Birthdays are a time to celebrate and honor people. Although, in football, some may dread their birthday because It is a reminder of aging in an industry that favors those who are young, fit, and powerful. But taking the time to honor people is key to the success of the individual athlete and the team as a whole, and someone's birthday is an ideal time to tell them or show them that you care. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, in lesson 15 Rev Brad looks at the effort made by Coach Ted Lasso to lift the spirits of one of his struggling players by remembering and celebrating his birthday. Rev Brad shares about his own practice of trying

It has been awhile since I have undertaken the pastoral writing mode of the From the Rev genre. So much of my time is now spent in writing for podcasting and the production of such. But this past week Saint Martin of Tour's feast day (Thursday, November 11 - also known as Veteran's Day or Remembrance Day) is slowly starting to become a rhythm of rest for me as a chaplain. I usually take the day or couple of days surrounding 11 November to retreat and reflect on ministry and life. I call these times the Founder's Retreat — Saint Martin being the "founder" of chaplaincy in the 4th century. In certain spaces and epochs, chaplains and chaplaincy has been

All around the world, one thing that is perhaps as common as the love of the Beautiful Game is a desire for peace; a desire for safety and security — and sometimes football affords us a sense of this in the confines of the game. But in the elite levels and the business practices in the football industry, there's a lot of fighting, back-stabbing, and more that goes on. Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, in lesson 14 Rev Brad looks at Ted Lasso's "gift" of a little plastic green army man and the hopeful representation that somehow it will afford a type of protection from the wild and dangerous side of football. Peace is something that we all

Personalities play a massive role amongst a football team — whether the elite athlete or the magnanimous manager. And the football locker room isn't necessarily a friendly place for the timid or meek of the earth. So what kind of personality do you bring to football? Have you ever done a deep dive into how you are wired? Or, have you ever had to assemble a team or work with some "larger-than-life" personalities in your work place? Ted Lasso, the immensely popular streaming TV show in its second season on Apple TV+ features the antics and quirky, 'Ted Lasso' character brought to life in his own TV show series. Lasso first appeared a number of years ago as a comedic

Saturday night saw the collision of hopes and dreams as the United Soccer League - Championship division ended the regular season. Going into the night, three of the six teams served by Soccer Chaplains United were still vying for a playoff spot — with El Paso Locomotive, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, and Memphis 901 FC all having secured a spot already. Rio Grande Valley Toros FC were the only ones to succeed - at the cost of New Mexico United. The Tacoma Defiance needed a lot of help (win their game and have some other results go their way) which didn't happen. In spite of the Defiance losing out, Chaplain Jubal McDaniel described the team as playing with a lot