Flag Football Devotional Season 1

Integrating sports, life, and truth

Sport(s): Flag Football Ages: 6-14

Overall Application: These devotionals outline a flag football drill to be used during practice. The coach will ask age-appropriate leading questions to engage the players in a life-topic. The goal in each week is to tie in a Biblical truth pertaining to the topic discussed during practice.

How to use 3D Devotionals: In our efforts to bring Christianity and Sports together, historically, Christians established a devotional time during practice breaks or half times of games. Oftentimes, the stories or passages used during these times didn’t have much to do with the sports, and, even if they did, tended to feel like the biblical truths were being injected into the sports realm. Unfortunately, these efforts often led to players and coaches to disconnect sports from biblical truth and build a “compartmentalized view” of life. 3D Devotionals come from a passion to live all of life for God’s glory and, therefore, an approach to integrate sports and biblical truth. We designed 3D Devotionals to be used in the flow of practice, utilizing the drills and skills emphasized in each particular practice setting. Ultimately, the goal of 3D Devotionals is not to just learn truth but for coaches, players and parents to learn a new way of thinking that integrates SPORTS – LIFE – TRUTH and can be used far beyond their time in sports.

Week 1 - “GETTING ACQUAINTED” Purpose – Get to know your players, showing them interest and concern. At the beginning of practice – play The Name Game 1) Have each player give his/her name and tell you the athlete they would most like to

be and why. 2) You, the coach, now try to go around and name each of the players and the athlete

he wants to be like – this may be challenging 3) Have each player go around and try to name all the players with the hero’s name. During a water break, find out from your players

- Where they go to school - Whether they have brothers and sisters - What they like to do in their free time

Tell them a snippet of your story – you will do more of this through the season. This would include

- Where you grew up - Where you went to school - Whether you have brothers and sisters - What you liked to do in your free time when you were their age

Week 2 – “SERVE OTHERS!” Purpose – To see the importance of giving away what we value (serving) Flag Football Skill – Passing Drills you can use – Stationary passing between 2 players, Passing in a circle of all players with a player in the middle trying to steal the ball, Passing while advancing down the field between two players Passing Drill: Progressive QB - This drill helps refine and improve passing technique by concentrating on proper arm and hand movement. Development Goals - Perfect throwing motion while using only the throwing arm. Coaching Points

- Pair off participants into two parallel lines. Players start on both knees,throwing to

their partners five yards away. - Show players how to follow through with their arm, so that their

thumbs end up pointing down. - Have each player begin with football held above his or her waist.

Demonstrate how to throw from no higher than their ear. Progressions After several throws, have players switch to kneeling on right knee. Then after several throws that way, have them switch to left knee. Next, have them throw standing up with feet together. Finally, have them practice a three-step drop, then a five-step drop before throwing. Life Principle – Greater joy comes from sharing rather than keeping for ourselves. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.) - Imagine a quarterback who didn’t want to pass. Why would he want to pass? (look

for them to answer something like - He wanted to keep the ball and run - He wanted to score not his other player

- There are two problems with this attitude. The other team will realize that he won’t pass and make it difficult for him to run. The other problem is that his other players will think that he is what? (selfish, proud, better than the others) What will happen? They won’t want to play because he is not being a good teammate.

- He has to learn to pass, to share the ball with others. - Sharing is a part of all of our lives just like in flag football. You have things that are

yours like game boy, xbox, something at school. - You can keep these for your self or you can share them. If you keep them for

yourself, that is called what ? (Selfishness) - If you are selfish then you won’t be a good friend or brother and people won’t want to

be your friend. - You practice this at home with your brothers and sisters when you share your

(Fill in blank or ask them – could be Candy or Wii or some game,) - So you can learn this in flag football by sharing the ball – then you will be able to

share easier in life.

Biblical Truth – Sharing with others is serving – by making their joy our joy. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.) - God calls this kind of sharing serving – when we want to share ourselves with

someone else so they get happy/joyful.

