CHARGER NATION GAME #6

Charger Nation,

            It is nice to be back in action after a week off.  It is really nice to be back at home.  We have not played a home game since August 18^th.  To get back in front of our fans with our band and our cheerleaders is exciting.  Tonight we play Wesleyan.  Wesleyan is one of our top competitors in single A football.  Not only do we have to beat them to win the region, we will have to beat them to win the state championship.  Just like last year, we could see them again in the playoffs.  Wesleyan is a great football team led by a dual threat quarterback.  I have great respect for the school, the people at their school, and their coaches.  Just like us, they are a school committed not only to athletic excellence, but more importantly, academic and spiritual excellence.  It will be a fun game tonight!

            Another exciting thing about tonight is our boys finally get to put on their new blue uniforms.  I spent countless hours designing these uniforms with our Nike representative.  It’s a simple uniform but every part of it was designed with a purpose.  I love the color Navy.  I remember being in elementary school and people receiving first place ribbons at field day.  They were blue.  To me our Navy blue represents victory.  Our program is committed to the pursuit of winning and doing so in an honorable way.  You will see our numbers and our helmets are gray.  Gray represents our work ethic core values: Hard Work, Perfect Effort, No Excuses.  There is no victory without commitment to hard work.  Hard work is a core value of this football program.  We will work hard and we will embrace hard work. 

One goal of this football program is to produce a bunch of young men that work hard.  We will work out every single day and football practice will be hard.  People sit around and try to make everything fun these days.  We embrace the fact that as we pursue winning, a whole bunch of the process is not fun.  However, there is nothing like working hard and then getting to perform.  To go into a game with confidence based upon your preparation is a great feeling!  Hard work doesn’t guarantee winning and A’s, but it will give you a great shot! 

            Finally, there is a simple element to these uniforms that mean everything to me.  Our Nike checks are gold.  This is the only yellow/gold you will see on our uniforms.  It is a symbol of our commitment to excellence.  As you walk in the weight room there is a huge sign right before the boys walk in the door and it says DEMAND EXCELLENCE.  Long before we won a region championship or a state championship that sign was there.  I ask the boys for excellence every single day but I fully understand it is my job to demand it.  I also believe we are training our boys how to demand excellence from themselves. 

            What is excellence?  Have you ever thought about that?  We often talk about excellence but I what I realized when I was in the Air Force is people keep saying excellence but no one is explaining it/defining it.  We would go to meetings and people throw the word around but I’d leave with no clue what excellence looked like.  When I became a teacher schools would say they are a school of excellence but I had no idea what that meant.  It sounds nice but no one has a clue what excellence is. 

            So here is what I believe excellence is as a Christian football coach:

Excellence is 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.  A Winner is someone who wakes up each day in the pursuit of excellence.  A Champion is a person who perseveres with unwavering commitment longing to hear those words promised from our Father: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, ESV).

            It is imperative I define words correctly.  My whole goal is be a Champion and to create Champions.  The pursuit of excellence and winning will produce Champions.  I believe the key words in the definition of excellence are “in all God has called you to do.”  These young men I coach are called to perform in school academically, honor their Father and Mother, serve the Lord with their bodies, lead for Christ in school, and then to excel as athletes.  Pursuing all of these is excellence.  As they look back over the whole year and they were successful in persevering, then they are Champions in the eyes of Christ. 

            This world glorifies men and women who have had great success on the field or in the arena yet are losers as husbands or wives, mothers or fathers, and leaders for Christ in the community.  It is not hard to become the best at the sport one plays if God has given amazing ability and one works at it.  However, it is hard to pursue excellence as an athlete, a father, a husband and a leader in the community for Jesus Christ.  Being excellent on the field or in the arena without pursuing excellence in the areas that are important to God is being a loser.  Therefore, excellence should be a term used for men who seek to do well in all aspects of their life, not just the one that will get them worldly glory!

            What is important to me will be important to my players.  If I make winning the game our main objective than my players will do the same.  If I teach our players that excellence on the field is important but secondary to pursuing Christ like character then hopefully my players will focus on this.  This is no easy task: The world and our flesh make winning on the field the only purpose of any value or importance.  I will not be praised by the world for teaching our young men and women to put on Christ and become like him. But I must remember, I do not serve the world.  I serve Jesus Christ.  My goal is to be a Champion for Jesus Christ, not this world.  I must DEMAND EXCELLENCE in this area from myself if I am going to instruct my players on this path.    

This is what the gold check is all about.  Excellence is Jesus Christ.  We have been made in his image for his glory.  May we live this way: This is excellence.  Christ has died for our sins so that we may have eternal life and live a life on this earth as sons of the almighty God.  May we live this way: This is excellence.  God has given us his Word in the Bible.  The Bible contains endless knowledge of how to live in this sin stained world.  God’s rules, laws, statutes, and commands are excellent.  May we strive everyday to obey: This is excellence.  That gold check: It is excellence-It is Jesus Christ.  That is why the check is gold and stands out.  It is Christ.  That is why it is important to me.

Beat Wesleyan!

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

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess