Coaching People, Not Players

A question began to hover in the back of business executive, Wayne Kugel's mind after meeting Ron and Michelle Backes, FCA staff, at a basketball game and observing them coach in the days to come. There was something different about the way they motivated and interacted with players. So, Wayne decided to ask them, "Why do you do what you do, the way you do?" Their response?

"All through Jesus." 

In the days that followed, Michelle invited Kugel to begin coaching basketball, something he didn't have a great depth of knowledge about, but he did have several years of management experience as an executive in the business world, having worked at Carlson Marketing, IBM, and Cray Customer Service. Around the same time, Ron invited him to join a few coaches studies, diving into biblical coaching principles through Legacy Builders , Inside Out Coaching , and 3Dimensional Coaching. The more he learned, the thirstier he became for more of Jesus and His Word. He loves how personal Jesus is, seeing and knowing each person on an individual level - something he has now taken to the field and board room. He is coaching people, not players, managing people, not employees - a coach realizing his purpose coaching goes beyond the X's and O's to impacting lives.

Kugel made the shift into soccer when his daughter began playing and has been with the sport ever since. He has been the Chisago Lakes Varsity Girls Soccer coach since 2016.

For more of Coach Kugel's story, watch the video above.