Training Coaches Through Mentoring

Shelley Pearson • April 19, 2021

The story starts the same . . .

“I was walking through the halls and saw Bob at a table.”

Bob Spiegler, FCA Area Representative, has reached many students at Minnesota State University – Mankato by setting up an FCA table in a common area on campus. It happened that way for Kris “Goody” Goodman, a mental performance coach for the Tampa Bay Rays, who recently received his graduate degree at MSU (you can read his story here), and it happened to Joe Brinkman.

Joe is also attending MSU for a graduate degree in sport and exercise psychology and is one year behind Goody. The sports psychology program at MSU pairs students so that a second-year student mentors first-year student. Goody was paired with Joe, and it was a blessing for each of them that they shared not only similar career goals but also a common faith which allowed them to go deeper in that mentoring relationship through opportunities with FCA.

FCA as a Catalyst to Growing Faith

Joe is not new to FCA. In high school, he and some friends started an FCA huddle in Jackson, Minnesota. Then at Mt. Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota, Joe led an unofficial group when the staff member from the University of South Dakota was unable to be there to lead. When Joe saw Bob standing at that FCA table at MSU, he was excited to get involved.

He has participated in FCA Bible studies and the 3D coaching program. Through his mentoring relationship with Goody, the FCA element has provided opportunities to look at coaching through his lens as a Christian. Joe said, “One of the best things I ever heard was one of the first things Kris ever told me at the first meeting we had. He said, ‘The best thing that I can tell you is that you have to become the best Joe Brinkman that you can.’ If I wouldn’t have heard that, it would have been a really big setback. He set me up with that right away.” Why? Because in our society it is too easy to compare yourself to others and try to be like the greats. But God created each person to serve Him with a unique set of gifts and talents. Because Goody spoke those words of truth over Joe, Joe doesn’t waste time trying to be someone God did not create him to be.

Why Sports Psychology?

Professional sports teams employ mental performance coaches as part of their coaching staff, and these coaches make a huge impact on the athletes they coach. Joe has experienced that firsthand. “When I was younger, my mental game was terrible. One bad shot would wreck me. My parents gave me a book by a sports psychologist.” That helped him turn his own game around. Then when he was in college, he had an opportunity to help his high school sister. “She was struggling with the mental side of golf. I decided to work with her on her confidence and chipping and she ended up shooting an even-par round. I was like, ‘Wow, could I actually do this as a career? It turns out I can!’”

The Path to a Mentoring Relationship

Joe used to do most things on his own until 2018 when his team was involved in serious bus crash. “In September, our team got hit head-on in the bus. We all got transported to the hospital. We were all mostly okay. The coach walked in and said, ‘You guys just might have just had the worst day of your life.’ I had this preconceived notion before that that I had to do things on my own.” But the events surrounding that day changed him. He realized he didn’t want to do life on his own, and it was the example of others that really brought it home for him.

Joe was amazed by the care of others. “The school president jumped in his car and came to the hospital. The basketball coaches came. That community that I had at Mt. Marty was absolutely unbelievable. Now I don’t feel like I have to do everything on my own, but I need people.” His life verse is Proverbs 27:17 which says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Where he might not have been as intentional about seeking out those sharpening relationships before, that incident in 2018 changed his course and has made his mentoring relationship with Goody that much more fruitful.

3D Coaching as Part of the Larger Plan

FCA has developed a comprehensive coaching program known as 3D Coaching. The first dimension deals with the skills of the game, the second with the psychology of the sport, and the third with the heart. The second dimension is where Goody and Joe primarily operate in their careers. So much of what they have learned through their graduate programs ties into the second dimension of coaching. Because they both put a strong emphasis on their relationships with Jesus, the third dimension of 3D Coaching gives them a platform to share their faith and lead from their faith.

Joe said, “It’s kind of the way we look at the world. We can’t just view the world and have God be this other portion. We need to view the world through God’s eyes. The biggest thing we can do is be a witness, and that’s where God shows up. Going through 3D coaching and learning skills of how to bring in my faith with that, living it out, and making sure it’s present . . . If I’m going to say God is the most important thing in my life, I’d better be a witness.”

As Joe moves toward a new career as a mental performance coach, he will continue to seek out those iron-sharpening relationships and employ the 3D coaching principles he learned as part of his time with FCA. He plans to be intentional about really asking people how they are doing and meeting people where they are at.

We look forward to watching where God leads Joe on his career path and know he will bring Christ’s light to the athletes he coaches.

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