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From the Rev: Bringing Stability

The Colorado Rapids have been in the news of late, particularly over the situation with the head coach, Oscar Pareja. For the last couple of months, there have been stories that surface about Pareja’s pursuit by his former club FC Dallas. Beginning in November of 2013, rumors that Dallas had interest in the former player, former academy coach started to hit online media outlets. The Rapids quickly shut down the conversation with a strong statement that Pareja was the future coach. But the story resurfaced just before Christmas, that Dallas was really keen to make Pareja their next head coach. After weeks of quiet, the news suddenly broke that Pareja was stepping down as head coach, but then Pareja was seen at the Rapids training ground this past Monday. And finally, reports that Pareja would finally be FC Dallas’ man for 2014 and beyond surfaced again on Tuesday. Dizzy, yet?

Now, if you clicked each of the links above you are truly a dedicated fan. The dramatic saga, while still not over, and situations like this create a lot of tension, stress, and feelings of instability within a professional sports environment. Consider, for a moment – from the fans, to the coaching staff that are allied with a particular coach, to the players that a coach brought into the organization, to the families of other staff members who now face uncertainty of having jobs within the club, to the executives and administrators – each person in times such as these has to wrestle with feelings of betrayal, hurt, instability, uncertainty, depression, and more.

As a chaplain, we are called to be a peaceful presence in times like these. It can be difficult to not get caught up in the emotions of the situation – to feel the anxiety and pressure of everyone else in the room; however, as a chaplain, and especially as a Christian chaplain, we are to remember in these moments that while the storm rages and tosses the boat this way and that – the Maker of wind and wave is in the boat with us. We can call on him. We can trust him. And many times in our pastoral role, we serve to point people to Christ as the Prince of Peace. We serve to be a listening, supportive presence to the tumult all around us. To bring stability from above into the chaos below.

Blessings,

 

Rev. Brad Kenney

From the Rev: New Beginnings

If you went away a couple years ago, from Major League Soccer, and came back just yesterday, you might be surprised at the new look uniforms that many teams are now wearing. The Colorado Rapids (the team I chaplain) have a new kit look (see below), but not only is the look new on the outside, but on the inside as well. There has been a tremendous amount of turnover in the player personnel from two seasons ago and as some have declared, this is truly a different team, one that second-year head coach, Oscar Pareja, can truly call his own.

Thomas-Mastroeni-FullKit

New beginnings, while not always easy in football or life, are often necessary. Living in a digital age, most of us are familiar with the keystrokes for restarting the PC (Ctrl+Alt+Del). That functional way of starting the computer over can help us get out of the quirky log jam that we sometimes never know how we got into in the first place. In football or other professional sports, such a hard restart may not be as simple or quick as keystroke combination, but sometimes it can be just as necessary. Life, too, and our faith is like that – we cannot keep going on with the old life style and the old habits and ways of doing things – we must be given over to a new beginning, a new way of living and experiencing life.

History has always been marked (though some debate how) with a beginning. The Bible begins, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…” (Genesis 1:1). That beginning started with beauty and purity, but soon the conditions of the fall of man set forth a world in motion toward the necessity of a new beginning.

That new beginning has yet to happen (again enter in more debate and controversy) – but the Bible again declares that there will come a time when a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21) will be made. In that new beginning, we will see that a new order of things will be our reality, a new order to life will be true – here there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain. This is something that all of humanity looks forward to and many are hopeful for even today.

But while new beginnings bookmark both ends of history, there is often a “third” new beginning that is sometimes overlooked or neglected. This is the new beginning that happens within the interior of a person, in the deep recesses of the heart. It is a beginning of change and transformation at a spiritual level. It is the words of the Lord which declare the removal of the cold, stoney heart and replacing it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36). This personal transformation, this new beginning is promised when we embrace and abide in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is like the athlete who has surgery to repair dead or destroyed tissue – a new tissue is implanted and it comes to life!

The new beginning that happens inside of us is not merely comfortable or easy – it is often painful and hard, but it is necessary. Part of the work of the chaplain is to help open people up to see the importance and necessity of the new beginning. Often the athletes and professionals that we encounter carry around a “deadness” of the soul. Whilst chaplains, themselves do not implement the new beginning, we do sometimes introduce or make plausible the new beginnings in an individuals heart, mind, and soul. It is a delicate work, but one that is so very needed in a day and age when the soul is so neglected and malnourished. In a culture where physical and mental training is so highly revered – here the spiritual training, the training for godliness is nearly forsaken. Yet, it is the spiritual piece that is so central and key to the life of a person.

Some people that I meet often mistake “CrossTraining” as an elite physical fitness program – but what a great opportunity to share with them that there is another kind of training that is CrossTraining and it is a training that has value for this life and the life to come. It is a training that starts with a new beginning – one that happens on the inside.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

From the Rev: Keep Coaching

The typical coaching contract for coaches in Major League Soccer is three years, though the average length of stay is somewhere closer to 2 years (2.3 according to one source). If those statistics are comparative (there is some question to how scientific) to other leagues, then MLS coaches are among the lowest in terms of average length of stay among professional sports leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) as suggested by this New York Times article written in 2008. So what has to happen in that 2.3 years that an MLS coach takes the reins? There are several things that a new head coach must undertake, but before looking at a few important tasks, let’s look at a few reasons for changes in the management of a club.

