Hunter House’s first year as soccer coach at Oneida Baptist Institute in Oneida, Kentucky, saw the school win the 13th Region championship and advance to the state tournament — but that is not what he will remember most about the season.
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His most vivid memories will include the circumstances that led to him getting the soccer coaching position at OBI — but more significantly, the impact his players had on him.
After OBI lost to Ashland in the state tournament, a newspaper reporter asked him what his group of players and the season meant to him.
“At that time there were a lot of emotions going on. People often ask ‘What can a coach do for his players?’ but they don’t ask what the players do for the coach as a person and a coach,” House said.
Since that time, House had the opportunity to talk with his team to tell them what they meant to him. It’s a powerful story as well as life lesson.
“I told them when I played in high school and college I had three major knee injuries. By the third time you think you are cursed. Not only are those times physically challenging but also challenging on the mental side. I missed two full years of high school soccer, and I always look back and think ‘What if this didn’t happen?’
“When bad things happen, you get a victim mentality — there is some grief, some anger and you look at things in a negative aspect. It made me look at things more negatively. Then I started at Union College playing soccer and ended up transferring. So those surgeries, then a transfer — I kept developing a victim mentality and asking why things are happening this way.”
Romans 8:28 reminder
House told his players about the many negative thoughts that he had developed over the years. “But somewhere along the way those went away because of you guys, the investment and success you have had. You have grown as soccer players and young men,” he told the team.
He added, “Everything happens for a reason, but I couldn’t figure it out until years later. My story may be different from yours, but there will be times you will wonder why things are happening to you. But there is a purpose and a reason for that. Those are times you have to keep going, and one day you can look back and see there is a reason for everything happening the way it did,” a principle from Romans 8:28: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
