NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–For many sports fans, March means one thing — basketball.
March Madness is college basketball at its best — a month-long tournament full of adrenaline, excitement and athleticism that will lead toward one winner.
The idea of winning is what Caz McCaslin’s new Broadman & Holman book, “Every Child is a Winner: Developing Confidence to Last a Lifetime,” is about. “But it’s not about winning ballgames,” he said. “Every Child is a Winner is not about sports; it’s not about basketball. We’ve got to get to the point that people understand that just because you’re not number one, doesn’t mean you’re not a winner.”
McCaslin, founder of Upward Basketball, a nationwide youth sports league and ministry program that teaches children the fundamentals of basketball by focusing on effort, not the outcome of the game, says his book and his organization have a slightly different focus than traditional sports: “Our desire is to make every child a winner through Upward Basketball.”
McCaslin sees his book as providing important insight into handling adult-child relationships — “to make parents, guardians, teachers and coaches look at children differently,” McCaslin said. “All of us should find the thing that draws out the winners in kids.” Winning in life, he said, has nothing to do with scoring a basket, kicking the winning goal or hitting a homerun.
Through short chapters, this first-time author discusses issues like self-esteem, trustworthiness, flexibility and even the need for rules.
McCaslin redefines winning to include all people. “Everybody and everyone is created with a huge value in this game called life,” he said. “I truly believe that life would be different if we all realized that.
“Truly believing the concept of this book could make a huge impact on a generation of people who feel like they’re nothing, when they’re really so much more,” McCaslin added, voicing hope that his book will point children and adults toward a more lasting winning spirit — the realization that God created each person individually for a specific role in the game of life.
Broadman & Holman is the trade publishing division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
–30–
(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: EVERY CHILD IS A WINNER.
