(This is part two of a discussion I had with members of the coaching staff at Legacy Christian Academy. There guidance gives these young people great tools for real life.)

Two new coaches join the LegacyChristianAcademy athletic staff this year. Both take seriously the school’s mission statement to create strong leaders with Biblical convictions.

Christy Williams, a seasoned club coach and former coach at Skyline, comes on board to head the Eagles Volleyball program. Williams first order of business re-establishes the goal of ‘oneness’. She tells the young athletes they were called to travel on the same road and in the same direction together, “Oneness is my number one goal. We are really young and Ephesians 4:1-6 is my way of communicating this.”

She wrote to them, ‘I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules overall, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.’” And, this conveys Williams’ conviction 2009 is just the start of a great Volleyball system, “My long term goal is to work together as a team and build a program. Next year we will be more competitive than this year and in three years even better than two years ago.”

And even though these twelve are young and inexperienced, Williams expects them to help mentor and lead. She requires they walk along side the junior high volleyball players to “help them keep perspective on life and their Christian walk.”

Athletic Director Andrew Embry likes what he sees and praises Williams’ efforts to refocus the program, “Her attitude is great. She is very positive and stayed positive when she only had eight girls. She is now up to twelve. They are being pushed which is good. It is a different mentality, a tweak towards hard work and discipline and that yields fruit.”

Williams scouted out the Eagles district opponents and feels good about Legacy’s ability to play and succeed. And, she reported the parents noticed a shift in the girls’ play when they won their season opener against Garland Christian, “A lot of the parents said it was so good to see them working together and enjoying the game.”

Edward ‘Skip’ Lane also brings a new dynamic to Legacy. The long time Canyon Creek coach brings his experience to the Eagles as the Head Track Coach and Speed and Strength Coach for all athletes.

Utilizing the new space at LCA for sports training, Lane incorporates all the athletes into a strength and conditioning program not just the football players, “No athlete is left behind. From football to golf, everyone has the opportunity.” AD Embry embraces this philosophy and the new strength training techniques even though the students are not accustom to it, “It helps their walk with Jesus Christ. I think it parallels. As a Christian, your walk is many times difficult. It is not easy especially outside Legacy Christian. If you’re not fighting, you’re failing meaning that if your are not fighting in your walk with Christ, you are failing. It takes character, guts, and discipline to cultivate that relationship with Christ.”

Athletes are flipping huge tires in the field, pulling weighted sleds forwards and backwards, throwing medicine balls, and doing more explosive and dynamic training as well as the typical weight training associated with sports. “It is very taxing and the students are doing a great job with it,” says Lane.

Training will go year round with Coach Lane. “There is no such thing as an off season,” says Lane. “It gives us an edge to continue to train and have periodization year round to help build our programs as a whole.”

Lane, an Engineer by day for Raytheon, has worked with USA Track and Field athletes for over 15 years both at the collegiate and professional level. His love, however, remains with younger athletes, “The younger kids don’t have bad habits to break. You can teach them the proper way to lift and run.”

In taking over the cross country program, Lane plans to promote and build upon the four athletes he has this Fall, “Anyone who is not in a Fall sport, cross country would be very beneficial for them like soccer or tennis because of the endurance they need for their sport.”

The seasoned coach reminds his athletes that cross country is more than just running. He examines their mechanics, arm swing, speed, and core strength. In addition he helps develop the mental aspect of the sport, “You have to understand the concept and strategy of running. It is mental. It is getting ready to compete, nutrition, and putting those things together and help them be successful.”

For both Coach Lane and Coach Williams, the focus remains on these athletes success in and out of their chosen sport. Preparing them for life beyond LCA and beyond athletics. Embry agrees, “It’s not easy for a 14 to 17-year-old to be set in an arena where everyone is watching and sees your mistakes and your successes. Bottom line: how is my relationship with Christ. That is not a scapegoat. That is my identity. That is where my peace, my joy, my strength come from, not home plate, not in the end zone, not shooting a three-pointer, or spiking the ball.”

Stay inspired, work hard, have fun!

Kip #45

(I love sitting down and talking to coaches! Next to our parents, they influence our kids almost more than anyone else. LCA is home to exceptional coaches who influence this generation to lead and perform by example especially when facing adversity. Here is a portion of my conversation with a few of coaches. You'll meet new coaches Skip Lane and Christy Williams a little more next time.)

