

“It is not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” Walt Disney

“Live in such a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.” Will Rogers.

“The secret of success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching.”

“You can't make another person feel important, if you secretly think he is a nobody”. 

“Place a ten on everyone's forehead.” 

“Treat people as the most important people in the world, and you will communicate that they are somebody to you.” 

“Consider it a wasted day when you have not learned something new or peered into the mystery of God's grace and wisdom.” William Barclay

“Pass credit while the sweat is still on their brow.”

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit”. Vince Lombardi

“To ignore evil is to be a partner in it.” Martin Luther King

“Character consists of what you do on the 3rd and 4th tries.” James Michener.

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you, criticize me and he may not like you,  ignore me, and I may not forgive you, but encourage me,  and I will never forget you.” 

“A clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.” Chinese proverb 

“Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are endless.”  Mother Teresa.

“Touch a person's heart before you ask them for their hand.”

“Believing in people before they prove themselves is the key to motivating people to reach their potential.”

“Don't be a tombstone encourager; encourage them now.”

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom