The Coach

The coach is the most important factor in a successful Bible quizzing ministry. Without him, it ceases to be a ministry and becomes only a program. The coach is the catalyst that unites the teen with Bible study, personal application and quizzing experiences and leads the young person into dynamic discipleship. This is not an easy or speedy process, but then, Christ's discipleship program had its problems and it took three years. Consider for a moment some of Christ's problems. He had James and John who wanted to be number one. They wanted to sit, one on the right hand and one on the left hand of His throne in heaven. He had Peter who said he would be faithful no matter what happened, but when the test came he failed. He had Thomas who wouldn't believe until he saw with his own eyes and touched with his own hands. He had Martha who was upset because her sister wanted to be with Jesus rather than helping in the kitchen. He had Judas who went the whole route for three years and then betrayed Christ. Now, how is this for a quizzer's paraphrase about a coach who had a similar problem. He was building a championship team, and had seven quizzers going through the local church program. First, he had Jimmy and Johnny. They were brothers with keen competition for each other in their drive for the number one position. They had worked hard and had their hearts set on making it. But did they know how much it cost? How hard they had to work? How much was involved? Were they really willing to give themselves in an effort to accomplish what they wanted? They were good quizzers, and they did try, but ultimately only the Lord knows the best quizzer. This coach also had Pete. He was a very outspoken and enthusiastic quizzer. At practice he was answering questions left and right. Then came the championship quiz. Not too long before the quiz, in a burst of temper, Pete severely injured an opponent's ear. At the quiz he was quizzing the number two slot. He didn't answer one question right. He swore in an awkward attempt to cover his embarrassment. When he erred out with three wrong, he was reminded that his coach had warned him that his relationship with Christ was the most important. He wept, asked forgiveness and submitted himself to the Lord Jesus and then went on to coach his own team and to see a good number of "real" victories. Tom was also on the team. He had a lot of doubts about quizzing, religion the whole thing. But during the championship quiz he came face to face with the resurrected Christ. He had no doubts after that. He made a good quizzer. Two sisters, Marty and Mary, were also on the team. Mary was very casual. She did not work too hard as a quizzer, but what she did study really meant a great deal to her. She applied it all. She loved the Lord with all her heart. Marty, on the other hand, was very studious. She was also a worrier. She worried about studying enough, the preparation for the tournaments, the quizzes, the spiritual dimension of quizzing more than the competition. But the coach was not unhappy with Mary at all. He just wished that his whole team would get as much out of quizzing as Mary was getting. Then there was Jud. He was a very meticulous boy. He had served on the youth executive as the treasurer and had been a quizzer for three years. He was very intelligent and had a lot on the ball. But even with all his involvement in the Word of God, he turned his back on the Lord. Everyone wonders why he did it. Possibly the program was no good. Jud had one of the very best coaches. A coach who was deeply concerned about the personal application of the Word to the individual quizzer's life. This coach spent time with his team. They went on outings together, he taught them, he ate with them, he encouraged and corrected them. Yet Jud still turned his back on all that he had learned. I wonder whatever happened to Jud? The coach? He kept on discipling. Are the coach's problems that much different than the ones Jesus Christ faced as He went about discipling men and women? The coach is called to an exciting task. He has an opportunity to work with a small group that he can disciple and lead into a full relationship with Jesus Christ. To do this he will need certain qualities, he will need to assume certain responsibilities, and take on certain roles. This is a look at the roles of the coach. I. WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF THE COACH? Five roles of a Bible quizzing coach are discussed first because they have an influence on the qualities the coach must possess, as well as an effect on the responsibilities. Every coach will work within the framework of these roles. Some will function more specifically in one or more areas and less in others, depending upon their abilities and personal philosophies. But the effective coach will move to some degree in all five areas. Hopefully this discussion will help the coach minister more effectively in all of these areas. A. Student. The coach must be a student in two areas: the Bible and quizzing methodology. Generally the coach assigns one or two chapters a week from the book being studied. He encourages and expects the quizzer to give from fifteen to thirty minutes per day as an absolute minimum in his study. The coach should be prepared to do the same. His study, however, should take on a slightly different dimension. The coach should begin his weekly study by reading the assigned portion of Scripture in the New International Version, or whatever version your quiz program is using. He should make note of words and ideas that may not be clear or understood by his quizzers. Next he should read the portion from a modern paraphrase such as Taylor's The Living Bible or J. B. Phillips' The New Testament in Modern English. This will clarify many of the ideas and words jotted down earlier. Now read about the chapter from a good, but easily understood commentary. Unless you have a Greek language background, avid commentaries which heavily use the original languages. Try something like Tyndale's New Testament Commentaries where you can buy a separate paperback for each book of the Bible for under five dollars, or Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible in One Volume. These are laymen's commentaries, and will greatly aid you in understanding the passage being studied. In addition to commentaries there are a great number of