Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Sorry for being late again this week. I am away at camps and got behind a bit.
Kopion
"The days are counting down when we come back for pre-season and I hope that you guys are just as excited as I am to be back. I just wanted to share some thoughts with you as we have roughly one month to prepare for the season ahead. Someone that has made a huge impact on my life is my grandpa. We call him Papaw….don’t judge it’s southern haha. Papaw has worked for 68 years as a florist in Robinson, Illinois. This June he closed down his flower shop and retired at the age of 86. Can you imagine? It blows my mind when I think about working that long. He would get up in the middle of the night to stoke the green house fire, then in the morning, and again in the evening. It was a round the clock job. That kind of work ethic is rare. Yet what I think is even more rare is the patience that comes with that work ethic. Early mornings and late nights can wear down a person. Let alone doing it for 68 YEARS! My grandpa truly gave himself to his work. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what’s left of it, or how much money he made, or how long it ran. What matters is that he gave everything that he had and at the end of the day he can be proud of that.
“Therefore, dear brothers stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your WORK in the Lord is not in vain." I Corinthians 15:57-58.
I think that this mentality can be applied to our situation. If you know deep down that you trained your hardest this off-season, you can lift your head up high. You can be proud of the work you’ve put it. Good things will happen as a result of that hard work. This is the point of no return…. It’s either you are in with all your heart, or your out. The decision is up to you. There is no middle ground with our standard of play and with the Kopion life. I just want to challenge you to really grind it out this last month. Stay connected with your leadership groups. These are the moment that string together a successful season.
I really believe we are one of the hardest working teams. But what’s that work for if we don’t know our vision. The book “Visioneering” has been really challenging in this way. We have great coaches that work so hard to get us to buy into their visions. Coach Chip pours his passion for the people of Zambia and being a team playing for something bigger than ourselves. Coach Bell has visions of being a team of integrity but isn’t scared to run people into the ground. Our captains encourage and lead by example to get us to share a common vision. If you are going to be apart of this team your visions are one in the same."
Cant wait to see you guys again! Peace.
Important Reminders
- SWOL: There seem to be problems getting on/uploading documents. Worst case scenario, you can send everything to me. School password/ID is Golden Eagles. You must also provide proof of primary insurance. This is a new policy so it is important I have this documented before pre-season camp starts.
- Scarves: We are still a long way off from our goal. I can't stress enough how important this is. This is not about selling scarves. It is about following through on what is required of us as a program in order for the team to make a trip like Boston. Only 6 players have completed their goal- Bayer, Colp, Flynn, Hamilton, Hopkins and Mitchell. Here is an answer to prayer and another reason why it is important to get out of your comfort zones. I have set up 2 ministry opportunities during our trip (details to come). With one of the opportunities, I offered to serve dinner to this particular ministry. It is for 60 people! I just felt this was something that would be a great way to serve. The next day, Reid's dad, Mont Mitchell and Pastor at Westbrook Christian Church in IL, calls me up and offers the team a donation from his church that would cover the meal! Huge answer to prayer because I did not know where we were going to get money to cover that! Thanks Reid, Mont and the members of Westbrook Christian Church. The scarves are supposed to be in on July 8th.
- Training: Please check in with the captains and let them know whether or not you will be attending. The goal is to get out of your comfort zone here, even if it is just one session.
- Tuesday Night with SCOR. I need guys to step up and help with training for U8-U17 kids for the next 3 Tuesday nights 6-8. If I can't get enough guys, I will have to pay non CU guys to help. If that is what I have to do, "Disappointed" would be an understatement.
- Arrival: Please let me and the captains know when you will be arriving on campus for August 8th. Guys flying in early, we are working on housing arrangements for you.
- Guys taking classes-you have to have your transcripts sent to our Registrar so that you can be declared eligible. Please make sure I know when your classes end so our FAR will be prepared.
- Here is the jersey for NON. Each player will have a jersey that they will auction off. This will serve as your team donation. The color is called Volt and is significantly brighter in real life!
Coach Bell