- The greatest person who ever lived, Jesus Christ, said this about himself. “The

Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

- Jesus didn’t live his life to keep what he had, to keep dribbling the ball so he could score. He passed the ball, shared what he had, his life so we could experience the greatest joy – that of having a relationship with Him and all it promises.

- So with Jesus as our example, let’s keep practicing passing and remember what this opportunity presents – a chance to keep for ourselves or share with others.

Week 3 - “The Proper Grip” Purpose – To teach the players the importance of our hold of life. Flag Football Skill – Holding the ball for passing (you could also so this for the hold on the ball for running) Here are some things to keep in mind when determining how the ball should be gripped:

- Proper grip is determined by hand size: The smaller the hand throwing the ball, the closer the grip should be to the point. Because the circumference of the ball gets smaller at the points, it’s easier to grip. People with bigger hands would do well by keeping their grip on an area closer to the middle of the ball.

- Make the ‘C’: On the throwing hand, form a ‘C’ shape with the thumb and middle finger; the thumb/middle finger pair forms the center of the grip. This ‘C’ is the center point of the grip, and should be positioned so the middle finger rests somewhere close to the laces (with the exact position depending on the size of the hand). When holding the ball, the middle finger and thumb should be almost perfectly parallel with each other, the finger on top of the ball and the thumb on the bottom. The index finger should be angled towards the point of the ball, and the ring and pinky fingers should rest on (or towards) the laces of the ball.

- Keep the window open: When holding the ball, there should be a small gap, or window, between the ball and the spot on the hand where the pads of the palm meet. If a gap is there, it means the majority of the grip is being maintained by the fingertips, which is optimal. If it’s closed, it means the whole hand is resting on the ball, which will make it difficult to control the direction of the pass when it’s made

Drill – Holding the ball Pair off the players.

Have the players on one side pick up the ball as you have instructed and inspect their grips.

Have them pass Now do with the other players.

Go through this several times until you think they have the right idea of grip – in the fingers.

Comments - (Make age appropriate.)

- The ability to throw a great pass starts the moment the hand hits the ball. How the ball is held — both in terms of hand placement and grip pressure — will directly affect how well the ball can actually be thrown. It’s also important to recognize that there is not one specific ‘correct’ way to hold a football when passing it.

- Brett Favre keeps the index finger of his throwing hand directly on the point of the

ball, while Drew Brees has his middle, ring and pinky fingers securely on the laces of the ball. Much like holding a pen, most grips are relatively similar; the important thing is to make sure your grip is secure, and allows you to control the ball as it’s thrown.

- Ask the question – “How hard should you grip the ball?” (the answer is just

enough to keep the ball from being taken away or falling out of the hand but not too much so that it feels as if you are doing it as hard as you can)

- The ones who have the ball – squeeze as hard as you can. Now try to pass –

difficult b/c your arm isn’t free to move. So the right amount of pressure is notthat hard.

- Now just barely hold it so it doesn’t fall out of your hands and try to pass. Loose

control – loose accuracy. Not that loose Life Principle – The skill of using the right amount of control - trusting others while exercising some control. (Make age appropriate)

- If we were to think in terms of controlling our life like holding the football, what can we learn from this exercise?

- We can try to control our lives too much and when we do we get tense and lose the freedom we were designed to live in. When we have too little control, our lives can get inappropriately out of control – even hurting someone including ourselves.

- Just as we have to learn the right amount of pressure to pass well, we need to

learn how tightly to grip or hold on to life = Life grip is how much control we are trying to exercise over life.

- Too much pressure/too much control and our lives are bound up – trying to control circumstances and people around us, trying to make things happen “our way” and stressed by the pressure we live with.

- Too little pressure/too little control and we lose the control we are to exercise –

life twists and turns in ways we could have avoided if we would have exercised more control – primarily over ourselves

1. How would you tell if tried to exercise too little or exercise too much control in your

life? Look at how tense or at ease you are as you move through life. Look at how you respond to responsibilities you have been given or volunteered to take.

