Written by Head Football Coach Stephen Robbins
Spending time with today’s youth allows us the opportunity to see the promise of tomorrow, but it can also shed light on the struggles of today. I believe the four years adolescents spend in high school contain some of the most crucial and pivotal moments they will ever have.
Learning who they are, how they view others, what is their purpose, and securing their core values are just some of the key issues they grapple with. It is because of these critical impasses that having an athletic program that intentionally addresses and discusses questions is so important.
Building Christian Men of Character is the keystone of our football program at LuHi. We understand the impact four years of high school will have on the lives of our student athletes so for us, the emphasis is not on just winning football games but instead helping our players grow into men.
Player’s Purpose
A key tenant to our philosophy is to explore individual purpose. Personal responsibility and shared accountability are essential to ensure that failures turn into strength builders and stepping stones to future victories.
As our young men continue on their journey, we help them identify their purpose. This is not a focus solely on their purpose in life, but encompasses their purpose for everything they do and every decision they make. To help achieve this there should be stated goals and desires for the present and future and identifiable steps to reach them.
We believe that without a purpose, student-athletes will live by chance and take things as they come as opposed to assessing their current situation and processing how they can make decisions based off of their purpose to ensure they are moving towards your goals.
There is power in knowledge, and we want our men to have every advantage we can get when it comes to knowing their purpose and how their decisions and actions move them towards or in the opposite direction.
Greater Impact
We are looking for young men who will not only impact our school community but will go beyond to make a greater impact on people’s lives post high school. Our aim is to secure their future and allow them to grow in the knowledge of what a real man is.
I believe wholeheartedly that football is a perfect avenue to teach life lessons, create situations that will challenge our men, and force them to learn more about themselves and how they impact the greater good by being part of a team.
Some day, football will cease to be part of a student’s life. Whether that happens after high school, college, or beyond, our players can continue to be great men, great community leaders, great husbands, and eventually great fathers.
Christ at the Center
Our ultimate role model and example is Christ. While we work with our men, we introduce them to a different way of thinking - a scriptural way of thinking. Through mimicking Christ’s design of servant leadership, we teach our men to serve.
Gaining insight on how to put others first, as well as the team, allows our actions to fall in line with the team goals instead of our own. Through this buy in, there is a genuine shared joy and an authentic happiness as everyone celebrates each other’s victories.
The ability to put others’ needs before their own will carry throughout their lives and help to establish a team - or family - first mentality that is not always visible in today’s culture.
As young men strive to achieve greatness, they discover it isn’t done by reaching the top of their given position or skill, but rather it’s measured by how many others they can pull up with them when they have achieved the summit.
Love in Action
There is a simple ingredient that allows us to put this philosophy into action – LOVE. The key to finding success through Building Christian Men of Character is having a real genuine love, and not only speaking it but living it through our actions.
The ultimate test of a man is his ability to love, not only in the good times, but more importantly through the toughest of times. We use the word love daily, and we combine that with how we act and treat our men so that when things aren’t going our way, there is an ingrained trust and willingness to accept redirection. Relationships forged in love reap the rewards of hard work, honesty, support and unity.
At LuHi, Building Christian Men of Character isn’t just a phrase or tag line, it is a commitment to the betterment of our future and a promise to stand with our men as they make a difference and influence those around them.
