Are You Coachable?

The quest for a championship requires a commitment to do away with those things that can prevent you from winning. Allowing yourself to be coached is a requirement on every championship team.

PGC Basketball posted this great article on how to make sure you are not a hard player to coach.

Quit Being So Hard to Coach

Be a player your coach loves to have on their team!

Coach CJ

CHSM

Strive for Excellence

www.chsmhouston.com

Pay the Price

All those whom we call "great" had to start at the bottom. They had to pay the price required to achieve their goals and dreams. Simply put - you can't skip the required steps and still achieve greatness.

The Great's didn't Start that Way

Even in the Christian walk, the same price is required to live a joyous Christian life and receive all that God has planned for you. You must die to self, abide in Him, and not let anything take the rightful place of God being first in your life.

So next time you think about quitting, just remember, even the great athletes, businessman, and Christians had to start at the bottom and pay the price.

Don't quit. With God's help, the right attitude, and continuous excellent effort - you will overcome!


Striving for Excellence

CJ Pomeroy
President - CHSM

www.chsmhouston.com
www.linkedin.com/in/cjpomeroy

The Christ Centered Athlete's First Priority

Christ Centered Athlete - An athlete who exemplifies a Christ in everything they do - on or off the court.

 “It’s better to have God approve, than the world applaud” Unknown

One of the most difficult balances in life is the pursuit of our dreams while keeping Christ in first place. An excellent Christ Centered athlete is still required to dedicate an exorbitant amount of time training to achieve their career goals, and many times that will be disproportionate to the time they spend growing in Christ. Both are requirements for a player’s success, which makes it difficult for an athlete to balance and to also ensure that Christ does not take 2^nd place in their life

From the beginning of time, God requires that He be #1 in our life. It is the first of the Ten Commandments, and reiterated in many Old & New Testament scriptures. Many times God’s children, the Israelites, would worship the god’s of other people and suffer greatly because of it.  The Bible is also filled with God blessing His children when He was #1 in their life.

In today’s culture, there are many things that vie for our time, talent, and money. This creates an opportunity for many things to take precedent over God. A December 2015 study published in Time Magazine showed that the average American checked their phone 46 times per day. Those between the ages of 18-24 checked their phone an average of 74 times per day. That means someone is checking their once every 19.5 minutes! A 2014 study conducted by the Barna Group found that only 15% of Bible reading adults read the Bible daily. This study also revealed the number one reason for a decrease in Bible engagement was because people felt they did not have time to read the Bible. When you consider these facts and the required amount of time for an athlete to achieve their athletic dreams, then it’s easy to see how God takes a back-seat in the life of a player.

So how does the athlete ensure the God maintains a #1 place in their life? Matthew 6:33 provides the answer. When an athlete seeks first the Kingdom of God, then everything else will be taken care of. Psalms 37: 4-5 says “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and He shall bring it to pass.” Make a commitment each and every day that your relationship with Christ will come before anything you do, and then follow through on it. Commit your training and preparation to the Lord. Talk to the Lord on a regular basis throughout your day. Make it a goal to memorize scripture or to write down what God is teaching you every day. Give God, and only God, all of the glory for your achievements. That’s how the athlete ensures that God stays #1 in your life.

To be a successful Godly leader, always remember that He will give you the desires of your heart, when you make desiring His heart your first priority.

In Christ,
Coach CJ

President
CHSM

Website: www.chsmhouston.com
Twitter: @CJPOMEROY1 or @CHSMHOUSTON
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chsmhouston

*http://time.com/4147614/smartphone-usage-us-2015/

*http://www.americanbible.org/uploads/content/state-of-the-bible-data-analysis-american-bible-society-2014.pdf

Reach Heights You Never Dreamed Possible!