study books which correspond well with the quizzing books. The coach should have a good dictionary, a good Bible dictionary and a good comprehensive concordance. These will be invaluable study aids. A comprehensive concordance is especially good for work with key words. You may take a concordance and discover exactly how many times and in what contexts a particular word is used in the quizzing book. Question writing should be the conclusion of your Bible study time. Now you will have an under standing of the material which will help you in writing meaningful and intelligent questions. An attempt should be made to write at least one question per verse but more if possible. The speed with which you write questions will increase as your ability improves. Write questions in as many ways as possible. This will give you greater variety for use at practices. For guidelines on writing questions, see the section on "Writing Questions" from the "Quiz Practice" chapter. If you believe that all of this preparation takes time, you are right. But you will never know how much or how little until you try it. Take a chapter of your quiz material and study it in the manner described and chart your progress. COACHES' STUDY TIME Bible book Chapter _________ # verses ___________ assignment time time _______________________________________________ began ended total. Read from New International Version make notes on words and ideas which need clarification Read from modern paraphrase Read from commentary Work through a question and answer study book Write quiz questions Selection of methods A. Clarifying current chapter B. Applying current chapter C. Improving quizzing skills D. Introducing new chapters ** see chapter on "Quiz Practice" for helpful hints in these areas. Approximate time needed for weekly study The amount of time needed to prepare to minister through Bible quizzing will decrease as your knowledge and ability increases. Even with all of this study you will probably not know the material as well as the quizzers, but it will help you lead them into a meaningful understanding and applica tion of the Word of God in your role as a teacher. B. Teacher. Your preparation as a student will give you an excellent background to teach. Although much of your work is done by the quizzers as they study on their own, you will need to lead them along to a meaningful understanding and application of the material. A major fault that can be laid at the feet of Bible quizzing is that some quizzers have not allowed the Word of God to get past their heads and into their hearts. Much of this is the fault of the coach/teacher who has drilled quizzers for knowledge and failed to teach for application. It is true that a coach cannot make a quizzer apply truths from Scripture, but the coach has completely failed if he does not create a situation in which the quizzer has the opportunity to make a meaningful application of truth. All coaches hope their quizzers will apply what they are learning from Scripture. They pray to this end, and they enlist the prayers of the church family as well as the quizzers because they believe application should be the end result of Bible quizzing. But in reality, very little truth is applied compared to what is absorbed by the brain. Generally it is assumed that the reading, memorizing and studying that is done through quizzing will automatically result in application. But this is not true. A look at five levels of learning will illustrate the situation. Level 1. Rote Learning The ability to repeat something from memory without thought of meaning. This is the memorization level. Now, memorization is essential to Bible quizzing, but be aware of the dangers of memorizing without attaching any meaning. Quizzers memorize a great deal of Scripture during the year. They memorize for "finish the verse" questions, for "finish this" questions, for "situation" questions, for "multiple answer questions." Some memorize the entire book. As good as all of this may be, none of it assures application. It only assures temporary storage of information to be repeated in response to the right question. The Bible learned by rote is not likely to transform lives. Level 2. Recognition learning. In Creative Bible Teaching, Larry Richards used the illustration of a Michigan State University survey of religiously oriented college students to illustrate the problem of learning on the recognition level. Seventy-four percent of the students tested agreed that "Christ died for the sins of mankind." Yet on the same survey only thirty-eight percent agreed that "faith in Christ is necessary for salvation." They recognized the biblical principle, but could not grasp its meaning. Answers are learned, answers are given, but how many quizzers have a grasp of the meaning of what they are saying? They study for facts, and they are drilled on their knowledge of the facts. It is entirely possible for a quizzer to answer all of the questions correctly and never really know what he is talking about. At this level of learning all that is required is that the quizzer feed back the correct verbal response. This is the highest level of learning at the quiz practice that begins with and closes with a simple little prayer where they ask God to "bless our time together," and sandwich in between the asking and answering of quiz questions. This is far short of the purpose of Bible quizzing. It is important that quizzers learn to recognize the facts of the book they are studying, but the coach/teacher must add to this importance by taking his quizzers to the higher levels of learning where application takes place. Level 3. Restatement learning. The majority of Bible quizzing knowledge is learned at this level. Most quizzers are able to restate what they have learned in their own words. A total reliance upon rote memorization and the ability to recognize certain biblical principles would cause them to fall on their faces under stiff competition. The coach asking the simple question, "What does this mean to you?" can draw restatement from most quizzers. This is a necessary learning level, and the first step in application. Larry Richards says, "Only when we have the ability to take a Bible truth, relate it to other ideas and values, and express that truth in our own words, have we begun to learn meaningfully." This is the level of understanding. Although the learning