CHARGER NATION: STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

 

 

Charger Nation,

            The practices and film sessions are over.  The off-season workouts are over.  The Crucibles at 558 am are over.  The summer workouts are over.  The regular season is over.  The playoff grind is over.  All the hard work, pain and toil is over.  There is only one thing left to do: FINISH IT!   I think it was Rocky 4 where Rocky is fighting the Russian and he had him in the 12^th round and needed a knock out.  Rocky’s trainer is in his corner right before the last round screaming “Finish Him”  “Finish Him”  “Finish Him.”  That is how I feel.  I am sure the next 24 hours will slowly creep by.  We are focused and we are ready.  I am excited and I know you are as well. 

            Our opponent, Aquinas, is a great football team and they are similar to us.  They have had great success the past 7-8 years and in been a title contender since 2011.  They have great players just like us.  They are a great football team.  My confidence in tomorrow does not come because I watch film and think we can beat Aquinas.  My confidence is in the boys I coach at ELCA.  I believe in them.

            As we ended our last practice of 2015 last night I ended the night by telling the team thankyou.  It has been an absolute blessing to coach these boys.  Of course there is always drama here and there, but these boys have been very focused all year long and they wanted to work to get better.  Through every challenge, whether a loss or me getting on to them, they responded in the right way.  It has been a fun year to coach.  My wife even told me last week that I had been better at home this year.  I bet that is because life with the boys was good. 

            What I am very proud of is the group so seniors we have.  I don’t want to name seniors specifically but they are the anchor of this football team.   They lead more with their actions than their mouth.   Well some like to talk but they all back it up with hard work.  We have a crazy group of sophomores who I love but they are still crazy.  It’s a group of kids that want to be great but can’t focus very long (but that is how sophomores are).  They are workers though and they will mature from a leadership standpoint as they grow up.  There has been nothing better for those boys than the leadership that has come from the seniors.  I could always see the sophomores challenging and bucking the senior’s leadership, and even mine, but they always got in line.  It was really neat to sit back and watch.  Like I said, this year has been a blessing.

            So as head into the state championship game there are three things running through my mind:

1.)  Our football team represents something so much bigger than itself Saturday.   We are representing a great school and the great people at our school.  We are representing great families at ELCA!  Most importantly, we represent Jesus Christ.  Most kids I coach have not surrendered their life to Christ (I did not say all so if your son is the next Billy Graham please do not take offense).  I’m sure with Uriah in high school we will work through his lostness and preach Christ to him daily.  These boys believe just as I did at that age but they have not surrendered.  So I hate to say that they are representing Christ Saturday.  That is a hard challenge to put on a young mischievous high school boy.  But what they do represent is a group of parents (you!) and a school who are committed to raising their children up in the fear of the Lord.   You parents have sacrificed a great deal that your son may be challenged academically, spiritually and physically everyday and our boys are representing that Saturday.  I know they have been challenged by me everyday in what I believe is the ultimate standard of excellence:  Jesus Christ.  God called me into coaching for that specific purpose.  Our school and our football team exists to raise young boys and girls to men and women for Jesus Christ.  My prayer is that the Lord will go with us and we will represent him in a magnificent way. 

2.)  Griffin Alexander told me the other day that I am not an emotional person.  Maybe it comes across as I am not emotional but I have all kinds of emotions running through me.   Whenever I feel too much emotion one way or the other I just start praying for control.  But the emotions are there.  But I am very emotional and proud of how hard these boys have worked this year.  One thing I hope to teach these boys is how to work hard.  When I went to the Citadel and had to go to class, go to football practice, go study and do all the crazy military stuff they make you do I realized I could do so much more than I ever thought.  My next thought was why didn’t somebody make me learn this when I was 12?  I want your boys to know they can work their tails off through coming in early for film study or weight training, go to school all day, go to practice, go to more film study and then still go home and study and do well in school.  It’s not that you can’t do it—it’s you can do it and you have to figure out how.  NO EXCUSES!  I want them to get into their job one day and think their day is easy compared to a Monday and Tuesday at ELCA during football season.  These boys bought into all of that and excelled.  That makes me emotional.  It makes me so proud of the boys I coached this year.   More than any win we had, I am so proud of the Win the Day attitude these boys came with each day!