On April 5th, 2016, the UCONN Huskies women's basketball team won their 4th straight national championship while winning their 75th game in a row. Their 3 senior starters were a perfect 24-0 in the 4 women's tournaments they participated in, and averaged more points per game than their opponents. So how do 3 incredible talents and Hall-of-Fame coach achieve unprecedented success? The answer is very simple. By committing themselves to excellence in their role, recognizing the end goal requires help, and being humble enough to serve each other in pursuit of that goal. That's called TEAMWORK.

The amount of character these girls had to have in order to win is more than we can ever imagine. They did make it look simple, but the truth is - SUCCESS IS SIMPLE. Failure is complicated.

The same is true in our walk with God. Success is reached when we keep your eyes on Christ in pursuit of His will for our life, recognizing that we can’t achieve anything of substance without His blessing and the help of others, a willingness to be broken down and corrected, and being humble enough to serve and sacrifice to help others in pursuit of their desires.

Commit yourself to excellence. Recognize that you cannot experience your dreams without the help of others. Be willing to be humbled, corrected, and selfless to help others in pursuit of their dreams. By doing so, we too can reach heights we never dreamed possible!

In Christ,
Coach CJ

President - CHSM

Website: www.chsmhouston.com
Twitter: @CJPOMEROY1 or @CHSMHOUSTON
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chsmhouston




Read about UCONN's 3 senior starters - Click Here!

Attitude

Our attitude is in constant need of adjustment. When it pertains to having a good attitude, there will never be a time when we will have "made it", or a time when we will never have to worry about our attitude again. Our attitude needs to be reviewed, renewed, and adjusted every single day – sometimes multiple times during the day!

This is the essence of what it means when you hear "You are the driver of your bus." (Rule 1 from The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon) Whether you go forward or backward is a choice you and you alone make.

The person who allows the actions of others to affect their attitude has not given up the driver's seat of their bus. Instead, they have chosen to drive their bus in a direction that others are going.

You cannot control whether the sun shines, the clouds produce rain, or the snow falls. You can only control the manner in which you drive your bus. To drive the bus safely you will check that the essentials are working properly.

The same applies for your attitude. To successfully arrive at your destination, check the essentials each and every day, and keep both hands on the wheel. Always move forward knowing that, if you are in Christ, then God’s got a great plan for you!

Jeremiah 29:11
Proverbs 3:5-6


In Christ,
Coach CJ

President - CHSM

Website: www.chsmhouston.com
Twitter: @CJPOMEROY1 or @CHSMHOUSTON
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chsmhouston

Keeping Your Team Strong (Part 1 of 3): Parents

Because parents, players, and coaches invest so much time, money, passion, & energy into athletics it’s easy for division to happen within teams and programs. All it takes is a persistent negative attitude, over-bearing parent, or a high-strung coach to cause fracture. It takes a team effort from your parents, players, and coaches to keep your team from falling apart during the battle of the season and it's imperative that excellent programs stay united.

So how do you keep your team strong and ready to compete in every game?

With help from your:

Parents

No doubt you are sacrificing a lot for your kids to play. A lot of times you expect a return on your money thru playing time. Much of the complaints that a coach receives is due to this one reason, and it can be a serious detriment to the team. If you really want to be about the team, then make it a rule – NO COMPLAINING ABOUT PLAYING TIME. A coach already has to deal with the inconsistencies of players during a game, player egos, and attitudes (all players have an attitude – it’s either helping the team, or hurting the team). The last thing a coach needs to be thinking about during the game is “will my parents be mad at me”. A coach cannot do his best if he always has to think about what parents think of him/her.

Now understand this, your son or daughter may deserve to play the most. They may be the best player on the team. Complaining to your coach about this though only causes a coach to take his mind off of the TEAM. You don’t know what a coach is already thinking about, or why he makes the certain decisions. However, you aren’t helping the TEAM by telling the coach how to do his job better. If it’s something that really needs to be addressed, then consider these things:

(1) Encourage your kids to overcome. Life is not fair. Teach your kids how to overcome the hard times now. This only prepares them for what they will face later in life. Whatever you do, don’t quit simply because they aren’t playing as much as you want. This example will teach your athlete to be loyal to the decisions they make.