level of Bible quizzing is probably higher than most Sunday school learning, it could be higher with some creative teaching from the coach/teacher. He needs to consciously strive to help the quizzer master the Scriptures in mind, heart and life. Level 4. Relation learning. "While it is vital to understand the Bible as content, this in itself is not enough. The Word of God is more than information; it is a point of contact with God Himself. The crucial experience with God is that of response. To discern the appropriate response to a Bible truth we must see the relationship between that truth and our lives" (Richards, page' 72). This learning level is the link between understanding and application. Here the quizzer sees a relationship between the biblical principles he understands and life. John 14:27, "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid," could create a response such as, "This means we should trust God to take away fear and nervousness when we are quizzing," or "I guess we shouldn't be afraid." He is able to apply the principle to life, but he hasn't yet made it his own. This can be a great excitement for the quizzer and cause him to want to hurry along to the time of application. Level 5. Realization learning. This is personal application. It is fine for a quizzer to memorize, to recognize biblical principles, to understand to even relate his understanding to life in general. But it is reality when he makes the truth learned his own, when he can say, "I trusted God and He took away my fear and nervousness in that last quiz." This is the goal of the coach/teacher the application of the Word of God so that it produces transformed lives. These five levels of learning move through the quizzer's mind, heart and life. The role and recognition levels are exercises of the mind. The restatement and relation levels are where the Word is touching the heart. The realization level is where it all becomes practical where the life of the quizzer is changed by the Spirit of God working through the Word of God. It is at this level that discipleship takes place. For many quizzers, learning never exceeds the restatement level. The first three levels of learning cover all the learning necessary to compete in Bible quizzing. A quizzer could be a top competitor and do no more than memorize, recognize and restate the Scripture in his own words. A coach could easily mistake for application what a quizzer is simply restating. The quizzer says, "I believe that this verse means we should trust God to take away our fears." Some would interpret him as saying, "I will trust God to take away my fears." Even if the latter statement was what was meant, it would not be application. Application does not take place until the quizzer trusts God to take away his fears. Application is a very personal thing,~ and the coach must see that each quizzer gets the opportunity to apply some of the truths being learned. You are a Bible teacher. It should be your conscious objective to raise the level of learning of each quizzer on your team. Remember, you are teaching the Word of God for application, not competition. Competition is just the dessert. See the chart (at the end of this chapter) on the levels of learning as they affect quizzing. Larry Richards' book, Creative Bible Teaching, is highly recommended as an aid to improve your Bible teaching effectiveness. As well, several suggestions will be given in the "Quiz Practice" chapter. Besides the specific truths that are in each chapter from week to week, the coach/teacher has the tremendous opportunity to teach Christian unity. Quizzers frequently find it difficult to accept the weaknesses and mistakes of other team members, especially if the weaker member misses a question or bonus in a quiz. These hard feelings are evident toward the team member who fails to study for a practice or who studies in such a haphazard manner as to know practically nothing at all. Division comes because of fear, nervousness, lack of knowledge, failure to jump, pride, temper, a contentious spirit, an "I'm always right" attitude, and other reasons. These bad attitudes may be expressed verbally, with the face, body gestures, or held within. But they all cause the same damage/division in the body of Christ. Here is an opportunity to teach oneness in Christ, and in a very positive way encourage every quizzer to do his best. Read I Corinthians 12:14-27 before you continue here. It is the basis for teaching the oneness in Christ. A quiz team is a miniature model of the body of Christ. Each member has a particular function on the team that will aid the spiritual welfare of the whole team. Fortunately it is impossible for a team to win a quiz with only one member. They must begin to function as a body, all working together, the stronger giving support to the weaker and those which seem to be more feeble fulfilling their role. A quiz team consists of those teens whom God has brought together under your ministry to study the Word together and to grow through the mixture of their lives and personalities. As they move into a "body of Christ" relationship there will be no schism (division) in the body. They will begin to care for one another. Allow them to share their weaknesses with the team. Get the team to pray for one another. Remember that the coach is a member of the team; what are your weaknesses? Support one another. Share your joys and disappointments, then pray about them together. Develop a spirit of openness which will produce suffering when one member suffers and rejoicing when one member rejoices. Teach sharing and caring. Teach the proper way to win and the proper way to lose. Teach love for one another. Be open to the opportunity to teach any biblical principle that the natural setting of Bible quizzing study and competition presents. The framework is there to teach the fundamentals of Christianity in an atmosphere of readiness. Don't miss the opportunity. C. Coach. Primarily the coach is a Bible teacher, but secondarily he is the coach of a team with the visible objective of winning in quizzing competition. He would be amiss in his duties if he failed to help his quizzers become the best competitors possible. In addition to the knowledge and spiritual application that is essential to being top quizzers, there is the necessary ability in the fundamental quizzing skills. When considering the competitive aspect of quizzing it is important to keep in mind the physical and mental preparation necessary to build a championship team. Naturally, the best physical condition will be of no avail if the quizzer does not have a comprehensive knowledge of the book being studied. But, St. Paul said, "Bodily exercise profiteth little" (meaning some). The good coach needs to be concerned about both areas. 