The Undeniable Connection of Athletics and the Military

 The Undeniable Connection of Athletics and the Military

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Commitment. Courage. Discipline. Loyalty. Teamwork.

These are words that many would use to define traits of service members and veterans. They are terms ingrained into the mottoes and values of all our branches of the military. But these are also words used by countless sports teams and organizations.

There are many factors of my life that made and make me who I am today. My faith and my family are primary among those, but very close behind are athletics and the military. I wouldn’t be half the man, husband, leader, or soon-to-be father without sports or the Naval Service. As I will always admit, I could be wrong, but I’m a pretty good husband, and a hell of a leader. Point is, I wouldn’t be those things without the structures, activities, and people that have shaped me. Athletics molded me in many ways at an early age, and then I joined the service and learned even more, and while I volunteer to coach when I can I hope to one day take my lessons and education full circle and coach young men and women in athletics and life. The connection between sports and the armed forces is closer than people realize, and the two can learn a lot from one another.

I’m going to categorize the similarities into two groups- physical and psychological.

How do athletics and the military connect physically? There are a few obvious similarities. One area is simply physical fitness. Athletics truly teach young men and women how to work out, exercise, and push your body to the limit. Fitness in the military is crucial, and building endurance to fight and support battles takes a tremendous amount of effort. Military leaders are often tasked with developing workout plans and building fitness schedules, so service members can immediately impact sports teams in the Strength and Conditioning department. Additionally, playing sports really burns discipline into a body, whether that means showing up to practices on time, not jumping offside, or blocking the right defender on every play.  Discipline is another critical component of the military as service members must be able to react effectively and morally in a moment’s notice. If you’re a coach or team administrator looking for an extra pop of discipline or structure, look no further than service members to inject a rigorous amount of both. On top of these direct connections, playing sports growing up, specifically contact sports, teaches you to take care of your body and commit to injury prevention, which is so important in the service. There are a lot of awkward and uncomfortable physical actions performed in the military, and you can tell the folks who were athletes from the ones who were not by how flexible they are and how they are able to succeed. Finally, there are many life-skills that are applicable to both realms, such as time management and financial literacy, both of which are critical to success in any environment. These are just some of the physical connections between sports and the military, but as you can see the two have so many basic similarities.

How do athletics and the military connect psychologically? I’ll argue the mental similarities are even more significant than the physical ones. An obvious relation is teamwork. The ability to work with others, especially those who may have different backgrounds than you, is critical to both sports and the military. I was blessed to grow up with and play alongside young men from all walks of life which taught me how to better lead my Marines. Being able to spend time with and lead the quality and diversity of my Marines has bolstered that skill and I have learned even more about leadership and teamwork from these experiences. Another vital mentality shared between athletes and service members is perseverance. When things get tough, you can either call it quits or keep fighting to reach your goal. Overcoming adversity in sports is a great way to practice for the military, where beating adversity may mean the difference between life and death. Conversely, service members can put adversity into perspective for young athletes and help them develop resilience. A skill that I don’t believe many people would naturally connect is battlefield analysis. One of the most important tasks of military leaders is to assess friendly and enemy tactics and capabilities. This includes identifying strengths, weaknesses, and tactics, and determining how to best attack or defend against an opponent. Sounds a lot like coaching huh? As an offensive coordinator, you break down film of your next opponent to highlight formations, routes, and tendencies, just like military leaders do. In fact, I used game film of the Georgia-Oklahoma Rose Bowl to teach combined arms tactics to my students. In that game, Georgia effectively ran the ball to open up the play action pass, similar to a military commander suppressing an enemy with artillery to allow infantry to close with and destroy. Obviously it takes at least a little bit of knowledge about both topics but the tactical thought process is so similar that military commanders would make excellent coaches and vice versa.

I wanted to highlight these similarities and connections for a few reasons. The first is to encourage those in each field to consider the impact they could have in the other. The second is to encourage recruiters and administrators from each field to take a hard look at the unique skills each career develops and how those skills can help build their organizations up. The final reason is to recognize those who have had success in both fields. This includes two of the best professional athletes of all time in David Robinson and Roger Staubach; it includes the late, great Pat Tillman; it includes a current Colts front office lead Brian Decker, and countless more men and women in our nation’s history. As always, thank you to the coaches who take so much time out of their personal lives to teach and lead young athletes, and thank you to those who have served and paved the way for all of us to enjoy freedom, peace, and liberty.