3.)  I know I already talked about Jesus Christ but I have to again.  The second thing I care about teaching at ELCA (and its really the first) is Jesus Christ.  I always believed in Jesus but it was not until 23 that I surrendered all to Christ and accepted him as Lord and Savior of my life.  Before that I was the guy who talked about God and Jesus but my actions were far from following Christ.  Soon after I surrendered all to Christ, God called me into coaching.   So God called me to go back to the very age of kids where I was at my dumbest and use the game of football to build men for Jesus Christ.  A great football season will not change your sons life.  A state championship will not change your son life.  You giving your child his biggest desire will not change his life.  Only Jesus Christ will change your son’s life.  I can’t give your son a state championship or a great football season (but we can work real hard for it!).  But what I can offer him is the good news of the One who has died for our sins.  The One who releases us from the bondage of sin.  The One who provides us access to God and is our advocate to God.  Jesus Christ, our Savior, is the greatest gift and He transforms lives.  This I offer to your son daily.  

 

I don’t claim to be a great coach and as an offensive coordinator I don’t claim to the best at that either.  I work real hard at it but who knows.  I am still so mad at myself for that dumb play call I made at Stockbridge and will think about it for the rest of my life.  But what I desire most to be great at is challenging your boys to work hard everyday and be men of Jesus Christ.  It has been a blessing and honor to coach your boys this year.  I love them very much. 

 BEAT Aquinas

 “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory comes from the Lord.”

--Proverbs 21:31

 

Wholly for Christ,

 

Coach Gess

 

CHARGER NATION: STATE SEMI-FINALS

 

 

Chargers,

             Well the time if finally here.  It is time for the #1 and #2 teams in the state to play each other.  As we head into this game tonight I want everyone to know that I have the upmost respect for the coaches at Prince Avenue.   In any classification, we are going up against one of the best coaching staffs in the country.  They have their great players as well.  As you watch tonight, #9, #72, #6, #77 are division 1 football players.  #43 and #44 are two of the best high school football players in the state. 

            Last week I heard a college coach who was going up against a great athlete say: “He is a great player, we have had fun watching him on film all week.”  I have never had fun watching great players on film that I am about to play.  In fact when you watch great players on film it is scary!  I don’t know what in the heck that coach was thinking saying he had FUN watching the film.  As we watched Prince this week we saw great players running a very confusing offense if we do not keep our eyes on our keys.  Our boys are going to have to DISCIPLINED tonight!  They have prepared like crazy—we are ready!

            A few weeks ago Uriah and I were racing around and I said: “the last one is the rotten egg.”  We started racing and I got in front of him and he dropped and broke down crying screaming: “But I want to be the rotten egg.”  He still doesn’t realize that being the rotten egg means he is the loser.  He also still hasn’t learned that you don’t break down and start screaming when you lose (working on it!)  So every night we race up the stairs to bed and I yell out:  “who is going to be the rotten egg?”   He runs as fast as he can cause he wants to be the rotten egg.  We just go with it cause it gets him to bed…the rotten egg has become the winner in our house.  BUT, what is funny is if he doesn’t win the race to bed or at anything he drops and starts crying.  He cried to me last night: “But dad I want to win.”  We all want to win and losing stinks.   I hate his whining but I sure am glad he doesn’t like to lose.  Part of growing up in life is learning how to respond in both winning and losing.  We want to win tonight and we know losing will hurt.  It’s what makes a semi-final game vs the #1 and #2 teams in the state so intriguing.  So using Gess house game rules, we want to be rotten egg tonight (that is winning)!   

            Once you enter into the playoffs the nerves, the worry and the anxiety is all tripled what it is in the regular season.  You know if you lose you are done and going home.  No competitive person ever wants to come in second.   Every step you go in the playoffs you can triple the nerves, the worry and the anxiety again.   I sit around and think, ok, this is our fifth time here in this situation—why do you still have all this anxiety about the game.  I have no clue.   But I just want kick off to get here!