(2) Set up a private meeting with the coach and ASK - not demand - what your athlete needs to do to EARN more playing time. Don't forget - other athletes may have worked just as hard as yours.

(3) Review how much work your athlete really is putting in. Are they making EVERY practice? Do they do specific workouts outside of practice? (FYI – playing ball at church or with your friends does not count). Are they obeying the coach’s instruction during practice & the games? Does your athlete carry themselves with a good attitude regardless of the circumstances? Are they on top of their schoolwork? If they aren't excelling at one of these items, then that could be what’s holding them back on the court.

We will do more for our teams, programs and players by teaching them how to get through obstacles, rather than away from obstacles. Stick to it – OVERCOME!

Coach CJ

Executive Director – C.H.S.M.

www.chsmhouston.com

Follow CHSM on Twitter (@chsmhouston)

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Objection - Rejection - Dejection

I can clearly remember the first year I started playing organized basketball.  I was ecstatic that I could play “for real” what I did so much in my back yard.  I wasn't familiar with the program, or the process, I just showed up ready to play.  I worked my tail off during those try-outs and listened intently to the coaches.  However, my name was never called when the teams were announced.  There were 5 teams that year, and I didn't make 1 of them.  The feeling of rejection was enormous – I wasn't good enough to play on 1 of the 5 teams who would play games that year.  To make it worse, I got to play on the intramural team – basically a year-long development camp.  We practiced the same time as everyone else, but we had to practice outside on unmarked cement, rusted out backboards, and no rims.  The feeling of rejection was one that lasted the entire season. 

My entire basketball career was filled with objections and rejections.  During my junior season my coach informed me that I was “on the bubble” and that I would probably end up on our varsity B team.  My younger brother made the A team and I was allowed to suit up & warm up with the team, but I would rarely see the floor.  It wasn't a rejection because I still got to participate, but it was a very strong objection because I could not participate to the same extent as everyone else on the team.  Needless to say, I wasn't a very happy player.  Although I never said anything, I made sure that my attitude said everything.  To be honest, my coach was gracious enough to let me stay on the team because my attitude alone warranted me being kicked off.  The feeling of dejection from being objected to lasted the entire season.

These are just a couple of examples from my own playing career.  Chances are that you have experienced them as well.  I’m grateful though that I had a dad who would never let me quit, and a coach who made it a point to continually try to help me.  It’s because of these experiences, and the lessons God taught me, that I was able to overcome many different work issues, death, and life changes throughout my very short career and marriage.

As a person or a player, objection, rejection, and dejection are 3 things that you will experience in life.  As a player you have more than likely experienced the feeling of getting cut or losing a starting spot.  As an adult, you have no doubt experienced a lay-off, cut in pay, divorce, or loss of a loved one.  It’s in these moments of objections and rejections that dejection begins to take root in our hearts.  These moments are like high winds and rolling waves on an open sea – you don’t think you are going to make it, and begin to sink into hopelessness.

The Apostle Peter was this way.  In Matthew 14 we find the story of Jesus walking on the water.   As Jesus is walking near the disciple’s boat they start to cry out in fear not knowing that it was their Master.  Finally, Jesus speaks in an effort to calm them.  Peter has doubts though.  He asks Jesus if he can come join Him by walking on the water from the boat.  The winds were raging and the waves were rolling, but Peter gets out of boat anyways.  As Peter begins to walk towards the Lord on the water he takes his eyes off Jesus and starts to look at his circumstances.  As the fear of the wind and waves mount up against Peter, he begins to sink. 

This is the typical life experience of every human being.  The wind and waves of objection and rejection, and the subsequent feeling of dejection cause us to lose hope – we take our eyes off the Lord.  We begin to sink in the storm of our circumstances.  We forget that the power of Jesus is so great that even the wind and sea obey him (Matt. 8:27).  We forget that during these circumstances Jesus tells us to “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matt. 14:27).

