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Let's talk about Hezekiah. If you're ranking Judah's greatest kings, he's sitting near the top of the list, and he earned every bit of it, no participation trophy required. This guy tore down idols other kings had basically framed and mounted on the wall, reopened the temple, dragged worship back to where it belonged, and when the Assyrian army showed up outside Jerusalem ready to wipe the city off the map, he didn't start running the odds like everybody else around him. He g

In my earlier article, Being Set Apart, I wrote about the responsibility college athletes have to live differently—not only to pursue excellence on the court, but in character. Being Set Apart was centered on Romans 12:2, where I emphasized that disciples of Christ are called to think, live, and measure success differently than the common culture around us. That calling applies whether an athlete is on the court, in the classroom, or traveling with a team. Being set apart is

Ephesians 4:17–6:20 offers one of the most direct depictions of what it looks like to live differently after being made new in Christ. Paul isn’t writing abstract theology. He’s describing a way of walking that shows up in daily relationships, in discipline, in authority, and in pressure. This is why this passage resonated so strongly with me in the context of sports. Sports amplify who we already are. Pressure exposes character. Locker rooms reveal hearts. Coaching reveals l

I give thanks with a whole heart, remembering the wonders You have done (Psalm 9:1). Your steadfast love endures forever, even in the quiet places of my life (Psalm 136:1). With thanksgiving I enter Your courts, choosing praise over worry (Psalm 100:4). This is the day You have made, and I rejoice because You are near (Psalm 118:24). In all circumstances, I give thanks, for this is Your will for me (1 Thessalonians 5:18). With gratefulness I lift my prayers, knowing You hear

There’s a particular kind of silence that follows being told you’re not starting. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how talented you are, or how hard you’ve worked—those words hit in a place deeper than your stats. And if we’re being honest, for a lot of athletes, that silence quickly turns into something louder in your spirit: shame, frustration, doubt, or even anger. I’ve seen it happen again and again—athletes who go from confident to crushed because they didn’t make the

A follow-up to the previously published article: “Athletes and Body Dysmorphia” There is a big difference between taking care of your body and turning it into a personal shrine. In the world of athletics, it is easy for that line to get blurry. One day you are training with discipline and balance. The next, your sense of peace depends entirely on whether you hit your macros or closed your rings. In a previously published article, I wrote about body dysmorphia (Jan. 2024) and

Within the realm of athletics, the search for greatness is often much more than simply fighting for a win; for a large number of athletes out there, it is, in many instances, a core display of their faith. Athletics with a spiritual perspective is an engaging area: physical excellence going together with God’s goal. The training and competitions of athletes who view performance as worship become a means to glorify the Father and present their faith to other people. This persp

Coaching a team with talent levels ranging from beginner to advanced can test every part of your coaching ability. You can't run a productive gym by pretending everybody is starting from the same place, but you also can't lower the standard every time somebody struggles. The job is to figure out what each athlete needs to improve while building a team that understands 100% effort doesn't mean identical performance. 1 Corinthians 12 uses the human body to explain the diversity

There's a difference between an athlete having a hard day and an athlete making every hard day everybody else's responsibility. Sports put people under pressure, and pressure exposes insecurity, fear, frustration, and self-doubt. Athletes are human, and coaches should never expect them to become emotionless machines. There should be room for disappointment, anxiety, tears, frustration, and asking for help. But there also comes a point when constant reassurance, repeated emoti

There was a time when winning fueled me more than I would've liked to admit. I wanted successful programs, athletes who performed at a high level, and tangible proof that the work we were putting in mattered. There's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to win because competition is part of sports, and nobody trains all week hoping to lose. The problem comes when winning stops being something we're pursuing and starts becoming the thing that determines our worth, our identit

In today’s NCAA landscape, the conversation surrounding Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has rapidly evolved. When NIL rights first took effect in 2021, the focus was largely on correcting a long-standing imbalance. For decades, universities, media networks, and apparel companies generated billions of dollars from college sports while athletes were prohibited from earning anything beyond their scholarships. Allowing athletes to profit from their own name, image, and likeness w

Throughout my coaching career, I saw firsthand how athletes' dietary choices were often influenced by their beliefs, cultures, families, and personal ethics. Whether it was vegetarianism, or its mature older brother veganism, religious fasting, or a commitment to more ethical eating, those choices could affect training, recovery, energy availability, and the way athletes thought about stewardship and discipline. As a Christian and a vegan, I've had to think through that inter

Today’s post is in response to an email I received back in July. It's not sports-related, but I think it's relevant, considering most female coaches and athletes tend to be pretty " Type A." I know this has been a struggle for me, so hopefully, this is relatable to the general female audience my site appeals to. Hi Coach! I would love to know your thoughts on the Proverbs 31 woman. -Allison M Good morning, and thanks for the email! The Proverbs 31 woman gets held up as the bi

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life that made you question whether it was just a mere coincidence or something more profound at play? Many of us have found ourselves pondering this age-old question at some point. Whether you believe in fate, destiny, or pure chance, some moments leave us in awe of the mysteries of our existence. Imagine this: You're contemplating a career change or big move and feeling uncertain about taking the leap when you stumble upon a TikTok

I've had to learn that holding onto the past and learning from it aren't the same thing. Our experiences absolutely shape us, and some of them leave marks that don't disappear just because we've decided we'd like to move forward. But there comes a point when constantly replaying what happened, what should've happened, what somebody did to us, what we did ourselves, or how differently life could've turned out stops being reflection and starts becoming a refusal to move. We can

Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” He obviously wasn’t writing theology, but the line gives us an interesting way to look at the roles we play in our own lives. If life is a stage, most of us would like to cast ourselves as the faithful disciple, the loyal friend, or the person who stands firm when everybody else folds. The problem is that if we're honest about the script we're actually living, there are days when we look a

Today's post is slightly different from what I'm used to publishing. I received a question from a club volleyball coach/high school volleyball coach in Texas who is struggling with something I think most coaches have faced before… A toxic athlete. Do we love them harder, or do we cut ties? I advocate for both and have published articles on both: "Mitigate Locker Room Drama: Let the CRO Fly!" and "Coach Hard-Love Harder." I hope this post helps your coaching career—thanks in a

Confidence doesn’t begin with believing in yourself. It begins with knowing whose you are. The deeper your relationship with God becomes, the clearer your identity becomes, and that changes the way you see yourself and the way you interact with everyone around you. Matt Kahn once said, “People can only meet you as deeply as they’ve met themselves.” There is a lot of truth in that. The healthier we become spiritually and emotionally, the healthier our relationships become. Whe

One of the easiest traps in coaching is assuming that because you said something clearly, your athletes received it clearly. Those aren't the same thing. You can have years of experience, know your sport inside and out, and believe you're an effective communicator while completely missing how your instruction, correction, tone, or body language is landing with the people you're responsible for leading. Coaches spend plenty of time asking mentors and other coaches how to becom

I've always been somebody who needs to understand what I'm being asked to believe. I ask questions, research things, look for context, and want to know why something is true instead of accepting it because somebody told me it is. That part of my personality didn't disappear when I became a Christian, and over time I've realized it didn't need to. Christianity doesn't require us to shut off our brains to strengthen our faith. Scripture repeatedly calls us to know God, study Hi