In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, I propose that we all send out enough love and appreciation in thank you messages, cards and phone calls to blow up a mountain of joy for the coaches in TCAL.
Every time I meet a new TCAL coaching staff, I am incredibly impressed with their love of God, their commitment to the kids and their desire to grow their players into mature, disciplined young men. It is a joy and pleasure to watch them in action. I challenge each of you to take 5 minutes this Thanksgiving week and let them know you are thankful for all their efforts.
I will start with the coaches I have had the wonderful blessing to see the past 6 years. First, this year's Head Coach Michael Dagerath has been a rock of stablility and a fountain of Godly wisdom for his players. From the moment you meet him you know he loves kids and will do whatever is needed to help them grow into men of God. Secondly, Don Miller has a heart after God. He gives of his time freely and consistently has an encouraging word for each and every player. Even though his son graduated last year, he has continued to be an integral part of these players' lives, driving them to be better on the field and off the field. Both these coaches are tough on their players and demand commitment, respect and hard work every play and every practice. More importantly, they know when to pat the guys on the back, when to encourage them and when to challenge them.
But I would like to conclude with COACH RUSH CONE. Although his son graduated 5 years ago, he still keeps pouring his life into this kids, desperately trying to make them into young men worthy of their call to Christ. He is like a jackhammer, pounding his wisdom, insight and love for God into these fortunate guys and helping to mold them into Godly young men. His sarcastic humor is worth its weight in gold during the blazing hot 3-a-day practices of August. His consistent demand for excellence, regardless of the sitution or obstacles, is a lesson his players will carry for a lifetime. My son has been the victim of many of his barbed comments and has loved every one of them. Our tradition over the past three years after every practice is for my son to sit down at our dinner table and share "3 Pearls of Wisdom from Coach Cone." I wish I had written them down - there was probably a book to be written from these nuggets of humor, wisdom and insight.
In fact, my next life goal is to start a 6-man coaching Hall of Fame and I am going to nominate Coach Rush Cone as a charter member.
To these three coaches that have played such an incredible role in helping mold and shape my son, I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. More importantly, for the thousands of hours they have spent while developing and growing hundreds of players into Godly young men, I truly believe God is saying "WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS."
Every time I meet a new TCAL coaching staff, I am incredibly impressed with their love of God, their commitment to the kids and their desire to grow their players into mature, disciplined young men. It is a joy and pleasure to watch them in action. I challenge each of you to take 5 minutes this Thanksgiving week and let them know you are thankful for all their efforts.
I will start with the coaches I have had the wonderful blessing to see the past 6 years. First, this year's Head Coach Michael Dagerath has been a rock of stablility and a fountain of Godly wisdom for his players. From the moment you meet him you know he loves kids and will do whatever is needed to help them grow into men of God. Secondly, Don Miller has a heart after God. He gives of his time freely and consistently has an encouraging word for each and every player. Even though his son graduated last year, he has continued to be an integral part of these players' lives, driving them to be better on the field and off the field. Both these coaches are tough on their players and demand commitment, respect and hard work every play and every practice. More importantly, they know when to pat the guys on the back, when to encourage them and when to challenge them.
But I would like to conclude with COACH RUSH CONE. Although his son graduated 5 years ago, he still keeps pouring his life into this kids, desperately trying to make them into young men worthy of their call to Christ. He is like a jackhammer, pounding his wisdom, insight and love for God into these fortunate guys and helping to mold them into Godly young men. His sarcastic humor is worth its weight in gold during the blazing hot 3-a-day practices of August. His consistent demand for excellence, regardless of the sitution or obstacles, is a lesson his players will carry for a lifetime. My son has been the victim of many of his barbed comments and has loved every one of them. Our tradition over the past three years after every practice is for my son to sit down at our dinner table and share "3 Pearls of Wisdom from Coach Cone." I wish I had written them down - there was probably a book to be written from these nuggets of humor, wisdom and insight.
In fact, my next life goal is to start a 6-man coaching Hall of Fame and I am going to nominate Coach Rush Cone as a charter member.
To these three coaches that have played such an incredible role in helping mold and shape my son, I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. More importantly, for the thousands of hours they have spent while developing and growing hundreds of players into Godly young men, I truly believe God is saying "WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS."