            So at this point the worry, anxiety, and stress is x9 and it’s overwhelming sometimes.  As I was praying yesterday morning this verse came to my mind: “My times are in your hand.”  Psalm 31:15.  The comforting thing for Christians who live for Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ is we worship and serve a Sovereign King.  God is in control of all things and orchestrates all things for his glory and our benefit (Romans 8:28).  My times are in God’s hands.  It is our responsibility to work our tails off and to prepare to the best of our ability.  But God is in ultimate control of all things.  I constantly pray that God will lead and guide my thought process, my work ethic and my daily actions:  I know He is the all-knowing Sovereign King (Psalm 32:8). 

            For me the stress does not come from being scared, it comes from wanting everything to be perfect.   When we draw it up on paper it looks perfect.  When we go to practice and people are actually moving it is not perfect.  We fight this struggle all week striving to have our boys perfectly prepared with the perfect gameplan.  By Wednesday or Thursday, right before my brain explodes, I find rest in Christ: My times are in his hands.  You see, we can work and work and work but we will never thwart the will of God.  This is why our work must be done for the glory of God.  Not for my glory God, but for your glory.  Not that I may be exalted Lord, but that you may be exalted.  When we work for the glory of ourselves we are striving against God and our will shall never prevail over the will of God.  I realize there are a lot more stressful things in life than being in a semifinal football game and I challenge us all to find peace and rest knowing: “My times are in your hand.” 

Psalm 31 ends with this verse: “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”  (Psalm 31:24)  As we head into this game tonight I have all the strength and courage as the Lord is my strength and courage.  The Lord is my Hope and my Trust.  Jesus Christ is my Savior: The greatest victor!  May he be yours as well!

I am excited about the game tonight and can’t wait for it to get here.  I love going into battle with this group of young men and these coaches. 

 

BEAT Prince Avenue

 

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”  Psalm 21:31

 

Wholly for Christ,

 

Coach Gess

           

CHARGER NATION: STATE QUARTERFINALS

Charger Nation,

Well it is finally here.  The game we have all been waiting for has arrived.  Tonight we play Mt. Paran, the team that whipped us good in the state championship game last year.  To say we aren’t looking forward to the game and excited about the opportunity is an understatement.  I am not at all being cocky and arrogant when I say we want to play Mt. Paran.  They are a great team, a great school and they have a great coach.  They are probably the biggest teams we have faced all year (maybe GAC??).  They have a great tailback in #5 who is leading the state in rushing.  It will be an absolute war tonight.  We will have to play flawlessly if we are going to be beat them.  But we are all fired up about it.  A competitor lives to play in games likes these tonight!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday and I hope we can put an exclamation mark on Thanksgiving weekend with a win tonight.   But win or lose tonight, that will never have an impact over the things for which I am truly thankful.  Yesterday as a team had the seniors stand up and tell what they were thankful for and it was good to hear the boys place value in the relationships they have rather than the material things they have.  As I set around and pondered yesterday, here are my top things I am thankful for:

1.) Jesus Christ.  I was lost but have been found.  I was blind but now I see.  Jesus Christ died for me so that I may die to sin and have eternal life.  He is my Creator, Sustainer and Savior.  He has paid the price for my sins.  He opened my eyes up to my sin.  He convicts me of the sin I still commit.  Jesus Christ came so that he may set our paths straight and follow him.  I am thankful that God has drawn my heart to himself and given me the desire to live a surrendered life to him.  “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!”  (Psalm 40:4)

2.) I am thankful for my family.   I am thankful for Dee and Uriah.   There is no greater blessing besides Jesus Christ than the family that God gives us.  Dee and Uriah are blessings from the Lord.  As I watch the Lord grow the desire in my wife’s heart to love and serve him I grow more and more thankful.  I pray he does the same work in the life of my son.  I will do my best to raise him in Christ but I know that Christ must change his heart.  