1. Physical. The coach must train his quizzers to jump. When the quizmaster calls question, the quizzer must tense his body and be prepared to jump off the chair with lightening speed as soon as he anticipates the key word. A quicker reaction time can be learned with an improved jump. This will be covered in detail in the chapter on the "Quiz Practice." But at present it will suffice to say that a good physical condition is a prerequisite to a fast jump. Strong legs and a quick reaction time are a definite asset to a knowledgeable quizzer. A good night's rest is essential before an important quiz. Frequently teams are away from home for a quiz tournament. It is essential that the coach protect the quizzers' right to a good night's sleep. It is not easy to get a teenager to go to bed when there is a lot of excitement going on Arrive early. Have a devotional time with the team before they go to bed. Generally one of the Psalms would be the most appropriate for this quiet time. It will be challenging and will not confuse the quizzers as a discussion or exposition of their quiz book might do. Also, it is not wise to eat a big meal too close to an important quiz. This will slow down the mind and may cause an upset stomach if the quizzer is quite nervous. A doctor advised one team to start the morning of the tough competitions with a cold shower. It would bring all the senses to life. It is difficult to know if the shower had anything to do with it, but the team was a consistent winner. Some exercises would be in order. There are teams that encourage running, bicycling, deep knee bends and various relaxing exercises. During competition a team should practice jumping a few times when they go t~ the platform, then they should sit as comfortably as possible, take deep breaths and look at the audience to adjust to their presence. Rick used to practice jumping with a belt of weights around his waist. This really improved his reaction time. 2. Mental. Mentally the quizzers need confidence in themselves. This is best achieved if they have studied hard and if the coach expresses confidence in them. No matter what happens, a coach should always be positive with his team at the competitions. If a quizzer makes a mistake he is usually plenty discouraged. He needs your encouragement to bounce back. What can you do about mental preparation prior to the competitions? Develop the team unity discussed earlier. Genuinely care for one another. Honestly build their confidence in themselves and stress the spiritual value they are gaining. If your sole purpose is to win, you will probably be disappointed. Only one team wins the competition, but all can win spiritually if you give the proper direction to the team. Give them lots of inner-team competition. Create stress situations so they can be prepared for the pressure of competition. Praise them when they do well. Correct them in love when they do poorly. Make strong statements about their efforts and needs for improvement. If you must be judgmental, this is the place to do it, not at competitions. See the chapter on the "Quiz Practice" for specific ideas on how to do these things. At the competition let them know that you care for them as people, that you are for them, win or lose, that the loss is not one person's fault. This is not the time to say, "I warned you." "You should have studied harder." "How could you have made such a stupid mistake?" "Why weren't you listening?" In fact, these comments should never come from a coach. When the tournament is over let the team discuss the problems encountered during the competitions. They will bring up most of them. The coach should feel free to add his comments, but not in a judgmental way. Never blame a quizzer for the loss of a quiz. If the team is well-balanced and everyone is doing their part the errors will be balanced with correct questions. No quiz is won or lost with one question. There are twenty questions in a quiz. That will require getting the largest percentage of the questions and/or bonus qu6stions to win. That will be more than one question. Be careful not to put too much weight on that last question. If they have not been producing throughout the quiz, the last question will not help. If the last question is the clincher, it is so because both teams were trying their hardest throughout the quiz. But the quiz is still not lost or won on this question-the other nineteen had something to do with the outcome of the quiz. There have been teams with nine errors who have won quizzes. There have been teams who have not answered more than a question or two, but won the quiz on a bonus! In both cases it took the whole team working together. Do not lay the blame on one quizzer. Blame can rarely be laid without the accompanying sentiments of failure. Your job is to build-not to destroy. D. Counselor. The times of defeat can be the greatest opportunity for you to help your quizzers. One team responded to their loss at the championship this way. "We really needed that loss. It wiped out the pride." "We really weren't approachable until we lost." "YehI It was after that that we became human!" "It was hard to accept at first, but it was great." "The losses sealed the team unity. We really need each other." This is the expression of a team whose coach took advantage of the opportunity to counsel his team and lead them to victory through defeat. Defeat can be a great opportunity to help a team to spiritual maturity, but counseling opportunities arise nearly every week. At the beginning of the year it is wise for a coach to suggest several ways of studying the Scripture, and take his team through some goal-setting experiences. It will only take two or three weeks to discover the effectiveness of the study methods or how practical the goals are. This is a good opportunity for a counseling session. Plan a specific time to get together with the quizzer to help him in these areas. Go to his home, take him for a coke, meet at the church, but