For any of the top four to be effective, players and coach- es need to love what they are doing. If players are not found to have this type of love for the sport, then it will be hard to create sacrifice, discipline, and trust and make good choices. Passion for what you are doing is vital for success.
Love operates on many levels. There is love for the game, love for competition, love for teammates, and love of success. No matter how you define the different ways love can be created on a team, it is vital to understand how impor- tant it truly is in the overall success of the team.
Talented teams that usually fall short of their potential are most often affected by an environment that has become uncomfortable and loving what they are doing has disap- peared. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in team sports. Too many things get in the way of love for it to exist as the cor- ner post for success. These items include: anger, jealousy, greed, envy, and even hatred. These emotions will take place between parents and teammates and are often directed at the coach. When these emotions are allowed to operate or get out of control from the core group and the coach, the founda- tion crumbles and success is far from attainable.
The biggest reason for these emotions to drown out the love of the game is lack of communication. When things lie in the darkness and are allowed to manifest, a team is doomed.
James 3:16 says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
Since the Word of God is 100 percent true, then this verse is TRUE. Therefore, we must keep jealousy and self-seeking in check. This can be done when these emotions are brought to the light and exposed. Then the focus on all the LOVE aspects can be reinstated.
It is the responsibility of every part of the core group to protect LOVE in the team environment and expose the work of evil and confusion that lie hidden in the dark.
There is a sacrificial and group love that also appears as a result during championship situations. When a team has fought their heart out and applied the mixture of truth, dis- cipline, sacrifice, and made good choices, an overwhelming LOVE comes over the group. The love is bound from the togetherness and bond that came from a group laying down their jealousy and envy for one another. This feeling is bet- ter than any trophy. Love is actually a result of itself in this circumstance. The community, parents, coaches, and players enjoy this love as achievement together through the proper foundation.
When love is present and operating throughout the team environment, success is inevitable. Wins, losses, and even trophies cannot stand against the love that can be formed. Everyone will enjoy success when love is present.
First Corinthians 13:4-8 tells us:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rude- ly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.