The Yard – Where Faith and Sports Collide: Coach Jon Goodman of Play as One

Coach Jon Goodman of Play as One

Coach Goodman Discusses God’s Unique Methods of Speaking To Him Through His Coaches and Mentors

This week’s awesome guest and co-host is Jon Goodman of Play as One. Jon’s life is bountiful with Godly men and women who set amazing examples for him to learn how to be a good teammate, strive to do his best, and be transformed into all that God has for him. And, that’s what Jon aims to do with the young people he coaches and teaches.

Over Cornhole:

• The unappreciated performance art that is Taco Cart Culinary!
• CIF sports in a COVID-19 world.
  • What will high school sports look like in the fall? Stay tuned after July 20, when the state will release an update.
  • These adversities can build character in coaches and athletes alike. 
• Play as One reaches out to the community with the Gospel through sports.
• “I meet millions who tell me that they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of us have is not in who governs us, or what laws are passed, or what great things that we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people, and that’s where our hope is in this country; that’s where our hope is in life.” – Chuck Colson
• What started out with merely sports camps has transformed beyond sports and into the worlds of arts, vocational training and spiritual discipleship, impacting over 1,000 local families.
• More than just young athletes have been transformed… Jon has seen families, marriages and communities pointed in God’s direction, stemming from what He’s done through Play as One
• Transactional vs. Transformational Coaching:
  • Transactional is the most typical type of coaching: If you play well, you will be rewarded. If you don’t, you will ride the bench.
  • Transformational Coaching finds a spot for everyone, based on what they can uniquely bring to the lives of the team… even a wheelchair bound high schooler on the Varsity Football Team!

A Little Bit About Jon Goodman:

• • Jon is more than a football coach, 
  • Jon grew up as a son of a single mom, watching her struggle to scrape two nickels together.
  • As a young man, growing up without a dad left a void in his life that was filled by his youth sports coaches.
  • He played right field and batted ninth (worst player on the team), but had the time of his life.
  • BUT, he still bought into the lie that his value needed to be earned by his performance out on the field.
  • UNTIL he met his Varsity Football Coach, Richard Watkins.
  • Coach Watkins revealed to Jon that his value wasn’t based on his time on the field, but simply because God loves him.
  • Coach Watkins and his wife reached out to Jon and the other players, showing them what Godly living looks like both on and off the field. 
  • Coaching from a Transformational foundation doesn’t mean that Jon sacrifices the “x’s and o’s”. Kids come to play for him because he’s also a winning coach. But, once the athletes know that there is no fear in failure, they can play with pure joy!
  • All this to say, Jon evaluates his seasons differently than most coaches.
    •  Wins and losses in a season are measurable, but they have a definitive end to them.
    • BUT, our purpose – WHY we play and HOW we play – has no end to it throughout life.
    • This purpose is based on four things: Working Hard, Living Pure, Leading with Courage and Honoring the Team. (Derived from Robert Lewis’ book, Raising a Modern-Day Knight)
    • The results of this approach to coaching isn’t revealed at the end of the season with a wins / loss tally, but decades later in the lives of the men and women who learned their true value and responsibilities.
  • John was drawn to the cross by the example he saw in Coach Watkins.

 

• “If this guy has Christ in him, and he can have patience, and grace, and love… whoever it is that he is serving… that’s a guy I want to follow!”

 

• • Even when Jon was faced with tough times, he asked the hard questions:

 

• Why do great people like Smokey Vickers get cancer?

• Why do bad things happen to loving, Christian people?

 

• • Jon went to his coach to find these answers.
  • Coach Watkins simply pointed him to the Bible and God’s faithfulness, even when life doesn’t seem to make sense.
• No matter what joy or pain we are experiencing in our lives, God remains in the same place – on his Almighty, Sovereign throne, loving and caring for each and every one of us. And, that same spot where He is now is the exact same spot where He was when Jesus went to the cross. He is the same God who watched His Son die for our sins, and the same God who resurrected Him for our eternity! And, He is still in control today!!

Scriptures:

…we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)

• That’s behind Jon’s coaching philosophy – if we know there is hope for our future, there is power in the present.

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You can also find more encouraging words from other Yard teammates here!