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LEGACY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY'S FALL SPORTS

“I’ve got the best classroom in the school”, says Legacy Athletic Director Andrew Embry. And, with that belief, Embry goes to work everyday preparing LCA athletes for life.  “We don’t have the opportunity to test in a classroom. When we test, we test in front of thousands of people, it goes in the Dallas Morning News, the internet and everyone sees it. There is a little more to it when we test, so we better be prepared.”

Football

Right now Fall sports are being put to the test including football, cross country, and volleyball. For the Eagles football program, the test looms large. The team enters this season as District Champions and the State Runner-up. They finished last year just three points shy of a state title. And, while 12-2 is a great record, the team left some ‘unfinished business’, “With the taste the kids have in their mouth right now, they know they need to work a little harder, go a little bit longer, push a little bit more to make up that three points needed from last year,” says Embry

Head Coach Mike Hall, the current Texas Private School Coaches Association Coach of the Year, positioned ‘unfinished business’ as the team motto for this year. He believes it’s time to take care of it, “We made great progressions last year. There are still more steps to take and never be satisfied. We’ve got to be hungry because we remember how it felt to be so close yet so far.” Embry echoes Hall’s sentiment, “I don’t want any more red ribbons. Red is second. I want a blue one. That’s a championship. That’s a first place ribbon. I have enough red, I don’t need anymore.”

After losing a large group of key seniors, the Eagles enter this season young and inexperienced in some areas. Returning just four offensively and five defensively, Legacy developed from within and gained some great talent from the outside. Legacy Defensive back Connor Ward takes over as the Eagles’ prime quarterback and Joshua Atkinson comes from American Heritage as the second quarterback in Hall’s 2-QB system.

Atkinson, a junior, also contributes at wide receiver, a position he has never played before but says it’s a role feels comfortable in, “We started playing 7 on 7 and I actually like it. I thought, ‘I can get the hang of this.’”

LCA senior Nathanael Mattay makes a return to football at receiver and defensive back. He played his freshman year then made contributions to LCA with the band and as Drum Major. After seeing the big hole the seniors left, however, Mattay decided to return after prompts from the coaching staff, “The coaches were always throwing in little comments about coming back and playing football because of how much of an athlete I am, as they would say. I never really paid any attention to it until I realized just how many seniors were leaving.”

Several other players return who remember the difficult title game run. Andrew Journey, a senior running back and DB who rushed for nearly 1200 yards last year. Coach Hall says he enters the season in great shape and sits ready to make a huge impact.

Blake Snider, a senior 6’6” 280 lb lineman, returns and already is being recruited along with junior Burke Morris, a 6’4” 265 lb lineman. Hard-hitting junior linebacker and tight end Ben Trotter joins the Eagles. His contribution provides LCA some much needed depth in those areas.

Coach Hall says he loves the chemistry of this team. With only five seniors carrying the leadership role, he cites the team quickly has grown into a family, “The plus of being a small group is that they are not at all looking at each other going ‘who is going to be a leader’. They are all taking a leadership role. At camp, they were phenomenal.”

Cross Country

In their second year as a Fall sport, Cross Country athletes welcome a new  coach to LegacyChristianAcademy. Skip Lane joins the staff as the Head Track Coach and Speed and Strength Coach for all athletes.

Currently, there are four members of the Cross Country team Melissa Meeks, James Byrd, Ian Huxham, and Rhett Allen. Lane believes he can build on these four athletes and promote it more throughout the school. “Anyone who is not in a Fall sport, cross country would be very beneficial for them, like soccer, tennis, and basketball.” Track and field, says Lane, enhances every other sport.

Lane trains athletes from the junior high and high school level to Division 1 and professional. He knows that building the endurance factor in each athlete is key no matter what sport. And, with cross country, he notes, it is more than just running, “You have to understand the concept and strategy of running. It is mental.”

Volleyball

Volleyball also supports a new Head Coach in Christy Williams. Coming off a year the program struggled, Williams aims to bring unity back to the team. “Oneness is my number one goal. We are really young and Ephesians 4:1-6 is my way of communicating this.”

Williams, a seasoned club coach, says her long term goal is to build a program based on the new commitment of the young athletes she has today, “Next year we will be more competitive than this year and in three years even better than two years ago.”

With only eight girls starting out on the team, Williams is now up to 12. And, while some may look at this as a negative, Athletic Director Embry believes the team will reap their new sense of purpose and discipline, “They have been working hard and in my opinion hard work pays off and nothing replaces it.”

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Stay inspired,

Kip #45