3.) I am thankful for my mom and dad who sacrificed so much for me and were diligent to raise me in the fear of the Lord.  I can remember in high school being mad at my parents because they wouldn’t buy me a car or buy me certain things.  I realize now two things:  1. We didn’t have much money so they couldn’t and 2.) they gave me the only thing that matters at all: teaching me and holding me accountable to Jesus Christ.  I didn’t really get that either until after college but the foundation they laid in my life I know is invaluable! “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

4.) I love coaching football for God’s glory.  God called me into coaching football to help you build your young boys into Godly men.  That is what this game is all about.  I hope we win lots of state championships and region championships but that is not what it is all about.  What I really hope is 10 years from now I look and see your son being a great father, a great husband and a man who is impacting his community for good.  As we challenge them to be Warriors on the football field, the real goal is that they become Warriors in life!  Yep, I have days where I wonder what in the world I am doing coaching high school boys whose brains aren’t fully functional—BUT, could there be a greater calling than investing in the young men who are going to lead their families one day, who are going to lead their community one day, who are going to lead the church one day, who may become leaders of this nation one day?  So even when they really get on my nerves, I count it a great blessing to be a football coach!

5.) Each morning I wake up and get a text from Mr. Chambers (the previous ELCA headmaster) that he sends to a group of men he prays for.  I always see a text also from Coach Phil who is the Washington County chaplain and a leader in that community.  I am so thankful for the Godly men God has put in my path and in the path of others.   The only way we are going to grow spiritually and be unwavering in our character is to surround ourselves with Godly men.  I know the coaching staff we have at ELCA is loves the Lord.  To be able to work with a man like Kenny Dallas who is just as passionate about being a Godly man as he is about shutting down opposing teams offenses is a blessing.  Mr. Gilliam, our headmaster is a great leader for Jesus Christ.  Richard Allen, our principal loves the Lord and loves your boys. I’ve been working with our AD, Coach Queen, for a while now and I know his desire is to serve the Lord and raise his children in the fear of the Lord.  To not name Jerry Barber, Joe Bryan, Drew Walston, Robbie Moore, Seth Graham, Tim Creamer, Dale Albrecht, Anthony Mitchell, Bryan Shockley, Tim Luke specifically would be an injustice.  These men love the Lord and have poured into this football team diligently all year since July.  Just like me, they are much more concerned with your boy as a Godly man than what he does on that field (but what we really care about what he does on that field too!) These men are blessings—not just because they coach but because they are men who love and fear the Lord and influence me. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20, ESV)

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”  Proverbs 21:31

BEAT Mt. Paran!!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION: GAME #11

 

 

Charger Nation, 

 

               Seems like forever since we have played a game.  I am excited and fired up to play tonight and I know our boys are as well.  This is a huge game as it is a playoff game against one of the top 16 teams that survived to make the playoffs.  There is also another big game in ELCA football this week.  Our 3^rd and 4^th grade team has made it to their championship game.  Tom Mertz, Al Hosford and their staff have done a fabulous job this year.  They play tomorrow at 2pm at Lamar County High School.  We have a successful high school program because of the hard work and dedication of coaches at our younger levels.  I cannot thank them enough.

            Tonight’s game is a challenge for a 15-18 year old boy.  They have already beat Mt. Pisgah in a convincing fashion this year in game #4 which was more than 2 months ago.  It is very hard for them not to get their eyes set on future games in the play-offs that could happen.  In their minds they naturally think all we have to do is show up and do what we do and move on to the next round.  That is probably a common thought process among any common person.  BUT—great teams and great individuals do not think like a common person.  Excellence is an uncommon thing.  Common is mediocre and where most people live.  Therefore, we had to change our thinking.

            There are no guarantees in life.  I love football because it teaches boys who are still in the homes of their mommy’s and daddy’s that they have to work their tails off in order to be successful.  Competitive sports assist in the man making process.  Two weeks ago 60% of the football playing teams in Georgia were done.  After last Friday night another 15% went home.  Tonight about 25% of the high school football teams are playing football.  In our county alone, there are 11 GHSA football playing teams and only 2 still left in the playoffs.  To be playing tonight is an accomplishment in itself we always take for granted here at ELCA.  So I commend our boys for the achieving the right to play tonight. 