2. What are some things your could do to lessen the amount of control you are trying to

exercise? Increase the amount of control? Too much - Trust other people to do what they have said they will do without my nagging. Too little – Ask others how I am doing with the responsibilities they have given me and what I could to do a better job?

Biblical Truth – Comments - (Make age appropriate.) Philippians 2:12,13 - “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it God who works in your, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Remarks:

- The Bible speaks about this idea in Philippians 2:11. - We have a role of living our lives. But we are not alone. It is not all up to us. We

don’t have all the pressure that translates to a death grip on life. Rather, we lightly do our work and trust that God is the one who is ultimately in charge. We can trust him to complete what he has begun.

- Ask and Discuss: (preferable if time) or just summarize the thoughts

- In this passage, the author says here we are to do something very specifically. What does he say?

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling - What do you think this means or more what doesn’t it mean?

It doesn’t mean to earn your way to heaven.

It doesn’t mean we are to be afraid of God or obey because he will punish us. It does mean to that God is amazing and has done amazing things in us. We are to live out the reality of what God has done in us.

- The author gives a reason for this when he says “for”. What is the reason he gives?

God is at work in you - What two reasons is God at work in you?

To want his pleasure To work for this pleasure

- Now let’s think about that for a moment. When we had to loosen our grip in order to relax and pass, who do we trust in when we loosen there?

Ourselves and our arm - This is different. Who now do we trust to either loosen or grip tighter – to work or

to let go? God

Here are some questions you might want to think about this week

- What are some ways your life might change if you really believed God was at work in you?

- Where do you think you need to trust God more in your life right now and lessen control?

- Where do you think you need to trust God more deepen control or do this work? Week 5 Practice – “SERVING IN CONFIDENCE”

Week 4 - “JUST ASK” Purpose – To recognize the proper position for receiving – a football pass and in life Flag Football Skill – Receiving a pass Mechanics of catching pass

- Face the passer, feet shoulder width and knees slightly flexed, weight on balls of feet

- Arms hanging loosely at side, hands in front of chest, The receiver forms a target with both hands, palms facing out with thumbs and pointing fingers touching. and forming a triangle

- When the ball approaches move your hands to catch the ball before it reaches your chest – catch in hands, don’t cradle against body

Comments –

- We have been talking about catching a pass from a teammate.

- Just as there are good mechanics in throwing a pass there are good mechanics in receiving a pass. Today we are going to work on the proper position to receive.

- The position I want you to take is what I call an “ready position” – where you are slightly crouched and your weight is on the balls of your feet/ toes, your hands in front of your chest ready to catch the ball

- You are not standing straight. Your weight is not on your heels

- Now everyone get in that “ready position”

- Let’s pass and work on being in this proper position, this “ready position” to receive.

Drill – Freeze Drill While this is a drill for quarterbacks and receivers, most youth football leagues will train

kids to play all positions, so it is a drill that can be practiced by the entire squad. Divide the squad up into quarterbacks and receivers, and pair them off, with each pair standing about 10 yards apart. The coach then controls the drill by shouting out a sequence of commands, at which the quarterback or receiver is to perform a specific action, and then both players will freeze until the next command is given. The one exception is with the commands to throw and catch the ball, as the coach should give these commands sequentially without a pause in between, and the receiver is to catch the ball as soon as it is thrown without pausing to wait for a command to do so.

The commands, in order, are as follows: Ready! (quarterback assumes throwing

position), Go! (quarterback throws ball to receiver), Catch! (receiver catches the ball, then freezes until the next command is given), Tuck! (the receiver secures the ball, keeping his head down and eyes on the ball), Toss Back! (the receiver throws the ball back to the QB). This drill can be repeated three times, once with a low ball, once with a medium one and once with a high one.

Life Principle – We need the “ready position” of asking for what we need. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- In life we need this “ready position” to receive from others as well. We need the proper position to be shared with, to be served.