We can’t get away from the storms of objection, rejection, and dejection in our lives. However, let me encourage you with this – instead of being fearful of the wind and waves of our circumstances – keep your eyes on Jesus. In John 16:33, Jesus says "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Don't let the storms of life overcome you. Instead, overcome the storms. Have faith. Walk on the water.

Coach CJ

Executive Director – C.H.S.M.

www.chsmhouston.com

Follow CHSM on Twitter (@chsmhouston)

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Live in the Present

It’s all too easy for us to think about our past.  We see pictures from friends, reminisce at family reunions, and tell our co-workers about what we used to do.  Sometimes, we just think about we want our future to be.  I am a dreamer, and I love to think about the future and what I want it to be.  I find myself thinking about my next step (that is still 10 steps away!), or what I want for my kids 5 years down the road.  As a matter of fact, I just recently found myself thinking about past friends in Colorado and new changes for the future, but then God began to speak to me.

Now don’t misunderstand – it’s not wrong to remember our past, or put together our future goals and bucket lists.  I wonder though, do we think about these things at the expense of the present?  As I pondered this thought, the Lord started to bring a few things to my mind:

Longing to live in the past. 

All too often we step outside and smell something that reminds us of where we used to live, or we go on vacation and remember how nice it was to be closer to family, or see old friends and wish it could be “just as it used to be”.  It’s not abnormal for us to have these thoughts, nor is it wrong.  However, sometimes, I think we let these thoughts hang around so long that we begin to desire the past, instead of being grateful for where God has put us in the present.  So much so, that at times we fail to see the incredible things happening right in front of us.  Our kids making new friends and building life-long relationships, or the blessings of God in our home, or the fact that someone was moved toward God because we allowed Him to use us.  When we fail to see what’s happening right now in our lives because we are looking behind us, then we end up sacrificing our present for the past.

Desiring to skip forward to our future. 

This is something I struggle with a lot.  I have such BIG visions and lofty plans and I just want God to put them all in order right now!   Sometimes it might be in regards to a job situation, or maybe we want a new house, or we want the kids to hurry up and grow up so we don’t have change their diapers, spoon feed them, or get up with them in the middle of the night.  It's not uncommon to have these thoughts.  We want to pay the house off, get rid of the car loan, or just get away!  There’s no problem with those things – it’s natural.  You should want to get rid of your debt, and if your job situation isn't healthy for you or your family, then you should want to move.  We just can’t let these things worry us and neglect to take care of the here and now.  When we do let these thoughts dominate our thinking, we usually find that our attitude goes south.  When the attitude goes south, then usually our relationships, work, and family life go the same direction.

So how do we fix this!?!?

Be grateful for where you are. 

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  Your current circumstances may not be what you want them to be, or what you think they should be, but it is what it is.  God has known all along that you would be where you are today – He is not surprised!  Instead of asking the Lord to move you, or give you a new job, or resolve your financial woes – try thanking Him for his goodness and grace to you.  The will of God is to praise Him in everything we do, and everywhere you are.  If you find that difficult to do, then instead of asking God to change your circumstances, ask Him to change you and to help you realize His awesomeness around you.

Understand that God holds the future.

In Jeremiah 29:11 we find these awesome words of hope, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  This great verse constantly reminds me that God has a plan for my future!  As long as I honor Him in all that I say and do, and obey Him when He speaks to me, then I will have a life of peace.  I may go through trials and tribulations, but because my hope is in Him, I am assured that His peace will be with me (Phil. 4:7).

It’s OK to think about our past, and sometimes it’s necessary to look at our future.  We just can’t let those thoughts dominate our mind and rob us of the present.

God has a great plan for us right now, and we don’t want to miss it!

Coach CJ

Executive Director – C.H.S.M.

www.chsmhouston.com

Follow CHSM on Twitter (@chsmhouston)

Follow Coach CJ on Twitter (@CJPomeroy1

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