Brothers born for adversity
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 1:14 pm
DAVID HUNTER The Cannon County football team has been through a tough stretch the past few seasons as winning only three games since taking the district title in 2009. It has not been for a lack of trying, or internal team issues. Instead the Lions have put their faith in God, which has brought the team together and taught them a valuable lesson about dealing with adversity. Proverbs 17:17 says, "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity." Even during tough times, as with most teams in sports, these Lions have done several things hoping to bring the squad together. Some of those team building, faith-based attitude exercises include attending different churches around the area, listening to devotionals before the big game, and watching religious football films. "It is not something most teams do," CCHS senior quarterback Brady Page said. "We get together as a team and we go do something that is bigger than ourselves, even bigger than football." The idea of these faith-based trips came from current Lions head coach T. J. Daniels a few seasons ago. During the past few seasons, the Lions have attended several area churches from varied viewpoints, First Baptist, Woodbury Church of Christ and Ivy Bluff. Many of the sermons touch on life's lessons both on and off the field. "The focus of our message while hosting the football team centered on the deeper meaning of the game and winning," First Baptist Church of Woodbury Pastor Dr. Hunter Hay said via email. "Having had the opportunity to play football I took the time to speak to the standards we use for determining who is a winner. For a football team we say it is the scoreboard. For a farmer, we measure winning by saying it is the number of acres that are owned and tilled. For people, we measure being a winner by the number of square feet of their home, or our 'imagined' size of their savings account. Often in life, winning has little to do with these external measurements. The win that comes from playing the game is not reflected in the score, but is reflected in lessons learned from the game; not giving up, maintaining our focus when we are tired, the necessity of completing my assignment as a part of the play recognizing our part in what it means to be a team, understanding and trusting authority, maintaining emotional control when you want to explode, and respect for honest play." In addition to attending the different churches, the Lions listen to a devotional given the day before the game by Andy Herzer, founder of the 1st Shot Organization and a former MTSU basketball coach. Similar to what the players gather from their church visits, Herzer gives faith based life lessons dealing with adversity and other topics to the players and the Lions coaching staff.
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