- To think about that proper position in life, I want you to think for a moment about football and your teammates. If you are the one passing to them, what attitudes

do you not like to see them have? (1. “PASS ME THE BALL” yelling all the time, a demanding to be shared with 2. “You better pass me the ball. I am the star. I am better than you. I deserve for you to pass me the ball.” expectant, sense of entitlement)

- In life these two attitudes are the improper position, the opposite of the “ready

position” to receive from others. When we have these it diminishes the desire of others to share with us.

- What is the ready position in life? It is to ask, humbly, openly.

- What would that look like in flag football? (“Hey, pass it to me, I am open?” Note the difference in tone from demanding and heart from expectant)

- What would it look like in life? (“Hey, sis, could I have a turn on the Wii?” Hey brother, could I have some of that popcorn?”)

- Do you think that “ready position is hard or easy in life? (Hard – they could say no)

Biblical Truth – God wants us to have this “ready position” with him as our Father. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- Now this “ready position” for people to share with us, to give us what we want, applies also to God.

- He wants us to come to him with this humble asking – not demanding or expecting from him, just ask openly.

- Jesus talked about this when he said to his followers in Matthew 7:7,8. He told those followers “Ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, know and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocke, the door will be opened.”

- To emphasize how God responds to this “ready position”, he goes on to tell them this example – “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

- What does Jesus says God the Father will do to those who come to him in this “ready position”? (Give them what they ask.)

- This is his heart – to be generous in answering our requests so we don’t need to demand from him. Just ask, humbly.

Week 5 - “SOFT HANDS, SOFT HEART”

Purpose – To understand the importance of “cushioning” when receiving Football Skill – To have the hands “soft” when receiving a pass Mechanics –

- Hands form the same triangle you taught in week 4 - This week you are focusing on the tension in the hands – they should be relaxed

not tight as the player gets ready to receive a pass. - Could ask them to shake them out before they get ready to receive a pass - When the ball comes to the receiver, he should not let his touch his palms but is

caught in the finger tips. . - The softness in your fingers keeps the ball from bouncing off your hands.

Comments

- Last week we focused on a ready position for catching a pass. Anyone remember what we talked about?

- This week, we want to emphasize a softness or a lack of tension in our hands as we prepare to receive the pass.

- Think about how great receivers are discussed. What comments are made about them? (great hands, soft hands) They seem to just pluck it out of the air.

- To do that you need to be relaxed in your hands. Shake them out, wiggle your fingers. Get them relaxed.

- Then as the ball lands in your hands you squeeze. Catch the ball with your hands.

- Lift your receiving foot off the ground Drill – Straight on Drill

- Have the players line up in a single file line about 10-15 yards from you. - One at a time, have them run at you while you throw them a pass at their chest. - Watch to see if they catch with proper technique – triangle and with fingers not

palms. - Go quickly through several rounds. - Having the players run toward the passer makes it harder to keep it from the

palms. - If this is too difficult, then go to the Freeze Drill from last week and emphasize the

same points.

Life Principle – We need to take in the ways people serve or share with us. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- When we think about soft hands for receiving a pass, I want you to think about a soft heart when someone shares with you or serves you in life.

- You remember we talked about the two wrong attitudes for receiving – demanding (PASS THE BALL) or expectant (I deserve for you to pass me the ball.)

- In life, this hard heart attitude would be like hard hands when receiving a pass –

what someone shared would just bounce off our hearts.

- Someone with a hard heart would say things to themselves like “of course they should share” “After all, look what I did for them.”

- What would a soft heart look like? (Every time someone shared or served, they

would genuinely be thankful, grateful, knowing they didn’t deserve what they were getting.

- You might imagine how this would look on the football field – (every time a player

received a pass they would say under their breath, “Thanks” and move on with the game)

Biblical Truth – God wants us to have soft hearts that respond with gratitude. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- Who would you rather play with – players with soft or hard hearts?

- Who would you rather share with or serve – friends with soft or hard hearts?

- God knows this and this is why he tells us to be thankful. In Ephesians 5:20 it stays “always give thanks to God the Father for everything”

- Who does it say to give thanks to? (God our Father – remind them of the

previous lesson about asking God humbly as our Father in heaven)

- What are we to be thankful for? (everything – every time God shares with us, gives us what we ask for)

- Can you give me some things God has shared with you recently or requests he

has answered that you can be thankful for?