            Once we get into the playoffs it is do or die time.  Play well and win and you get to move to the next round.  Play bad and lose and you are done.  It’s a reality we all know and understand.  3 years ago our coaching staff set down together as we entered into the playoffs and came up with 7 things that we believe would lead us to success in the playoffs.  We have been 9-2 in the playoffs with this plan.  Yes I realize a plan without great players doesn’t work but I do want to share it with you.  

1.)  Be humble and hungry.  The humble man realizes he must work his tail off and earn the right to fight on.  Humility sets the tone to accomplish points 2-7.

2.)  Respect each opponent.

3.)  Practice with intensity each day.

4.)  Practice with a desire to get better each day.

5.)  Expect a war each game.

6.)  If you give everything you’ve got every single day, you will prevail. 

7.)  Play with an intensity that cannot be matched.

 "You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.”  2^nd Samuel 22:28

      Humility sets the tone of our 7 points.  We are always at war battling arrogance and pride.  Arrogance and pride destroy everything in its path!  I believe it is important that each and everyday we humbly thank God for the life he has given us and then humbly submit all things to him.  Not only has he given us life but also he sustains our life.  Our heart beats because He wills it to beat.  Most importantly, He sent Christ to save us from our sin and rebellion against him.  Therefore, humbly we praise God, our Creator, Sustainer and the Savior of our souls.  The proud and arrogant man can never submit to God eternal reign over our souls.  So I pray, Lord make us a humble people and open our eyes to yourself! 

 

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.” 

 Proverbs 21:31

 Wholly for Christ,

 Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION: GAME #10

Charger Nation,

         I want to congratulate a few ELCA teams that have done a fantastic job this year.  John Buckley and his coaching staff led our 5th/6th team to the championship when they won 15-13 at Landmark two weeks ago.  Tom Mertz and his coaching staff have led our 3rd and 4th grade team to an undefeated regular season and now head into the playoffs tomorrow.  Our varsity softball team won another state championship last weekend.  I know I have fallen into the trap of just expecting them to win state cause it seems they do every year.  A lot of work goes into getting those girls by Coach Campbell and his staff that everyone takes for granted.  Also, that senior group of girls was special and achieved everything and more everyone expected of them. 

         Last week we wrapped up the region championship with our victory over Our Lady of Mercy.  Tonight we are playing for an undefeated region record on the year.  Mount Vernon is a much improved football team from last year and we must be ready to play.  We have had a good week of practice and our boys are prepared.  Now they must go out and perform. 
        I've already talked about this topic this year but I was convicted of some things this past Sunday now that seasons are ending and I can see how the boasting of tomorrow did not come to fruition for so many.This past summer I remember all kinds of hype being created by high school teams and college teams.  Even this week I hear of more hype videos coming out for games that will be played this week.  But from all the hype we have heard this summer the dust has settled and some came to fruition and some did not.  This past Sunday a few verses came to my mind as to why we are foolish in boasting of tomorrow and I wanted to share them with you.

                “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’  As it is, you boast in your arrogance.  All such boasting is evil.”  (James 4:13-16)

         We all struggle with pride and arrogance.  They are sins that plague us but sins God calls us to put to death.  In our pride we want to boast of what we will do tomorrow because it makes us feel good. It makes us feel important and valuable.  But it is a false reality.  Anytime I find myself boasting in tomorrow it is rooted in my pride.  God’s word tell us that we do not know what tomorrow may bring.  We must work our tails off today for a better tomorrow but we should not boast about tomorrow.  Here is why: because ultimately God is in control of our tomorrows!  What pride and arrogance it is when we boast of what we will do tomorrow when tomorrow belongs in the hands of God.  **I am not saying not to plan for tomorrow...but do not boast about tomorrow!

