October 2024: Where are we practicing today?

By the time mid-October arrives, there is a common question that arises for our athletic teams. The question is:  Where are we practicing today?  From October 21 – January 31, we have the following teams hoping to practice for a time slot in the Cornerstone gymnasium: JV Volleyball, Varsity Volleyball, 7^th Grade Girls Basketball, 8^th Grade Girls Basketball, 4^th Grade Boys Basketball, 5^th Grade Boys Basketball, 6^th Grade Boys Basketball, 7^th Grade Boys Basketball, 8^th Grade Boys Basketball, JV Boys Basketball, Varsity Boys Basketball, Varsity Girls Basketball, 5^th Grade Volleyball, 6^th Grade Volleyball, 7^th Grade Volleyball, and 8^th Grade Volleyball.

If you are counting, that is 16 teams (plus multiple cheer squads) vying for an 80’ x 46’ gym with two mounted hoops, two movable hoops, two volleyball systems, and one curtain at midcourt. If each team practices for ninety minutes, and we start immediately after school ends, then the schedule can often look like this:

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM: JV and Varsity Boys Basketball

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM: 7^th and 8^th Grade Boys Basketball

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM: 7^th and 8^th Grade Girls Volleyball

This is a great start, but it has two teams sharing the court for an hour and a half timeslot, and still excludes six to eight teams. This is all assuming we don’t have a game that evening – which we often do.  On evenings when we host a game, we need the gym available for warm-ups beginning at 5:00 PM, which increases the number of teams needing a gym to ten. You can probably see why the question, “Where are we practicing today?” can be asked a time or two between October 21 – January 31.

It would be quite understandable if we heard our athletes, coaches, and families grumble about the situation that we have been blessed by God to be in, but instead our athletic department and CCA community have been taught a valuable lesson – God is faithful! Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Christ has stripped from us the worldly values of big gyms, lots of basketball hoops, and extra volleyball systems, and instead asked us to bring Him glory and worship with what we have – an 80’ x 46’ gym with two mounted hoops, two movable hoops, two volleyball systems and one curtain at midcourt. We have used this space to worship and honor Christ in every way that we know possible:  practices, games, banquets, musicals, concerts, plays, chapels, worship nights, college fairs, science fairs, and much more. Through it all, we have been blessed with an abundance of opportunities to worship the Lord and bring Him glory. We have learned, much like the widow in Mark 12:41-44, that it doesn’t matter how much we have, but rather, that we offer the entirety of what we have back to Christ in hopes of honoring Him.

So, in several weeks’ time, if you see a Cornerstone basketball or volleyball athlete, go ahead and ask them, “Where are you practicing today?”  Their answer will be a revelation of God’s goodness in our lives at Cornerstone. Some might tell you they are practicing down the road at Benjamin Elementary, others may be headed to Eastview Christian Church, some athletes may be making the twenty-seven-minute trek across town to the gym at East White Oak Bible Church. At times they will be practicing at Cornerstone before the sun comes up. In the past, we have been blessed to practice at Midwest Food Bank and Game Time Gym. We are so blessed and thankful for the schools, churches, and ministries that have allowed us to use their space, and we hope that, in the process, we have been an example of who Christ has been in our lives.

In spite of these space and transportation challenges, our teams have had success. Our athletes have learned to make use of what they have to grow and develop the abilities that God has created within them. Our coaches have learned to make use of every minute of their practices. We have learned not to grumble, but to bring what we have to the feet of Christ in offering.

At CCA, we are determined to have an eternal focus in our athletic programs. We acknowledge that it is through God’s creation, grace, and gifting that we can shoot a basketball or spike a volleyball.

We understand that any win, loss, championship, or accomplishment will wither away in time, but how we choose to glorify Christ through our actions and words will have an eternal impact. We also understand that every competition is an opportunity to minister to each other, our opponents and the officials. If we can point one new person to Christ every competition because of our reflection of His goodness in our lives, then our athletic programs will be an eternal success.

So, I repeat, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

— Davis Dosset, Athletic Director