get alone. Show that you value him and that you really want to help him. Most quizzers will welcome this opportunity. Now do what you said you were going to do. Evaluate his study habit8 and make suggestions. Help him to set study goals for the coming week and then plan to evaluate his success after the next quiz practice. Teach him how to make personal applications so that the Word will be more enjoyable. Be sensitive to problem situations in his home, school, church or in his personality. Be prepared to help him improve these situations, or if that is not possible, to live with them. Cecil Osborne's book, The Art of Understanding Yourself, is a must for the coach/counselor. This is available in paperback. He deals with many of the problems you will face in counseling quizzers. Of special significance are the chapters on "Anxiety," "The Cure For Anxiety," and "Fighting Battles You've Already Won." Many would also find the Bill Gothard "Basic Youth Conflicts Seminars" very helpful. Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am? by John Powell catalogues many of the games people play. Many of these will fit the variety of problems quizzers face. Some of the people problems discussed are the ones who are: always right, braggarts, compulsive clowns, competitors, dominators; dreamers, indecisive and uncertain. This will give you insight and a better understanding of the problems people face on self-awareness, personal growth and interpersonal communication. As a counselor you need to be open and approachable. The quizzer must feel free to come and talk with you. Approachability is the atmosphere you create by being open and sharing yourself. If you have created the right setting, you will be able to approach the quizzer when you become aware of a problem that exists. You might say, "I noticed that you seemed a little upset at practice tonight. Would you like to talk about it?" Always approach with a question. Never force your way into the privacy of another person's life. Wait to be invited. Another approach might be, "Do you think we could get together and talk about your progress in quizzing?" Give the quizzer the chance to reject the situation if he desires. You are to be available to help the quizzer. Do not make him sit through an unwanted counseling situation. The key in counseling would be the combination of love, understanding, sensitivity and knowledge. You must love the quizzer, but love alone can be blind. You must understand the needs and abilities of the quizzer, but understanding alone can be cold. You must be sensitive to what the quizzer feels, what he needs and why he is the way he is; but sensitivity alone can lack direction. You must know what to do to help the quizzer in his personal problems, to improve in quizzing, to grow spiritually; but knowledge alone can be cruel. Keep them all in balance. At times it is harder to help a team that has won the competition than it is to help the losers. Much more is expected of the winner. One man coached a team that went through an entire season without one loss. They were very self-sufficient. Pride was a problem. What reason did they have to trust the Lord? The only reason seemed to be to keep their whole lives in the proper perspective. When they got home, even the church expected more. For some reason it was assumed that anyone who could win an international quizzing championship should be a spiritual giant. That is a tough image to live up to for a teenager. Far less is expected of those who lose. Losers have different problems. A coach must be sensitive to what these are and point the quizzers to the Lord. E. An Example. "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." (I Timothy 4:12) It is in this role that the test of a good coach is really taken. You may have a difficult time getting all the studying in that you know is necessary for the coach. You may not always understand the Scriptures well enough to explain them, or help the quizzers apply all the spiritual truths. You may be so new in quizzing that you would not recognize a bad jump if you saw one. You might not always know what to say when you know a quizzer is looking for help. But this is the test the quizzers will give you; are you a good example? Do you "set a pattern?" In Word. What you say is very important. You must guard against criticism and the condemning attitude. It is easy to undo all the good that has been done with the slip of a tongue. That is why James said, "Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire." (James 3:5,6). Keep in mind the true objective of Bible quizzing. it keeps the temper down. Watch what you say about the other teams and coaches. One enthusiastic coach was overheard verbally tearing to shreds a brother in Christ in a feeble attempt to encourage his own team with the thought that they were at least better than someone. Encouragement can be made without cutting into little pieces one of the spiritual principles that is so easily taught through the quizzing ministry. Build on the oneness in Christ. You may be a better coach, you may have a stronger team; keep it that way. Be positive. In Conversation. The old English sense of this word is "behavior." Be careful that you do not talk about the spiritual aspect of quizzing as being the most important and then act as if the competition were the most important. Where are your priorities? Make sure that your words and behavior match. Are you bitter when a decision goes against your team? Are you angry when a quizzer misses a question? Are you "cheated" when you lose? You may have perfect control of your words, but what about your actions. Do you sit in a huff? Do you turn your head in embarrassment? Do you walk away with disgust, or in pride if you win? Do you well up with so much pride when you win that you are unapproachable? Can you honestly rejoice with those that rejoice? Can you weep with those that weep? Be an example in your behavior. Remember it will be in competition that the real coach will stand out. Your behavior is on display to your team and the competitors. What is it like? In Charity. You have probably talked about loving one another. How about you? Does the coach love those lazy, negligent, fun-loving quizzers when he comes to practice and few have studied and he knows he has one hundred and one things to do? Does the coach love the other teams? Even that one