3 Things Being a Point Guard Taught Me

I love March Madness. 

I like sports, but I love basketball. I was fortunate to play for Robert E. Lee High School under hall of fame coach Paul Hatcher. 

After high school, I had the opportunity to play four years at Shenandoah University. 

It's been well over a decade since I've played competitively, but I've learned that point guards really never stop being point guards. Here are three lessons I've learned from the point guard position that have helped me in the "game" of life. 

1. Success comes with sacrifice. Growing up, I literally ate, slept and breathed basketball. Reaching my potential as a basketball player meant saying yes to lots of hours in the weight room and in the gym. It also meant saying no to things like soda and television. Every decision on how to use my time and resources was filtered through whether it aided to worked against me reaching my goal.  As I've gone through life, I realize that everything worth succeeding at follows this formula. 

2. The best leaders are the ones people willingly follow. There's a huge difference between the leaders people follow because they "have" to follow and the leaders people follow because they "want" to follow. As the point guard, I was trying to make sure I was someone my teammates wanted to follow. That meant being first to the gym and last to leave. Most importantly, it meant never doing anything that put myself before the team, which usually meant I willingly made the most sacrifices to make sure the team flourished. That philosophy has helped as a husband, father, employee and a Young Life leader. 

3. An assist is better than a score. This is the true magic of the point guard position. You learn that setting up others for success feels better than achieving that success yourself. Every pass that set up a teammate's basket was a chance for me to say, "I care more about your success and our team's success than my stats." An unselfish point guard can set the tone for everyone else to follow in his or her footsteps. This realization has also served me well in family life, ministry and at my places of employment. 

I would love to hear from you. What's the biggest life lesson you ever learned from sports? 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

Bigger Than Football: P.K.'s Story

Life is bigger than sports. Thank you P.K. Kier for reminding us. 

Before I tell you what P.K. - a sophomore at Winchester's Millbrook High School - did for a 7-year-old cancer survivor, let me explain our connection.  

I went to Shenandoah University in Winchester mostly because P.K.'s dad, Pede, was already there playing baseball. (I didn't know that  going to college together meant Pede would steal all the food in my refrigerator every night, but that's a different story.) 

Growing up, I thought the world of Pede, who live three blocks from me in Staunton. That admiration has only grown as we've gotten older. Most importantly, Pede shared the gospel with me. It has completely changed the trajectory of my whole life. 

At the beginning of the season, Pede e-mailed me an article about P.K.'s four-touchdown performance. I was impressed. Last week, Pede sent me Val Van Meter's Winchester Star article about PK and his teammates. 

I was even more impressed. And the article had little to do with football. 

P.K., his coaches and his Millbrook teammates arranged for 7-year-old Isaiah Truman to be the team's special guest on the sideline. Truman's guest appearance highlighted a week where doctors said that his brain cancer was in remission after a year of treatments. 

P.K. and Isaiah are neighbors.  According to the story, P.K. went to his coach Josh Haymore and told them about Isaiah. The 7-year-old's story includes being airlifted to U.Va Medical Center, a rare diagnosis of brain cancer in a child, and routine trips to the Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. 

The team, who wore bracelets with Isaiah's name on it, then came up with a way to support Isaiah at the football game. 

I work with a lot of kids. We often talk about servant leadership. We define it as "taking initiative for the benefit of others." Thank you P.K., coach Haymore and the Millbrook football program for being one such example on this occasion. 

When sports is done correctly, it's supposed to teach you about life: how to put "we" before "I," how to battle adversity, how to accomplish goals, how to be part of something bigger than yourself. It sounds like the Millbrook team is learning this lesson. 

If you are thankful kids are still learning lessons through athletics, take the time to encourage the 2014 Millbrook Football team. You can write them at: 

Millbrook Football

c/o coach Josh Haymore 

251 First Woods Drive

Winchester, VA 22603 

At the least, take the time to encourage the team through email in care of coach Haymore. 

His e-mail address is haymorej@frederick.k12.va.us. 

When things make us angry, it motivates us to action. We'll write a letter or send an e-mail immediately. I hope the thought of this next generation taking initiative for the benefit of others will motivate you to take a moment to publicly applaud them. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here.