The Lord’s other prayer

The best coaches genuinely care about their players.

In high school I played on our tennis team, where I had the good fortune to be coached by Jim Lockett. Coach Lockett was unfailingly patient and kind–probably not the easiest thing when dealing with competitive teen-aged girls and the drama that can involve.

My personal drama? I tended to lose a contact lens during tennis matches. We would all have to stop and look for my contact. At the time I wore expensive contacts (and I had to pay for them myself), so it was really important to me to find those that popped out.  Usually someone found it in a couple of minutes. One game we couldn’t find it. After several minutes of searching, we had to give up and go on playing. The next day when I went to practice Coach Lockett had a surprise for me. He had gone back to the court and searched until he found my contact, miraculously still intact. I don’t know how long he spent looking for that little piece of plastic, but it meant a lot to me that he cared so much that he would spend part of his day looking.

Later that year we were playing at another school. I was with Coach Lockett as my friend Linda warmed up. We were wearing brand new, powder blue polyester sweat suits. Linda was nervous and was overthinking and making mistakes. Suddenly she slipped and went down. Coach Lockett went to check on her–she was okay but had torn a hole in the knee of the brand-new sweatpants. She was apologetic. He assured her that he was glad she wasn’t hurt, and the pants didn’t matter. After that, Linda forgot her nerves and played a great game. I remember Coach Lockett whispering to me that the distraction of tearing a hole in the knee was just what she needed to forget herself and regain her focus. In sports or in life when we focus on what we’re doing wrong we aren’t able to bring our best selves to any situation or be the vessel God needs us to be to accomplish his work.

The tributes that poured in after Coach Lockett’s death talked about how much he cared for those he coached, went out of his way to help others and believed in people when they didn’t believe in themselves. Many mentioned his faith and willingness to witness to others. There was even an amazing story of how he saved a baby’s life in a grocery store parking lot by helping the mom do CPR until paramedics arrived.

In coaching and in life Jim Locket was a man who, like Jesus, reflected God’s love by caring for others, believing in them and helping them be their best selves. Coaches always have an impact on their players. Coaches who truly care make a difference far beyond creating better athletes. Did I become a better tennis player because of Coach Locket? Probably. Am I a better person because of his influence? Definitely.