that constantly beats his? What attitude shows when you lose? When you win? Many people have commented on the obvious love they have observed at International champion ship quizzes. Debbie felt that the greatest moment at the one she attended "was when the three teams, before the very last quiz, held hands pointed toward heaven and sang 'They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love.' After all, it really didn't matter who won the quiz as long as Christ's name was glorified, and it surely was." Love was evident and you could tell they were Christians by their love. In Faith. Are you a coach of faith? Does your faith have a vital expression through your life? This will soon be evident to your quizzers. The coach must be having a vital experience with Jesus Christ. You cannot lead others further than you have gone yourself. If you want the quizzers to be making applications from Scripture to their lives, you should be doing the same. Lead the quizzers by your example. Don't push them. They will not know how to get there. In Purity. The coach must have pure motives. There is not any room for the coach who is trying to get a vicarious experience by coaching a quiz team. He may have missed the opportunity to quiz as a youth, or he may have never been on a winning team, but the team he is now coaching should not be an instrument to make up for missed glories. Check your motives. Are they pure? Do you want to see lives that are changed through the Word of God? You are working with young lives to mold them in the image of God. This cannot be done without pure motives. II. WHAT ARE THE COACHES QUALITIES? A Bible quiz coach may be either male or female, but the best coaching team, if they had the qualifications, would be a husband and wife. One advantage to this team would be the ability to relate well to the sexes of the quizzers. In a situation of this type usually one or the other partner takes responsibility for the quiz practice with the spouse lending aid during the competitions. When it comes to counseling, youth are generally as responsive to either sex. The criteria for acceptance seems to be ability. The gifts of the individual should not be neglected. A coach who can communicate well with teens and has a desire to teach the Bible should be chosen regardless of sex. A. Desire. At the top of the list is the desire to be a Bible quiz coach. This will make the ministry easier because of the inner motivation. However, under no circumstances should this be the only criteria. Everyone knows of a person serving in some ministry who believes he is especially gifted to work in that area, yet the person is not capable of the task. This desire should extend to a desire to communicate the Word of God. Bible quizzing is basically a Bible study program. The coach should desire to teach the Scriptures. B. Sense of Purpose. The coach should thoroughly understand the purpose of Bible quizzing. He should have a sense of identification in that he desires to see those goals met in the lives of the quizzers he will have the privilege of working with. Find out what your philosophy of quizzing is. How does it relate to the true goals and purpose of this ministry? C. Enthusiasm. Many have suggested that the coach should have an undying enthusiasm. The coach should be enthusiastic about the program, but not obnoxiously so. Enthusiasm is contagious; let it be caught. Do not pound the quizzers over the head with it. Someone who is always bubbly and overly enthusiastic, even at the worst of times is slightly unreal. Be real. D. Drive. Set a goal and strive for it. Drive is essential to get a team through the low spots in the quiz year. Right after competitions most teams seem to slow down. They also slow down near vacation periods. It will take continued drive on the part of the coach to stay with it during some of these periods. Also, drive will be necessary to fulfill all the roles of a coach and to prepare adequately for the quiz practices. The temptation is to take your questions to practice and hope for the best. Do not ever slip into the habit of only using the questions of the quizzers. Drive is another word of motivation. This means establishing your purpose for ministering in this area. Read through the purpose of Bible quizzing in this book to see if you can agree with the direction the Bible quizzing ministry ought to go. After the motivation of the coach comes the motivation of the quizzers. It will be hard work to keep them encouraged and enthusiastic about quizzing. Since many quizzers come into the ministry of Bible quizzing because of the competition5 you will have to provide even competition to keep the program interesting. Without this you will have to work harder at motivation. This will be a major task. E. Stable. The coach should be one who is stable in his Christian life and is a stabilizing influence during the ups and downs of the quiz team. A coach who is easily discouraged will not easily encourage his team. The stability of the coach will help inspire the team to reach the goal. F. Industrious. The coach needs to be a hard worker. It will take hard work to study for practice and to write questions. It is not easy to prepare study schedules and keep to them. Several times during the year some teams will have to readjust their schedules because quizzers have gotten behind. An industrious coach will provide motivation through extra outings, special secret practices, refreshments, or some other unique event. One team takes an occasional weekend outing for review. They go to the mountains. Another team has gone to a motel for a weekend of quiz practice. One team plans for a special secret practice during each month. The team meets at a restaurant for lunch and then goes to a home, the beach, a park or some other place for practice that night. G. Flexible. This is connected with industrious. So many plans will be changed that you will have to work harder just to stay ahead. Do not be so rigid that you cannot minister. Things come up and quiz practices are canceled. Teachers pile the work on at school and quizzers do not study. You have to bend with the wind and keep up the enthusiasm. H. Empathy. The coach must be able to feel with the quizzers, to identify with the various experiences of the quizzers. He must be a genuinely open and responsive person who cares about others, especially his