HEY CARDINALS NATION!

Welcome to our Athletics Department Newsletter. By subscribing, you will get any and all information about Concordia Athletics sent straight to your inbox every week. These will be going out every Monday.

Here’s what to expect in today’s newsletter:

• Blog

• Weekly Recap

• Quote of the Day

• Cardinal Toolbox

• Upcoming Events

• Read Time: ~ 5 minutes

🔨 BLOG

“WHAT IS SUCCESS TO THE CHRISTIAN ATHLETE?”

Our world gets so wrapped up in being successful. That word has so many different meanings depending on who you’re talking to. To some, it could mean having a high net worth. To others, it might mean winning more than you lose.

But as Christians, we’re reminded in Romans 12:2 to not live nor think in a similar way to how the world does. That means that we need to align our definition of success with Scripture.

In the world of sports, success is a term often associated with accomplishments and achievements. For a Christian athlete, success hold a deeper and more profound meaning. I like drawing some inspiration from John Wooden:

Here, we see a definition of succes that is outside the realm of results. I think that’s a great starting point. We can’t control game results, we can only control how we play as individuals. Those individuals then work together to form the team. Everyone giving their best effort and striving to be the best that they can be as individuals is a much better place to put our focus than on external rewards.

There’s gotta be some Biblical similarities to this definition right?

Here’s 3 points that I think can illuminate this essence of success from a Christian perspective as well:

1. Character Development

In any athletic pursuit, we see the value of character development early on. It’s kind of a coaching cliche line that we want to “build better humans on and off the field.”

But this is true!

I believe that sports teach greater lessons than nearly any other endeavor, especially for our kids as they grow up. For Christians, what a practical arena to develop Godly traits.

For a Christian athletes, success encompasses more than just winning games; it embraces the teachings of Christ:

• Love and compassion to teammates, opponents, coaches, and fans.

• Humility in victory and defeat

• Perseverance and endurance in the face of trials

• Service and sacrifice for the benefit of others

This is why I love sports so much. It provides a unique opportunity for teenagers to grow in faith in practical ways. It’s how athletes can develop attributes that reflect their faith!

2. Serving Others/Building Relationships

Galatians 5:13 tells us, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Praise God for His Son’s sacrifice! Because of it, now, we are called to serve one another in love. On the field, this translates in many different ways. For young athletes, it can be difficult to recognize that individual success is intertwined with the success of the team. Their efforts are a part of a bigger effort.

Putting the team’s needs above their own desires is difficult. But, it’s what we are called to do.

We are to approach victories with grace and losses with dignity. We are to find ways to strive for excellence of course, but keep the bigger picture in mind of why we are striving in the first place. It’s not about personal recognition, it’s about others seeing His glory through the athlete’s talents.

When Christian athletes strive to cultivate humility, they reflect Christ. This is an amazing opportunity to build relationships with others and to share the Good News!

What a beautiful picture: An athlete striving for excellence so that others can come to know about the One who gave them that talent. We do this through serving others.

3. Faith-Fueled Excellence and an Eternal Perspective on Sports

I briefly talked about it, but I still find it to be important that Christian athletes strive for excellence. We should want to develop fierce competitors that win games at the highest level.

I think that sometimes as Christians we think that striving for excellence is a worldly endeavor and that we are to be “ashamed” if we want to push ourselves to accomplish something great. It goes back to the imagery that I just talked about where an athlete strives for excellence so that others can come to know about the One who gave them that talent.

On the field, we need to encourage our athletes to give their best effort in practice and in games - not for personal gain or recognition, but as an expression of gratitude for our Creator. By recognizing their athletic talents are gifts from a God, athletes can approach their sport with a sense of stewardship. “I am going to work as hard as I can to becoming the best that I can be for God’s glory.”

This perspective goes against what the world tells us. It’s about where the perspective is though! Why do we work? That’s a great question worth asking our athletes. Why do we practice so hard to prepare for our games? What’s the point of getting in the weight room? What’s the point of doing your best in every game whether up by 20 or down by 20?

So that God can get the glory.

Sports gives our athletes a practical place to integrate their faith. When they are done playing sports, they have a solid foundation for the rest of their life because of the trials that they endured and because of the traits that they developed.

At the end of the day, our athletes’ identities are not found in the wins and losses that they encounter. It’s not defined by how good of an athlete they are. It’s defined by being a loved and forgiven child of God.

What a powerful mission that our athletes at CHS can strive for: Striving for excellence to develop as Christian leaders all for the glory of God.

That’s why we should train so hard, and that’s why we should play so hard.

- Coach T

💭 QUOTE OF THE DAY

🧰 CARDINAL TOOLBOX

I love Emma Ritter’s thoughts on playing without any pressure as a Christian athlete. “We can play free because we’re playing for His glory not our own.”

⏪️ WEEKLY RECAP

Our fall sports got started last week! Volleyball started their season off 1-1.

Football also had a successful scrimmage this past weekend at home. They have one more scrimmage this Friday before beginning their season on August 25th against Cedar Park Summit.

‼️ UPCOMING EVENTS

VB @ Northeast Early College Prep: JV @ 5:30, V @ 6:30 Address: 7104 Berkman Drive, Austin, TX 78752

VB vs Austin Royals: JV @ 6, Varsity @ 7 Address: 500 Immanuel Rd. Pflugerville, TX 78660

FB Scrimmage @ San Antonio Castle Hills: Starts at 7:00. Address: 200 Noblewood Drive, San Antonio, TX 78220

🏅 LOOKING FOR MORE WAYS TO SUPPORT CARDINAL ATHLETICS?

If you are looking for more ways to follow along and support our athletes, here are a few more things we do:

1. Interested in Sponsoring an Edition of our Newsletter? Shoot an email to our athletic director [email protected] and he will point you in the right direction!

2. Follow us on Social Media. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates throughout the season!

We pray that your day is full of reminders of God’s love and faithfulness. May you faithfully build your life on Christ.

“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in my weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

To God be the glory,

Coach T