           Some people may argue and say that when they boast about tomorrow they are creating expectations and dreams and that motivates people.  I understand this but it also creates false expectations.  It puts the future in our hands and this is pride.  The world wants to tell us that we are the masters of our fate but nothing could be further from the truth.  When my eyes become to forward thinking I start to lose track of the importance and the value of this day—this gift of today that God has given me.  He hasn’t given me tomorrow, but he has given me today.  I must make the most of it:  “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
         “Do not boast of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”  (Proverbs 27:1)  One character trait that I strive to instill in these boys is the fostering of a desire in their hearts to wake up and work hard today.  I know coaches are always trying to come up with gimmicks to motivate their players and those have their place, but what would be really nice is if our boys learned to just go to work each day without someone having to motivate them.  All of you to whom I’m writing are grown and have to go to work everyday.  You don’t have a coach following you around creating hype videos for you to do a good job at work.  But you know you must do well today or your kid won’t eat.  That’s what our boys need to learn.  Get your tail up and go to work and get after it.  You do this and your future will be ok.  I don’t know how good it will be but it will be ok.  So don’t talk about tomorrow because your talk today is stopping your productivity today!  Focus 100 percent on today because you do not know what this day will bring!

                “But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  (Matthew 6:33-34)

          How can we live a life free from boasting about tomorrow and humbly approaching each day?  Seek first the Kingdom of God.  We get so wrapped up in everything that is going on in the world and we quickly take our eyes of Christ.  When we take our eyes off Christ we start desiring everything the world has to offer.  Our pride and arrogance start to take over as we neglect Christ.  Christ tells us to seek him first and do not worry about tomorrow cause he is in control.  “All these things will be added to you” means God is going to take care of the things we need and we worry about.  We don’t need to boast of tomorrow and create hype of tomorrow because God is in control of tomorrow.  He is sovereign—we are not!  But there in vs 34 He does tell us to work today: “sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  Be your best today!

         When I allow my eyes and heart to gaze into tomorrow I open up my life to sin.  When I lust after the desires and hopes and dreams of tomorrow I let my guard down into the battle that must be fought today.  Let us strive to enjoy this day and all that God has to offer us in it.  You just have to believe that if you can Win the Day everyday that your tomorrows will be just fine.  May we always keep Jesus Christ as our sole focus as to why we exist each day!  May we have confidence that He will take care of our tomorrows and give us exactly what we need!

 “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31

 Win the Day!