team. I. Sense of Humor. This probably should have been second! Teens love to laugh. They will find things humorous in the Scriptures. They will laugh in embarrassment when they do not answer a question correctly. They will laugh when everyone else is serious. You must be able to laugh with them. One coach says that he finds humor the best way to help his team improve their quizzing skills. He will imitate the jumping style of his quizzers, or the way they answer a question. They will all have a good laugh and then he will give instructions as to a better way to jump or answer. Be prepared to laugh at yourself. You will mispronounce words, your tongue will get tripped up on your eyetooth! These are good chances to let your hair down and laugh with the team. Laughter is one of the three tonics for team unity. The first is sharing. The second is prayer. The third is laughter. III. WHAT ARE THE COACHES RESPONSIBILITIES? This section encompasses the concrete responsibilities of the coach. It will take you through the beginning stages of organization to the final reward of this potentially fruitful ministry. A. Plan. The first thing is to predetermine a course of action. This section deals with an analysis of the problem and the early decisions that must be made. Set Objectives. What is the purpose of Bible quizzing? What will your minor objectives be? Why do you want to have Bible quizzing in your church? What will it accomplish? What is your desired end result? Develop a Course of Action. Decide how you will achieve your goals. When do you expect to reach your goals? Set times and dates for each objective so that you will know when these goals have been reached. You can make sure that you meet them by planning for them. Establish Program Schedule. Make preliminary plans and present them to the church Christian Education Committee or board fQr approval. Decide what day or days you will meet for practice. How long will the practice be? Work out the full year's study schedule making room for periodic reviews, vacation periods and exam weeks at school. A phone call to the high school your quizzers attend will get you that information in late August or early September. Begin now to make a prospect list of the possible recruits for the quiz team. Will you form a team by personal invitation to teens to join? Will you write letters? Will you put an announcement in the bulletin? How will you let teens know that a quiz team is starting for this year? Think about the structure of your weekly quiz practice. Some teens want to know what you are going to do at the practice and what they are expected to do before the practice. Be honest and be encouraging. I have frequently told teens that they can begin quizzing and do a good job with only fifteen minutes per day to start. But I warn them that it will take more time as the year progresses. Setting a Budget. Most quiz teams do not have a budget. They do not take offerings or collect dues. They have no source of income, yet they have expenses. What about resources? You will need rule books for the coach and each quizzer. You may wish to provide some type of question and answer study book that will help them get at the meaning of the passage. You will want a good concordance, Bible dictionary and Webster's dictionary at the church for reference during practice. The church library should have each of these. If they do not, they should get them. You will probably want these books in your personal library as well. Some teams provide small Scripture portions of the book they are studying so that all will have the identical edition. This makes it very easy to draw the whole team to one particular point. Some have purchased cassette recordings of the book being studied so that the quizzer can listen to the quiz material while doing something else. Most teams try to get uniforms. This can be very costly or may be as economical as matching shirts. Then there are the helps for the coach. There are a few printed materials of hints for coaches. There are prepared practice questions or the exchange program that some coaches set up among themselves. There are quiz seats. And the coach will want score sheets for practice and the competitions. Also, he will want a good commentary of the book being studied so that he will be able to explain some of the portions to the quizzers. He may even want to recommend that the quizzers get one of their own. There are quizzing tournaments, possible area finals, district finals, and every team hopes they will make it to the international championships. All of these tournaments cost something. There may be a registration fee or just the cost of gas, which could drain the coach in a year. The budget should be set to include at least fifteen cents per mile to out-of-town tournaments up through the district finals. Beyond that special projects would be in order. Some churches are finding that small trophies for representing the church in competitions are good motivators. This should be in the budget. Also, will there be any special outings? Weekend retreats? Socials? Take everything into consideration. Your church will probably not be in a position to provide everything at once. But as the program increases and the benefits become evident, they will be willing to make a larger investment. Use the following budget worksheet to work through a budget for you, the quizzers and the church. *** Budget Table Goes Here *** B. Recruit. Recruitment deals with the area of selecting quizzers and preparing them for competition. Select- When you were establishing a tentative program schedule you made a list of possible quizzers and you thought through the ways of enlisting them. Now go and get them. Regardless of the other methods you use, contact the teens personally. Nothing works as well as a person who says I like you and I want you on my team. Besides, there are teens who would like to be on the team who would never take the first step until you approach them. Orient- Have the quizzers read through the first chapter before they come to the first practice. If you have any new quizzers, do not be surprised if many do not do it or cannot remember a thing. The teens are used to a very casual reading of the Word. It takes some time for them to get the idea that they must concentrate and try to remember when reading Scripture. But do not worry about it. The first practice is