Fca Coaches Academy Podcast

Whether we are talking about a flower, an athlete, or a nation, understanding is the basis of care. If we are going to properly care for something, we must properly understand the purpose for it. In our transformational journey of learning to care properly for the athletes who are entrusted to us, we must also understand the purpose of sport itself.

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

The role of the coach in our culture has reached new levels of significance over the past two generations as the popularity of sport has continued to increase. Coaches are not only helping athletes to develop on the fields, courts and tracks, but they are also helping athletes to develop an outlook on life that will likely shape their decision making process in the future. In this session, Mark helps coaches to see the importance of their role in the lives of young people by examining how the cu...

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

The jury is out, and the verdict is in! Reliable research has conclusively shown us that sport, left to itself, erodes moral character in the lives of competitive athletes. However, other evidence has surfaced to show us that sport presents an incredibly powerful opportunity to pass on meaningful life lessons to athletes, if a coach is deliberate about teaching and modeling moral character.

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

Coaches are always striving to create great programs that yield success on the athletic fields and courts.  As 3Dimensional coaches, along with our desire to succeed in sports, we have a desire to create programs that transform lives as a result of the athletic experience.  In order for this to happen, we must evaluate the different aspects of creation that go into building our programs.

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

As 3Dimensional coaches, if we want to unlock the hidden treasures of the good and the great to produce beauty in sports, we must learn to harness the power of love in our programs. There is nothing like love that will motivate us to pursue and persist towards a goal with a great attitude and effort. In this session, Mark helps us understand a clear definition of what God's love is, and what it’s role is in helping athletes to embrace trials.

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

If you had to pick one theme that Jesus taught on over and over again during the three years leading up to His death, burial, and resurrection, that theme would be “The Kingdom of God.” As people who live 2,000 years after these events, we merely hear that phrase as a euphemism for “Heaven.” This is largely due to the fact that the language of “kingdoms” is mostly absent from today’s political scene, as we are more apt to talk about governments and nations. But was Jesus really just referring to...

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

When sport is done right, it should capture our imagination and our effort in the process and pursuit of our goals. If we want to be “Kingdom coaches,” we need to imagine what sport would look like with a distinctly Christian imagination. Romans 14 tells us that the Kingdom of God isn’t merely about behavior modification, but is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

Earlier we discovered that God gives us three gifts of grace to help push back against the conforming pressures of sport: God’s word, God’s Spirit, and God’s people. The pressure to win-at-all-costs is so great in our culture, that if we don’t access all three of these gifts we will be conformed in such a way that we will likely return to being a level one coach only. While God’s word and God’s Spirit are powerful means of transformation on their own, to maximize the transformative power of thes...

Mark Hull of the FCA Coaches Ministry discusses this unit with a panel of coaches and FCA staff members.   Click here to download/listen

As “Kingdom coaches,” it’s helpful to think of ourselves as from the future. In other words, we are seeking to see with the eyes of faith what the future might look like when Christ fully institutes His rule and reign, and are seeking to coach in a way that looks like that future, now. By the power of God’s word, God’s Spirit, and in community with God’s people, we are striving to discern what it might look like for God’s Kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven in t...

Because the sport world is so pressurized to "win-at-all-costs," it is easy to become so focused on first dimension goals that you lose sight of your primary purpose as a coach. Goals are important, but goals are specific events in time that will eventually become a piece of history. In this step, Wes Simmons of the FCA Coaches Ministry helps coaches to distinguish between goals and purpose in their pursuit of becoming a 3Dimensional Coach.

When coaches know their purposes in coaching, they begin to coach beyond success as defined by the scoreboard and towards the significant cause of impacting the lives of the players that come through their programs.  As demonstrated in this ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the Carroll Academy Lady Jags, a coach who is coaching for significance understands that winning has little to do with being able to fulfill his/her purpose.  Click here to download/listen

If you want to leave a legacy as a coach, it helps to paint a picture in your mind of a preferred future you want to see so that you can move with intentionality towards that vision.   In this step, Wes Simmons of the FCA Coaches Ministry helps coaches to forecast the legacy they want to see by contemplating the funeral topics: relationships and a cause that is greater than yourself. Click here to download/listen