- How about giving you things like ……(your life, parents, friends,

clothes food, this team.etc)

- So I want you to go out and when you are receiving a pass, practice saying “Thanks” under your breath, Practice this soft heart so that you are on the lookout in life for the things to be thankful for and you avoid this demanding or expectant hard heart.

Week 6 – “BE AWARE” Purpose – for the players to recognize the importance of developing awareness of what is around them – particularly God and his kingdom Football Skill - Feel for the Ball Mechanics

- Hold the football right in front of you. - Place one point of the ball in your palm. - Curve your wrist so the side of the ball is resting against it. - Hold the ball against your chest on one side of your body, above your ab

section, and below your pecs, keeping your elbow as close to the side of your body. This ensures great ball control with little chance of losing grip because of a defender.

- Practice this often to make it perfect! Don't ever give up! Drills you could use –

- After instructing them in how to hold the ball, have them move the ball from one hand to the other, maintaining control they do so. (See if they can do it easily without instruction. If not, then show them how to do this without flipping the ball around.)

- After they have done it a few times, ask them to do this without looking at the ball.

Comments during drills - (Make age appropriate.)

- Emphasize the goal of these various drills - being aware of the ball (eventually without looking at the ball)

- Talk about the feeling of the ball securely held in either hand. Conclusion – To be a good football player, you need to be aware of the ball when it is in your possession. This comes from lots of practice with the ball

in your hands. If you practice this awareness long enough, the ball starts to become almost a part of you. Life Principle – Awareness of something outside of yourself Comments – (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- There are things in life that you either carry or have around you that you need to become aware of – like your books, your backpack, your wallet, your phone.

- Your parents want you to protect them. The way you protect and know where these things are is just like we did with the soccer ball – you touch it, a lot, in different ways – to check to make sure it is still there.

- Goal is that this awareness of this item would became a part of you – ie “second

nature” Biblical Truth – God is present, whether we are aware of it or not. We need to develop our awareness of his presence and work. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- There is something around us all the time that we cannot see. Therefore, we may or may not be aware of it. That something is God.

- The Bible speaks of this in Ephesians 4:6 – Our God …”Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. He is in and through all – that means everything. To be in everything he has to be everywhere. All the time. Because he is everywhere, he is always with us.

- But because we don’t see him, we need to learn to be aware that he is there and with us. Everywhere. All the time. We do that by the same way we do with the soccer ball or our backpack – we practice God’s presence. How? We practice reminding ourselves of the fact that he is there. As we go through the rest of practice, I am going to remind you that God is here with us. Before practice, during practice, after practice, before games, after games - We will do this throughout the season, until we start doing it ourselves. It becomes part of us.

Week 7 - “LISTEN UP”

Purpose – for the players to learn the importance of a coach Football Skill - To listen to the coach when he tells you what to do No particular mechanics or drills Comments – (Make age appropriate during practice.)

- What does a coach provide the players on the team (Some possible answers – draw this out)

o Direction in how to play the game – skills and plays o Direction as to what position for each player to play o Motivation to play o Challenge to get better

- Why do you think it is important to listen to what the coach has to say? (Some

possible answers) o The coach knows more about the game. o The players work together as a team as they follow his instructions, rather

than do what they want – such as the positions they play and the plays they call

- Why wouldn’t a player listen to what the coach would say? (Some possible answers)

o The player thought he knew more than the coach. o The player thought the coach didn’t care about him and his concerns.

Life Principle – We need a life coach to follow just like we need a football coach. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- Think back to what a coach provides the players on the team – guidance, motivation, challenge

- Which of those ideas do you need beyond football and for your daily life at school and at home?

- Who serves as your coach in those activities? (See how they answer this

question - parents, teachers, friends) Biblical Truth – Jesus wants to be our Life Coach. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- While the people you mentioned for coaching you in your life – parents, teachers, friends – might all be great people who know about life and care about you, they all have one problem. What might that problem be? (They don’t know everything and don’t always care perfectly for you.)

