Blog by Robert L. Dortch, Jr., President/CEO

Recently, Miami Heat player Lebron James tweeted a photo of himself and Miami Heat teammates wearing hooded sweat shirts in remembrance of 17 year old Trayvon Martin who was recently lost his young life too soon to violence.

Why is a tweeted photo of 13 multimillionaire young athletes from different backgrounds in hooded sweatshirts worth noting? In a time when many athletes are accused of being self absorbed with a me first attitude and living extravagant lives filled with parties, posses and irresponsible behavior which we see play out on reality shows, tabloids, blogs. It’s worth celebrating their awareness, unselfishness and care for one of their young fans and his family. 

The photo shows us that the Miami Heat basketball team made a decision to take a stand on a social issue greater than basketball even though it may compromise their popularity in the court of public opinion and some of their endorsement deals. Too often athletes are silent on issues impacting the very fans who wear their jerseys, attend their games and see them as role models worth emulating. As a sports enthusiast, a recreational athlete, former little league coach and the father of two boys who admire athletes, it is impressive that these professional athletes are willing to show solidarity to something beyond their on the court exploits and themselves by making a statement to the world that yes athletes are role models who have a responsibility to the community and their young supporters to be persons of character who make a difference beyond playing. Lebron and his Heat teammates are to be applauded for their unselfish act. What do you think? Do athletes have a responsibility to comment on social issues or should they just focus on playing their sport?

In track, the 4 x 100 relay race is an event that requires precision, trust and the ability for teammates to communicate with one another while moving at fast speeds to ensure a successful passing of the baton within the appropriate zone without dropping it or losing momentum.

Life is like a relay race where each of us have the responsibility of receiving wisdom from those who have come before us, then running our race in such a way that we are able to pass something significant on to those who come after us.

The relay race offers several valuable life lessons extending beyond the track that foster teamwork between different persons with a common goal.

As we continue to evolve as a community learning to share space with the different populations that make up our team called community, we must ask ourselves, “What can we learn from successful relay teams that can help us provide innovative and workable solutions that help us to grow into a gold medal winning community?”

Practice Matters

Practice not only helps us to hone our individual skills, but we also learn how to work together as a team. For us to achieve successful outcomes, we must spend time getting to know the persons on our team. Practice is the place where we can make mistakes and work on getting to know our teammates better while honing our skills so that we can excel on race day. Practice may not make us perfect, but it increases the likelihood of achieving our individual and collective goals.

Different Is Okay

Each role is equally important in achieving our purpose. So often, we label different as deficient when different is just different. Remember, everyone from the superstar to the role player can make a contribution. Learn to embrace and celebrate the differences we all bring to the team.

Talk It Out

Successful communication is the key to any successful relationship. How do you communicate with those persons on your team that may be different from you?  In a rapid fire response social media age, each generation must become multi-lingual communicators who know that personal conversations, letter writing and phone conversations are just as important as the impersonal but convenient and instant nature of e-mail, texting and tweeting. We must master each of these forms of expression if we expect honest interaction and an authentic desire to understand one another.

Today, take an opportunity to pass something worthwhile on to one of your community teammates and it will increase the likelihood of everyone crossing the finish line successfully.

Many of us who are or have been athletes can attest to the fact that sports—whether competitive or recreational, individual or team—often requires our bodies to do more than we may think possible.  Sports challenge us to dig deep within our mental, emotional and spiritual reserves to go the extra mile if we hope to achieve winning results.   As we contemplate the Easter season, the journey of Jesus to and on Calvary reminds us that life requires that we go the extra mile to achieve our purpose and to ask ourselves…

• What is required to go the extra mile?

Success Doesn’t Come Without Sacrifice

Ask any accomplished person what it takes to achieve success and more often than not, they will share with you the countless struggles and sacrifices they have endured.  Jesus sacrificed and endured suffering to achieve his goal.  Life will present us with challenges, but let us not lose sight of the fact that our goal is bigger than the adversity that confronts us.  

• What is your goal?
• What struggles and sacrifices are necessary to achieve your goal?

You Are Not Alone

There is an often used phase: “No one is an island.”  Jesus received unsolicited support from a Simon of Cyrene who carried his cross. Whenever I am dealing with a difficult situation, I have noticed throughout the years that help is always near. It may be a person’s mere presence, an encouraging word, a prayer, a smile, an act of kindness or someone extending a helping hand. There are times when we will be called to help someone in need of a helping hand and other times persons will be called to help us. Either way, be open to giving or receiving help.