1. Rebuilding – a typical reason for replacing a head coach in professional sport is because of an under-performing team. Here, ownership and fans alike, often give new coaches leniency in the demands for the teams improvement. The coach works to rebuild (sometimes with a few remaining pieces or from the “ground-up”) by bringing in new staff (loyal or familiar to the coach) and making a lot of personnel decisions (players, strategy, tactics, etc.). Rebuilding situations can often garner a coach more than the average length of stay provided that team executives see marked improvement and progress.

2. Replacing – the truth is, in the world of business and sport, people fall out of favor. Relationships sour, opinions and philosophies differ, and people sometimes just plainly do not get along. Other reasons for replacing may not be for the typical, negative situations that occur in sport – for example, a head coach leaving for a better or higher position or retiring. Replacing can present challenges for a new head coach depending on the type of legacy and success that a previous coach may have had. Sometimes this can create tremendous pressure – the new head coach being called on to live up to certain high expectations (from the past or for the future).

But, whatever the reason(s) for making a change at the helm, there are certain tasks for a new head coach to accomplish that are critical within that short time frame. I suggest a few below:

1. Cast a vision – the biblical adage “Without vision the people will perish” (Exodus 32:35) holds true for teams in sport as well as people in nations. If a team (and all the components that comprise a team) does not know where it is going and have someone to lead them there, there will be a tremendous amount of struggle and discontent.

2. Build unity – not everyone will agree with the philosophy or practice of the top man. And many will show their true colors within a short amount of time – a coach has to deal with those who are not unified in the vision and direction of the team because those who are not on board will in the least slow down the progress of a team or at the worst, disrupt and thwart the teams direction.

3. Achieve success – regardless of words and promises of ownership and executive management, a modicum of success is desired. Sometimes those results are tangibly laid out before coaches as targets to reach. Subjectivity comes to play with each organization on the realistic nature of those particular goals.

While not an exhaustive list of coaching tasks, the above is fairly representative of some basic demands on a head coach in any sport (and many of these can translate into the work force as well). The question remains though, can a head coach accomplish these things in 2.3 years (MLS)? There are other influencing factors for consideration (for example, how supportive a team owner may be – whether in resourcing or financing or how much power or control is given to a head coach, etc.) that may make one coaching situation easier or more difficult than another, but hopefully it is clear to see how difficult it is to keep coaching.

Friends reading this, you might wonder why this musing and contemplation – but it is a consideration that weighs heavily on the team chaplain. If the average length of stay in MLS is 2.3 years, that is not long for building trust, relationship, and investing into someone’s life – especially, when this work is often limited to the time and resource constraints of one or two individuals. I would ask that your prayers be two-fold: first, for the chaplains of CrossTraining as we minister to people in this volatile work environment. Second, for the coaches and individuals themselves, as many have families and others dependent upon them. It can be a traumatic and difficult task to “keep coaching” as it means likely and frequent upheavals and moves, immense pressure and burdens to succeed, and difficulty in opening up and trusting others (like the chaplain) who serve for many years under many different coaches or leaders.

If my words of encouragement to a coach are “keep coaching,” then perhaps the word to us chaplains in sport might be “keep chaplaining.” And God willing, we will do so.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

From the Rev: Not All Stories Are Equal

Brad Kenney - Lead Chaplain Colorado

The longer I serve as team chaplain, the more I am reminded that not all stories are equal. Let me explain what I mean: sometimes, in our different roles and positions, we can become so engrained and entrenched in the day to day that we forget to see people uniquely. We can fall into the trap of thinking that people’s backgrounds and experiences are similar to our own.

 

A Chinese proverb has stuck with me for a long time and I use it frequently, “A fish in water doesn’t know it is wet.” Those words are a constant reminder to me to not become so enmeshed (whether in the work or ministry or everyday trappings of life) that I fail to see or recognized that someone’s story might be drastically different from my own. Now, I am not talking about making assumptions that everyone has a similar Anglo background, I am talking about failing to seek out what makes a person (and their life story unique). For the fish (in the proverb) it only comes to an understanding of water life when it has been removed from the life-giving environment it was created for and placed outside. There needs to be awareness before being removed so that there is appreciation and healthy respect of the “other.”

The recent article on Colorado Rapids Head Coach Oscar Pareja reminded me of this tendency and the need to “discover” each new story that has come to the Rapids team this year. Pareja spent years in Major League Soccer, and his adjustment to American culture, his ability to speak English fluently, and other considerations make it difficult (from the outside) to sometimes remember to look for that special story. But Pareja has a life and history that go beyond his time here in America and if I simply limit my relationship to that part of his life, I will lose (and will dishonor) those other parts of his life and story that make him who God has been making him to be. And the truth is that we all have special and unique elements to the journey that God has had us on – and it is the task, it is the responsibility, and privilege of the chaplain (and really each of us) to stop, listen, and remember that not all stories are equal.

Blessings,

Rev. Brad Kenney

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