Never Forget – The Edge with Coach Reese

Never Forget –The Edge with Coach Reese
In my first year as a head coach at the high school level, I did not inherit a very experienced or talented team. Most of the athletes I started in the varsity lineup that season were freshmen who were wrestling for the first time in their lives. Needless to say, it was a long and tough season.
In late January we had to go up against our most-hated conference and county rival – Springstead High school. Springstead was tough and talented every season. They dominated the conference, the district, the region, and placed very high in the state tournament every season.
Our school had never beaten Springstead and had never won a conference title. I was new to rivalry, its intensity, and its fierce competition. In fact, when I walked into Springstead’s gym for the first time, I was clueless to the “war-like” atmosphere that was going to greet me.
That night was no doubt the longest in my life. We got hammered by a senior dominated team. The crowd was hostile. We could not win a match. Minute by minute things got worse. When my 189 pound wrestler got hurt, his mother came to his aid on the mat. I was told by the mat official to remove her from the gym floor. I informed him, “This is the kid’s mom! I am not going to tell her to get off the mat – you do it!”
Immediately I was hit with an “unsportsman-like” penalty that cost us a team point. Losing a team point did not bother me in the least, but I was quite disturbed when the Mother of our wrestler was escorted out of the gym by the County Sheriff! The crowd went crazy. We all sat stunned on our bench. After losing the heavyweight bout we ended up getting beat by the final score of 73 to -1.
I was sure that this was some sort of national high school record. The next day it was all over the Tampa Tribune and the St. Pete Times newspapers.
As a competitor it hurts to lose, but when you lose that way, and then they smear you and your team all over the newspaper, it leaves a festering wound. I was determined that one day we would turn the table on them.
Two years later our team grew up. Those freshmen were now battle tested juniors. They were wise athletes who were committed to being the best. We went into the week of the Springstead match 12-1.
I knew we were ready and prepared technically for Springstead, but I wanted to fan the flames mentally – and raise the level of our intensity. I went back and found the Tampa Tribune article that had the huge by-line that read, “Springstead Wins 73 to -1”. I printed over 100 copies of that article and posted them in the wrestling room, my classroom, and in all the hallways of the school. Many of my peers at the high school thought I was crazy to bring up the memory of such a defeat, but for me it was a “Remember the Alamo” moment.
The boys did not disappoint me that night. We wrestled tough and won soundly by nine points. We captured our first win over Springstead and won our first conference title in school history. There was no doubt that we wrestled with passion and emotion that night for a reason – because of a memory.
There is a tendency to forget moments of the past. In fact, when Joshua was leading Israel into the Promised Land, the entire nation saw God answer their prayers and give them many victories. But things quickly changed.
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel,” (Judges 2:10 NIV).
In a single generation, the people forgot! In a single generation, the people lost their respect for God, they lost their desire to worship, and they lost their belief that the Lord was one true God!
It is our job to keep the fires burning. We must diligently share our faith with others. We must boldly tell friends, family, and our team and teammates what God has done for us. We need to encourage others in their faith (Hebrews 10:24). We never should be silent about what God had done for us – and continues to do.
As we walk with Christ we must continually share the love of an awesome God – let’s be a bright light and a remembrance to all those we interact with – so they may never forget.