• Where do you turn for support when faced with challenging circumstances?
• Who are you being called to help?

Questions Are OK

Jesus asked, “Father why has though forsaken me?”  When you are being challenged to go the extra mile, we will often question the reason for our struggles and sacrifices. God is big enough to deal with our questions. So go ahead and ask.

• What questions do you ask God when you are suffering with life’s issues?

Stretch to Your Purpose

Ultimately, Jesus shows us that in order to fulfill our mission in life we often have to  stretch beyond our comfort zone, digging deep within our faith to strive to be all that God created us to be.

• What is your purpose?
• In what ways do you need to stretch to achieve your purpose?

Trust God

The final words of Jesus were, “Father, into your hands, I place my spirit.” Ultimately, we must be willing to believe in our relationship with God enough to share our spirit with Him, believing that He will love, care for and provide for us.

• In what areas of your life do you need to trust God?

Tim Black, a U-Turn alumnus, former high school star at Atlee H.S and a college standout at Barton College is currently preparing to enter his 7th season playing professional basketball with a Belgium team in the European league.   Recently, Tim kicked off the U-Turn Summer Speaker Series. http://www.u-turn.org/docs/speakerseries.pdf

Tim shared with the campers on how he became a professional basketball player.   Tim highlighted three lessons for the campers to remember:  

1. Dedication – Tim stated that the gymnasium is his “lab” where he’s dedicated hours of hard work to learning his craft.  Tim trains at U-Turn daily during the summer.
2. Commitment – We must be committed to following through, if we expect to achieve our goals.
3. Perseverance -To follow your dreams you must overcome setbacks, learn from criticisms and continue to work on weaknesses to be a successful professional athlete.  

Many of the lessons that Tim shared with our student athletes are transferrable beyond the court and are applicable in our daily lives and in the workplace. It’s important that we dedicate ourselves to continued development, make a commitment to achieving our goals and persevere regardless of the challenges or hurdles that we may encounter along the way to achieve success.

July 26, 2010

After reading about another senseless shooting at a local basketball court (article), I wondered:

• Why has sports and violence become so intertwined?
• At what point does the outcome of a game become more valuable than human life? 

As an executive working in a youth sports academy, an athlete, former youth coach, sports fan and the father of sons who play sports, I find myself immersed in sports on a daily basis and experience both the positive and sometimes negative side effect of athletics. Personally, on a couple of occasions I’ve had to take a personal timeout during intense moments of competition and remind myself not to lose site of the big picture about what the game is really about. At its best, sports are engaging, entertaining and provides many physical, emotional and social benefits to those who play competitively, recreationally or participate as fans. Some of these lessons include commitment to setting and achieving goals, teamwork and sportsmanship.  However, when sports becomes so all consuming to the point that it moves an overzealous fan, coach or player to go into a profanity laced tirade or step outside the lines of sportsmanship, to vandalize or personally harm with intent to injure another person because of a missed call, a hard foul or a stinging defeat, then we have missed the essence of what sports represents.   Regardless of the level and what’s at stake, the essence of sports is it is still a game and meant to be enjoyed by all.  What priority do you place on sports in your life?

The frenzy surrounding where Lebron James would choose to continue his basketball career has been startling, intriguing and at times disappointing to witness.  I found myself asking: “What lessons can we learn from this moment?

Should we applaud or ostracize a highly successful young adult professional athlete who chooses to sacrifice his “being the man” status to share the spotlight and the basketball to be a part of a team?  Regardless, how skilled one person may be, a successful team can always accomplish more. Lebron’s actions show us that there are star athletes who desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Secondly, in a sport, where an injury is a slam dunk or jump shot away he decided to forego millions in salary to play with other all star caliber players. How many of us would be willing to do that?

Finally, Lebron leveraged this opportunity to give back by helping to generate more than a couple of million dollars in proceeds to benefit in the future development of young people. This philanthropic act of service is laudable.

Regardless of how many championships or games Lebron James wins with his new teammates, I believe that the decision was a winning one because it sends a message that there are high profile athletes who are willing to be a part of a team and to utilize their position, talents and resources to help serve others.

While the world may not be watching our every move like superstar athletes, each of us are faced with decisions each day on making a commitment to being a part of something bigger than ourselves and to help others along the way.  For many of us, our faith is a key ingredient in making difficult decisions. In life, decisions may not always be easy or popular, but Lebron shows us that it can be done.