 Wholly for Christ,

 Coach Gess

Charger Nation: Game #9

CHARGER NATION: GAME #9

Charger Nation,

            I want to congratulate our JV Football team on a job well done.  Last night they won their last football game.  That puts them at 6-1 on the year.  I want to thank Coach Dale and Coach Jerry for the hard work and commitment they have put into your boys.  The future is bright with that group coming up to be varsity players the next few years. 
            Within ELCA football, we have tried to turn “Win the Day” into its own philosophy on how to conduct business.  There are five parts to winning the day and each are vitally important: Commitment, Consistency, Intensity, Execution and Perseverance.  To get out boys to be average I believe I have to constantly preach commitment and consistency.  If you are just going to be an average person you have to show up and do so consistently.  In any endeavor of life, the bottom 50% are going to be people who won’t commit and won’t be consistent. 
            My goal as a coach is to have a team that every year will be in the hunt for a state championship.  I don’t make the state championship my goal because so many factors come into play in actually winning it.  One year we should have won it but our QB broke his leg.  I don’t control that stuff.  However, I do feel I have lots of control over being contenders each year.  If we are contenders each year then over time we will win our share or compete for our share of state championships.  So here is my question to myself and our players all the time:  If just being average requires commitment and consistency, what will separate us from being average to becoming a contender?   The answer is in the last three parts of the Win the Day philosophy: Intensity, Execution and Perseverance. 
            Success is not just about showing up to work, it’s about coming to work to get better and improve.  It is coming to work with a sense of urgency and a purpose.  It is coming to work with an intentional commitment to excellence.  This is intensity.  I define intensity as focused effort.  It is hard enough for us adults to focus our minds on a task.  So you can imagine how hard it is for young boys to focus their minds.  I correlate their brains to a giant explosion.  I have no idea what is going on up there.  God has put me in the process to try and help parents get the dust to settle after the explosion.  High school boys, they just want to get to Friday night.  But it isn’t about Friday night.  It’s about getting better Monday-Thursday.  If we cannot be intentional in giving great effort and great focus on these days then we aren’t going to like where we are Friday night. 
            I get aggravated as a coach when we go out to practice and our steps are wrong.  To me, when I see kids using poor technique, that means they are not practicing with intensity.  If we aren’t practicing with intensity then we are just practicing to be average.  That doesn’t make any sense.  We film practice Tuesday and Wednesday and are trying hard to coach our boys up on their intensity in our film sessions.  It’s a hard thing to do with young boys.  I feel like I could just record myself Wed and Thursday mornings and just replay it each week as we watch practice.  Here is what it sounds like:  “This is bad effort; You’re not stepping right; Be more physical:” now just repeat that 50 times.  However, if want to be any good we must practice with intensity and I can never give up on demanding it. 
            In the same way, our growth in Jesus Christ requires daily commitment, consistency and intensity.  If I am going to grow in Christ and put on the character of Christ there is no way I can do this with an intentional pursuit of Christ daily.  An intentional pursuit requires reading God’s word and prayer.  The Bible tells that if we want Christ to abide in us we must abide in him (John 15:4).  Can we be good Christians and not be in God’s word and spend time with him in prayer?  I would ask can we be a good football team and not practice daily with intensity?  It’s not for me to answer who is a good Christian or who is not a good Christian.  But I do know we will be very average if we do not practice football with intensity. 
            I love how football and our daily pursuit of Christ correlate.  I am so often convicted of my desires to be great on the football field not matching up with my desires to pursue Christ.  Christ, our Savior and our King, is not to be neglected by worldly things that are passing away.  It is very important that we use the things that God has given us to point to Jesus Christ.  To me, football does this. I know how to be intentional in my pursuit of excellence in Christ because I learned the importance of intensity through the game of football. 
            Finally, as we discuss the five parts of the Win the Day philosophy, those five parts actually are not specifically about football.   Football is our tool to point to Christ and build young boys into men for Jesus Christ.  We are instilling values in them that God is going to us to take them so much further than what happens on a Friday night or in a game. 
At ELCA, our Win the Day philosophy first and foremost exists to identify how we are to pursue Christ.  First is my commitment.  This is my acknowledgment that I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life.  Secondly, I know must be consistent in my pursuit of Christ.  Third, I must pursue Christ with intensity.  It must be important that we grow in Christ and we have a sense of urgency each day to grow in him and live for him.  Fourth, this intensity each day will lead people to see Christ in our lives as Jesus Christ starts to live through us.  This will open up the door for us to love, serve and live out Jesus Christ.  This is the actual execution.  It is what people see.  This is similar to Friday nights except as Christians we have Friday nights daily.   Lastly, life isn’t always going to go our way.  We must persevere through the hard times.  Christ will see us through. 

Now, let’s BEAT Our Lady of Mercy!

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”  Proverbs 21:31

Win the Day!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

Excellence is the character of Christ.  Win the Day builds upon this concept.

CHARGER NATION: GAME #8

Chargers,

            I want to congratulate our JV football team last night for beating Woodward.  It was a very fun football game.  Our boys played hard and fought.  We scored the winning touchdown with about a minute to go in the game.  I want to thank Jerry Barber, Dale Albrecht and Bryan Shockley for the investment they put into those boys.  I count it as a great blessing that God has put it on the hearts of those men to coach our JV.  Each of them has their own business and could be working or doing something else but they choose to help ELCA Football.  I am grateful.

            In the life of ELCA football tonight is a big football game.  Landmark and ELCA is always a big game because it seems to always have region championship implications.  We both are usually in the top 10 so this only makes it a bigger deal.  They are led by a very big offensive line, a great quarterback and a great tailback.   They bring an offense tonight that is averaging over 40 points per game. 

            I believe our boys are fired up and ready for the challenge.  This game tonight is what high school football is all about.  Some of my greatest memories come from beating Landmark.  Beating them 43-0 the year after they upset us in the playoffs was a game I will never forget.  Beating them last year when they were ranked #3 or #2 after everyone had written us off will go down as one of my all time favorites.   I can’t wait to watch our boys tonight!