not to test them, it is to enthuse them. Familiarize the team with the lay of the land. Do a quick survey of the book while having them follow with you as you give the main idea of each chapter. A good commentary will help you do this. Have a copy of the outline available for the quizzers to put in their Bibles. Hand out the proposed study schedule for the year. This will tell them what chapters to study for what days, dates for reviews and, if possible, dates of quizzes. Do not make them jump to answer questions if you have new quizzers. Read through a complete question and let the rookies try to answer them. Give them easy questions to encourage them. Praise them when they get it right. Let the veterans handle the tough questions. Give them some instructions in the fundamentals of jumping. Let them try it. You can have them jump on numbers, colors, letters, or words that begin with a certain letter. Get them excited. Talk about the exciting aspects of quizzing. Give them suggestions for improving their study habits. Try studying a few verses together. Quiz on these verses so they get a feeling for quizzing. Now serve refreshments and send them home. Your second practice will be the real practice on the first chapter. Train- Make your quizzers proficient by your instruction and practice. You should have at least one practice per week one regular day. Some teams have two or more. When two practices are held there are teams that use one for the development of quizzing skills and the other for Bible study. Sometimes the whole youth group is invited to the Bible study. You must know quizzing to help your quizzers become proficient. There are some books that give hints to coaches, but these are not plentiful. Talking with other coaches and quizzers will give some insight. Probably the best place to learn about quizzing skills is to attend one or more of the denominational quizzing or World Quizzing finals. The top teams are competing at these meets. Find out what they do at practice; how do they motivate their teams? What is the best jump? How do they handle inner team competition? Think! You will have lots of questions. If you get stuck, have them tell you about quizzing. Most love to talk about it. There will be many suggestions in the chapter on the "Quiz Practice." Do not be afraid of them just because they are new. Also, experiment. Most of these ideas were developed by someone who let his creative imagination go. Develop- Help them improve their knowledge, attitudes and skills. Make sure they understand what they are reading. Teach the Word. Help them apply it to their lives. Talk about the attitudes they express at practice and in competitions. What are they going to do about those attitudes? What are you going to do? Pray about them as a group. Discuss the rules and be sure they are adequately explained. Write letters to get clarification of things you do not understand. Know what the role of the coach is in competition. C. Direct. Bring about purposeful action to reach your desired objective. Delegate- Give assignments and expect them to be carried out. In addition to their regular study, hand out extra assignments for review weeks. Have them do a character study, trace Paul's journeys, learn something about the various cities mentioned, or some other special assignment. You might even have some of these assignments done as part of the practice. Hold the quizzers accountable. They are learning to be responsible people and this can help them if done tactfully. Have them help plan the special outing. Make them responsible for some of the arrangements, they will enjoy it more if they helped plan it. Motivate- Persuade and inspire the quizzers to produce at a higher level. Motivate them to dig a little deeper into the Word and discover something that is especially for them. Challenge them with the excitement of quizzing. Challenge them with the excitement of reliving the New Testament. Coordinate- Relate the efforts of the quizzers to the goals of quizzing. The spiritual and competitive goals should be kept in mind. Discuss the various strengths of the team and show how these work together to make a stronger team. Help them to see how much they need each other and lead them to a real team effort. Manage the Differences- Problems will arise. When a team loses a quiz the temptation will be to blame one or more of the quizzers. Help resolve these conflicts. Let there be a time for developing team unity and have the team try and work out the inner team conflicts. They need to resolve the personality differences, and to develop the need to care for one another. Help individual team members resolve family conflicts. Some quizzers from unsaved families really need the coach to visit in their home and discuss the program with their parents. Sometimes there are other problems that are disturbing the quizzer, you need to be sensitive to troubled areas and available to help when possible. Manage Change- You need to stimulate the quizzers to change in their lives. Lead them into application of Scripture to their own lives and share what God is doing for you. D. Measure. This is the evaluation of your work. You have been pressing toward very specific objectives; how close have you come? Did you reach them? Determine Performance Standards- The method of measuring your objective was determined in your early planning. Should anything be changed? Should your goals be set higher? Or lower? Test- The Competition goals are always tested at the various quiz meets. Many of the spiritual goals are tested at the same place. What changes do you observe? What changes are they talking about? What has God done for them? Reward- What is your reward to the quizzers who have produced in quizzing and who have come up to the spiritual objectives you have set with God? For most coaches they will not be giving anything monetary to the quizzers. For them, that would spoil what the quizzers have gained. Others will have a social or perhaps give a small gift as a token of appreciation. But the real reward will be in the effort exerted. The quizzers will have a deep sense of satisfaction because of the personal gain they have made in their biblical knowledge and in their relationship with the Lord. The coach will have the same feelings because of the privilege he has had of leading a small group of teens to a new relationship with the Lord.