- When you have a bad coach, what do you tend to do as a player? (quit listening, following their direction)

- This is what happens to many of us as we get older and see the problems of

letting others coach us – we quit listening.

- But there is one who asks us to follow him as a coach who has complete wisdom about everything and always cares for us. That person is Jesus. He says – his players hear his voice and follow him because they believe that about him – he knows and he cares.

- When he is the head coach, those people you mentioned – your parents and

teachers and friends, Jesus doesn’t replace them. He makes them like assistant coaches.

- So just as you have learned about football from your coaches, Jesus wants us to

learn from him about life. He says, I have come that my players may have life and life to the full.

- So when you think of Jesus, think of him as a Coach. When you need guidance

and motivation and challenge in life, think of his offer to Come and be on his team and follow him.

-

Week 7 - “TOUCHDOWN” Purpose – For the players to learn what it means to win in life Football Skill – Discovering the winning is more than the score on the scoreboard No particular Drill or Mechanics Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- How do we determine who wins the game? (The team who scores the most points wins.)

- Who came up with this method of determining the winner? (the inventors of the game of football)

- Is the score the only way to figure out who wins and loses? (See if there is any other ideas – ask these specific questions

o What if you played a team much better than you and played really well and almost beat them, did you lose?

o What if you played a team much worse than you and beat them really badly, did you win?

- Imagine – Championship Game - Would you rather play a bad, horrible game and our team win or play the game of your life and have us lose?

- Being a winner is much more than just who scores the most points.

- From the first practice, I have asked you to give yourself to what I say. You are a winner if you do what I say (going back to last week) and do it with all your heart, you give your all, regardless of the score.

- Why? Because you pleased me, your coach.

- This is the most important part of winning, not the score on the scoreboard.

Life Principle – Winning in life is determined by more than the score. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- How do you know if you are winning in life? Just like you look to the scoreboard, so we look to scoreboards there. What is the scoreboard at school? (Grades, accomplishments there)

- How about at home? That is a little tougher. What do you think is the scoreboard in your family? (See what they say - interesting to see what they say – I would imagine it will be some things like “make good grades, cooperate with mom & dad/family but interesting to see. Some may think there is no score. If they have a difficult time answering this illustrates the idea.)

- Do you notice the difference in our answers? So which one is right? How do we

know the best or right answer to what is the score in life? - Go back to football, where I said pleasing your coach is the biggest part of

winning. Pleasing your coaches in life is the biggest part of winning, more important than the score on the scorecards there.

Biblical Truth – God has made it clear that when we please God we are winners in life. Comments - (Make age appropriate. During practice.)

- Let’s go back to football for a moment. Who determine what it means to score? (inventor of the game)

- So who determines what it means to score in life? Inventor of life. And who is that? God

- And just like the football inventor, God has told us what it means to score in life.

He did this in the Scriptures.

- If you were to sum all that up in one sentence it would be – To score in life, to be a winner in life, is to live in a way that pleases God. That makes him happy.

- How do we do that? By obeying what he has said to do in life.

- Can you think of some things he has told us to do? (See what they come up

with)

- Doing these things, makes him happy.

- When we make him happy, we score in life, we are winners. That is why the apostle Paul says, “I make it my goal to please God.” (2Corinthians 5:9) In 1Corinthians 10:31 he tells us “Whatever you do, do it all to make God happy.” (My translation)

- Now obeying one thing makes him happier than all the rest – that is to believe in

his Son, Jesus Christ, this one who offers to be our Coach. o To believe that you need him as your coach. o To believe that he is perfect in his wisdom to Coach you. o To believe that he is perfect in his care for his players and you. o To believe that he demonstrated that love and perfection when he died

and rose again.

- If you have never accepted Jesus offer to be your coach and would like to do so, then follow me as I pray. (pray a prayer that says you believe these things about yourself and Jesus and want him to be your coach)

- If you prayed that prayer, would you tell me. I would like to celebrate with you.