The Building Champions Test

So much of my own coaching philosophy has been (or is continuing to be) developed by learning from great men such as John Wooden. I refer to him a lot, probably more than any other. The legendary UCLA basketball coach once answered a question from a Booster Club member regarding how good his team was that year by saying, "I don't know yet – ask me in 30 years."

Even the greatest coaches in the world have mentors. Coach Wooden's response to the Booster Club member's question was likely influenced by one of his own coaches from his college playing days. Wooden claimed that Coach Piggy Lambert had the greatest influence over him as both a player and a coach. He recalls that at the end of one particular season when Coach Lambert was asked by the media how good of a job he did as a coach that year he simply said, "Ask me in 20 years and we'll see how successful these boys are. Then I'll be able to tell you if I succeeded as a coach."

This is what I am calling the BUILDING CHAMPIONS TEST. But the way it works is, you have to ask yourself this question every day. You have to hold this question up next to everything you plan in your practices, every speech you give to your team, every time you coach a kid up. You are taking this test every day, coaches. It is one question, "What am I doing today that is going to help my players be successful in 20 years?"

What am I giving them right now that is going to impact them for the rest of their lives? And we have to be intentional about this. Sometimes we assume that just by being their coach and pushing them to work hard and give their best effort, that we are having a long-lasting impact on them. Perhaps, but all coaches want their players to work hard. All coaches expect players to give their best effort. That may help create a little better work ethic in some players, but we must be even more intentional if we truly want to build champions!

Coach Wooden's primary commitment was to impact and change the lives of young men. He won championships, but his primary focus was to build champions, not championships. The latter became a by-product of the former. His ultimate commitment was to teach character lessons in the context of the game he loved. Therefore he had high standards of conduct for both himself and for his players. Though he loved the game of basketball very much, he saw himself as a coach of young men rather than a coach of basketball.

This is probably why Coach Wooden's philosophy has had such an impact on me, a baseball coach. Sure, I have coached some youth and middle school football and basketball as well, but my first love is baseball. None of John Wooden's coaching books are about baseball, but they have impacted my baseball coaching in tremendous ways. And why? Because those who truly understand coaching are those who understand that the greatest championships any young person will ever win are not on a playing field or court. The greatest championships your players will compete for will be in their relationships with their spouses, their children, their co-workers, and bosses. They will compete to be a champion in their college classrooms, in their dormitories, in their personal choices and conflicts they are faced with. They will have ethical and moral challenges thrown at them more often than fastballs.

Life, in fact, will give them plenty of curveballs. Are you helping them to recognize those curveballs, make the necessary adjustment, stay focused, stay disciplined, be patient, and attack it!?

Coach John Wooden can arguably be considered the most successful coach ever. And while he has records to prove it on the court, his legacy of success is more accurately and truly measured by the effectiveness he had on "coaching character." There is no question that his primary focus was on setting an example for young men and preparing them to be champion husbands, fathers, employees, and citizens in all of life after they were no longer under his coaching.

This is coaching life. It is the most crucial component needed in amateur sports today. I love every second of coaching a game, and I have enjoyed whatever success I have been fortunate enough to experience on the field. But I won't truly know how successful I have been as a coach until several more years from now. There are championship coaches, and there are "champion" coaches. I want to be (and help others to be) a champion coach.