Joy in Christ Outshines WNBA Championships
by Doug Greengard
May 14, 2004
(AgapePress) - Van Chancellor knows a thing or two about winning. After taking the reigns as head coach of the Houston Comets in 1997, Chancellor proceeded to lead his teams to the league's first four Women's National Basketball Association championships. He has been named the WNBA's "Coach of The Year" three times and has already been inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Yet, as sure as the native of Louisville, Mississippi, pursues victory every time his team steps onto the court, Chancellor is careful to keep everything in proper perspective."I was in New York and I didn't feel like I was doing a very good job," says Chancellor, reflecting back to a particular game when his emotions were beginning to get the best of him. "I got on my knees and I said, 'God, this team deserves better than I'm doing.' I thought I focused more on winning instead of serving God, and I just asked for His help."
Through knowing God's Word and His character, Chancellor has full assurance in God's faithfulness. "When you coach, the greatest joy you have is knowing the peace and love that you have from knowing the Lord," adds Chancellor, who also represented his country as head coach of the 2002 USA Basketball Women's World Championship Team.
Chancellor has been a Christian since his early childhood, having been raised in a household that was committed to following the Lord. Throughout his career, the former University of Mississippi women's basketball coach has sought the Lord's plan for his life.
"Everything I've ever done in my life, I've asked for God's guidance to show me what He wants me to do," adds Chancellor, who led the Lady Rebels to the NCAA Tournament 14 times and was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions. "I want to try to do His will. Whenever I do my will, I lose sight -- and that's when my mishaps come about."
Prepared for his eighth WNBA season, the league's winningest coach continues to pursue a goal that will never show up in a box score: reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"In all of these things, the Lord has given me the opportunity to take this platform and be in the public's eye," says Chancellor. "I've been given the opportunity to speak and to witness -- and that's allowed me to be able to tell others what God has meant in my life. He's really used me."
That, Chancellor says, is far more rewarding than any WNBA championship.
Doug Greengard is chaplain for the NFL's New Orleans Saints and the host/producer of Christian Sports Minute, a radio feature airing on more than 300 stations in North America. To get Heroes of Faith, a book filled with 24 stories of well-known sports figures, send $10 to Greengard Family Ministries, 2250 Gause Blvd., PMB 51089, Slidell, LA 70461.
