A Soccer and Life Story: A Coach, A Team, A Championship...

Two years ago I read for the first time Donald Miller's exceptional book A MILLION MILES IN A THOUSAND YEARS...I was grabbed not just my Miller's retelling of his fascinating life journey, but more so by the book's main idea that God invites us, calls us, often pleads with us to actually live a better a life story...it's one thing to dream it, but another thing to passionately and purposefully pursue it...the book's central themes and ideas fit well with the curriculum we've been putting together for our first year experience course and it now is the summer pre-read for all incoming CU students as we invite them to conside the kind of story they are going to write and live during their time as college students...

I was talking one day with our men's soccer coach here at CU who happens to be one of my best friends and gave him an extra copy I had in the office to read...he resonated with Miller's words and decided to send out a copy to each of our returning and incoming soccer players to read before we began our fall 2011 season together...there was a hope, a belief, a prayer that God would write new stories in the lives of all players as each CU soccer guy would daily choose to live out the story of being a Kopion team together...

Last night there was what I would call the first ending to the story that is CU soccer 2011 version...we clinched the first WHAC regular season championship in a few long years and as a group giddily celebrated a rather extraordinary run of soccer over the last month of competition...it was to be honest a bit of a twist in the story that seemingly was being written when we had a 2-5 record heading to a game in Cedarville, OHIO...the story leading to a conference title featured highlight wins against Aquinas and Davenport teams that had ruined previous seasons and a commitment to hard work and playing one's roles that raised our level of play to one that simply sucked the life out of opponent after opponent...and there is much more to go...the story is not finished and our final game hasn't yet been played...and who doesn't love a story with post-season drama and excitement?

But the story of our soccer community is about much more than just a 9 game winning streak and a string of shutout victories...this particular soccer story is also about individual life stories where the hand of God has been at work changing and moving in His team at CU...there are the stories of these guys who make up this very special group of young men:

*a winger whose commitment to keep working and playing with a reckless energy enabled him to score some of the biggest goals of the year...
*two central midfielders from Canada who rejoined our team and immediately gave us life and skill and a huge dose of fun as they combined with a wonderfully gifted kid whose chose CU over bigger programs to form a remarkable midfield presence...
*a rock solid group of defenders who became a literal wall that couldn't be taken down thanks to backs who refused to make mistakes and a keeper who just kept the ball from hitting the ned inside his goal mouth home...
*a former MLS player who chooses to invest his significant soccer mind and experiences as a coach in the lives of NAIA players because he believes so much in them and this little soccer program in Grand Rapids, MI...
*a host of guys who compete every day in our training sessions and are able to come through with moments of meaningful play when asked to do so and can rejoice with the team's success in the times when they aren't personally out on the pitch...
*and a relentless senior striker whose return from ACL surgery this year has meant so much as he leads with example, encouragement, and faith in the idea that God has even more in store for us than what we could have imagined as he keeps putting the ball into the back of the net...

And as I read in my mind again the story of this team there is a larger story that overshadows many other things...it is the story of a coach who never wants to take the spotlight off his players and even in 2011 hasn't really wanted to get attention or sympathy despite a dramatic life and faith challenge in his own life...when Mark was laying in a hospital bed suffering after a colon cancer surgery operation that was completely unexpected, I know he was wondering what in the world kind of story was being written in his life and the soccer program he's invested so deeply in as its leader...there were and continue to be moments of fear and confusion and struggle as he attempted to walk the very long road of recovery...we were walking to our cars after this fabulous night at Davenport saying to each other, "Who could have imagined this night six months ago?" And as I drove away from the lighted field I thought to myself, "I think only Jesus could have imagined such joy in moments of deep pain and sorrow..." I love the way that the themes of redemption and restoration are so clearly present in the text of the Scriptures, and God has indeed is redeeming even cancer in Mark's life and restoring his health and family and his team through the peace and provision of the Holy Spirit...One of Mark's favorite verses is I Corinthians 15:58 where the Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." CU soccer is very much the story of coach who has imprinted his Kopion spirit upon a team this year as they have stood firm together to fully pursue a better story as a follower of Jesus and a Christian soccer squad...

And as is almost always the case for those watching the hand of God at work in the lives of people in their world and especially for me when soccer is involved, the story of this particular group of guys is personal...simply put, they add depth and meaning and joy and stress and abundant life to my own life story and those closest to me...there's no group of guys and no team my 8 year old would rather cheer for; there's nothing quite like serving together among God's people near and far as His sports ambassadors; there's a unique life transformation that will happen for thousands of Zambians who will escape malaria's curse because of a new CU tradition called NIGHT OF NETS; and I have a remarkable community of men where I experience the love and friendship of the body of Christ as we travel to games, eat meals together, practice and play, and even win a championship...

So this is the story being written on a 75 by 120 yard piece of grass this fall on our campus, the story being written in the lives of college students who are bonded together as teammates playing the game all the world adores, the story of hope and healing reaching into a long time coach's life whose story is so very different than it was just one season ago...and that's what I celebrate and write about tonight...the very real reality that the author this remarkable soccer story isn't finished writing yet..and we aren't done living by any means...I can't wait to see and read and experience the final chapters this fall and in the days and years to come...