The Walk-through

I was honored to get a text from the Carmel HS basketball coach this week asking me to attend the Saturday morning "Walk-through" with the team in preparation for the Sectional Championship game against #1 HSE later that night.
When a team gets into post season play it's not as easy as the regular season when you are usually preparing for one opponent, and at the most 2 opponents a week. In post season play a team has to be prepared for 2-3 opponents a weekend in sectionals and if they are fortunate enough to survive they must be prepared to play 2 opponents a day in the Regional, Semi-state and State games. That's where the walk-through comes into play. Because you need enough strength to endure and because the time in-between games is often short the abbreviated, slower pace practice is a necessity. It's simply watching some game film and going out on the court to walk through a game plan that you would normally run through at full speed if given enough time to prepare and recoup your energy when it's done.
Mentally walk-throughs are tough on a young athlete because he's not usually patient enough to slow down  and buy into the planning process to make sure that everyone understands their assignment and is on the same page. They don't feel like they are accomplishing anything, or can demonstrate success at that moment so it's hard to stay focused. I only know that from my first hand experience on sports teams in MS, HS and College. I was going through the motions on the outside, but on the inside I was thinking... "We already know how to do this, we've been doing this almost everyday since November and it's March. How many times does coach need to remind me to _____ and then to ______? I could do this in my sleep. There's no way this is the best use of our time."

Do you think that as believer's in Christ and his daily direction for our lives we sometimes don't want to slow down for the walk-through to prepare for the day and all the different opponents we are going to face? I know I underestimate the importance of it more often than I care to admit. I head into the day without slowing down for prayer or reading a few chapters in His Word for me. How irresponsible that would be of me as an athlete. I couldn't afford to blow off the walk-through before any game, let alone the big ones, and in life we don't have the luxury of knowing when we get up in the morning if we are going to face a big one or one that we are in the habit of handling on a daily basis.  In the New Testament of the Bible it states 8 times (* see footnotes below) that in some form or fashion the teacher or writer knew what he was telling them was something they quiet possibly already knew but God was telling them they needed to be reminded of. I can't afford to not take advantage of walk-throughs every chance I get, or arrogantly think that I am above slowing down to be reminded. I want to be prepared for whatever the world is going to through at me, so I handle myself in a way that would glorify Him, and many walk-throughs are necessary for me to do that.

BTW...Obviously, the Greyhounds weren't taking the walk-though lightly on Saturday morning. They were well prepared by a great coaching staff and bought into the fact that up to game time they were in need of being reminded and prepared as they later beat HSE by 18 points to capture the Sectional Championship! Congrats Hounds! As a team we also did the spiritual walk-through at the end of practice as we prayed for the families in southern Indiana who lost loved ones to the tornados just the night before, and also thanked God for the opportunity to play in such a significant game later that night.

Chaplain Ray

* Jn 14:26, Rom 15:15, 1 Cor. 4:17 & 15:1, 2 Tim 1:6, Titus 3:1, 2 Pet. 1:12, Jude 1:5