Inspiration from Our 14-year-old Son’s Game Film Evaluation

“Dad can you take a look at this? I watched our basketball game against McBain and evaluated how I did” said our son Jonathan as he handed me a yellow pad of paper covered with notes about how he played (see photo).

As I looked closer it amazed and frankly impressed me that our 14-year-old son had taken the time to evaluate his performance with a level of detail and honesty I rarely see in most adults.

His evaluation included tallying how often he used each hand, charting his shots, keeping track of his “good passes” verses “bad passes”, his “hustle” compared to “lazy” plays and finally my favorite “good defense” verses “bad defense.”

In addition to the fact that Jonathan evaluated his entire game and not just his offensive output he also measured himself against a high performance standard. He’s clearly not satisfied with his play and wants to see where and how he can improve.

Since his game film evaluation Jonathan’s been at the gym every day, he’s watched a number of basketball videos and he’s even read a book about Pistol Pete Maravich. He’s committed to becoming better because he now sees where he can improve and has the vision and energy to do so.

As I’ve watched Jonathan over the last month I couldn’t help but reflect on the importance of regular and thorough self-evaluation in my work, family life, relationships and community involvement.

This reflection led to an evaluation of my own where I ask myself “what more could God do through me if I might only follow the example of my 14-year-old son who simply wants to be a better basketball player?”