            One word I always hear being thrown around is the word excellence.  People like to use it but no one ever really defines it.  When I first started coaching I started saying DEMAND EXCELLENCE.  We can’t sit around and ask our kids to be excellent.  We must demand it.  Asking for it seems so passive to me as a coach.  Yeah, I get I need to ask them for it and define it for them, but then I need to meet them half way by demanding it.  It’s the same way in parenting.  You can ask your kid not to do something but if you don’t meet him or her half way with enforcing it be done they will surely fail. 

            I believe the world has a hard time with describing what excellent character and behavior is apart from Jesus Christ.  I don’t know why lying and cheating isn’t a good thing.  It seems to get people far in life.  Even though it is destructive to people in the long run it seems to get individuals worldly success.  If I view the world with a self-centered vision lying and cheating make sense.  I don’t care if I hurt people around me, as long as I get what I want.  

            I have a chart I discuss with our boys and we call it the Path to Excellence.   It’s a complicated looking chart but basically it’s a triangle that is broken into five sections.  The base of the triangle is titled “DEMAND EXCELLENCE.”  I define excellence as seeking to bring God glory and honor by giving perfect effort to become your absolute best with the talent God has given you in ALL that God has called you to do.  Jesus Christ is the standard of Excellence.  He is excellence.

            The base of the triangle represents the foundation of a man.  It is our character.  The triangle rests upon the base.  A pyramid would not stand if it were not for the base.  In the same way, if a man or woman does not have a solid foundation nothing can be built upon them.  Yes, they may achieve a little worldly success for a time but their ability to lead others and make others around them better is lost.  In fact, people who lack the foundation of excellence usually end up hurting or damaging those around them.  They are me centered people and me centered people lack character.   

            So at ELCA and within ELCA football we have an excellent standard in our conduct.  I told the boys this week that before they do anything they should stop and ask themselves this question: “Is this excellent?”  Since Jesus Christ is the standard of excellence we have his word to lead and guide us in the way we should go.  In fact, Christ promises himself to lead and guide us in the way we should go (Psalm 32:8).  If we will build our character around Jesus Christ and pursue excellence with all diligence then we will become leaders and impact others in our life for good.   We will quit worrying about our personal success and ourselves and become consumed with helping and serving others. 

            Demanding excellence on the football field is a grind.  We must demand perfection to the smallest detail.  We must push our players everyday to become the very best they can possibly be on the football field.  We cannot be ok with a bad day or poor performance.  We cannot get tired and not address poor effort.  Everyday and every rep we must demand things be done with excellence.  If we don’t do this as coaches we are wasting our time and our players time.  Our team will not achieve its total potential. 

            How much more important is it that we demand excellence from our conduct and our thoughts?  On our football team, we are going to have the highest standard of excellence in our character.  I am not going to waiver in demanding excellence from our boys in how they act and how they talk.  I know they get aggravated with me because I tell them they can’t do this and they can’t do that.  It seems like everyday I am fighting a battle that has nothing to do with football but everything to do with character and who they are as people.  And this is ok—annoying but  ok!  Cause the most important thing is investing in the souls of the players.

            It’s interesting:  After we lose a football game my soul is never grieved by an individual because he played poorly.  I’m just mad that we lost and sit around aggravated with myself.  I don’t blame you or your son.  A kid could lose the game for us but I would not be grieved or upset with that person.  However, when I find out kids are acting foolishly or making a mockery of sin my soul is grieved.  When I find out a kid has poor character and is leading others around him into sin I get very disappointed.  When I find out a kid is choosing to hang around the wrong people I hurt due to those choices.  Winning or losing a football game will never lead to a destructive lifestyle.  But poor character will lead to failure in life in everything that is important to God—our families and influencing others around us for good. 

            May we at ELCA and as parents never grow weary of demanding excellence in the character of our souls.  We have a great definition of excellence: Jesus Christ.  May we follow him and abide in him. 

           

“The horse is made ready for battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31

BEAT LANDMARK!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess