Hero Tales

Bethany House Publishers

Chapter One

Coaching Kids in the Game of Life

Ricky Byrdsong was only fifteen when he met Sherialyn Kelley on a blind date on Christmas Day, 1972. The six-foot-six basketball player was smitten with the athletic Sherialyn, who was smart as well as pretty. The high school sweethearts both graduated from Iowa State University and were married on October 6, 1979.

Ricky started coaching college ball immediately after graduation in 1978. His nineteen-year coaching career took him finally to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as head basketball coach.

Sherialyn, too, was "Coach Byrdsong" at the University of Arizona, coaching women's basketball at the same time her husband was coaching men's basketball there. When the kids came along, Sherialyn became an at-home mom but continued to coach sports at her kids' schools.

Both Ricky and Sherialyn made serious decisions as adults to live for Christ. Ricky realized there was a lot more to life than just playing basketball. Coaching became a way to teach life principles of discipline, following the rules, cooperation, a positive spirit, and learning from mistakes. Win or lose, Ricky was always a role model of integrity and a man of faith.

Meanwhile, God was using Sherialyn to coach others in worship and the study of God's Word. While Ricky was head coach at Northwestern University, Sherialyn became the praise and worship team leader at The Worship Center, a church with a vision to unite persons of many races in Christian worship

When a losing streak cost him his job at NWU, Ricky began working on a book that had been gnawing inside him-a book for parents about "coaching kids in the game of life," using sports metaphors to teach parents how to encourage and guide their children.

Then he was offered a job-not as a university basketball coach, but as vice president of community affairs for the Aon Corporation. His job description? Developing programs to help underprivileged youth reach their full potential. Speaking in schools and bringing inner-city kids to his "Not-Just-Basketball Camps," Ricky was doing what he did best-coaching kids in the game of life.

Then ... tragedy. On July 2, 1999, while jogging in his suburban neighborhood with two of his children, Ricky was shot and killed by a young white supremacist during a two-state shooting spree. People nationwide were stunned by his murder.

Suddenly Sherialyn, only forty-two, was a widow with three preteen children. She was at a crossroad. She could give in to despair, bitterness, and self-pity ... or she could believe that God's love is stronger than hate. In the media spotlight since her husband's murder, she has turned tragedy into triumph through public witness to her faith in God and by establishing the Ricky Byrdsong Foundation. The Foundation seeks to address the growing epidemic of violence in our society by providing opportunities for young people that instill a sense of self-worth and purpose and develop respect for others.

The torch has been passed from one Coach Byrdsong to another.

ADVOCATE

Windy-City Panhandler

ames Saunders sized up the tall, good-looking black man walking briskly up Wacker Drive and decided he looked like a good mark. "Got a dollar or two, mister?" he called out. Unlike some of the other panhandlers in downtown Chicago, James knew he wouldn't get snide remarks like "Get a job, buddy." Not many people could pass by the wheelchair of a double amputee without throwing something into his hat.

"Sure," said the tall man, digging out a five-dollar bill. "Say, losing your legs must be tough. What happened?"

James was surprised. Most people just dropped in the money and hurried off. Not many stayed to talk.

It was the first of many talks on the corner of Wacker Drive and Monroe. James told his new friend, who introduced himself as Ricky Byrdsong, that he'd been stabbed in the back at age twenty-five, which paralyzed him from the waist down. An infection in his bones took off first one leg, then the other. For the past twenty-five years he'd been in and out of hospitals, had married three times, and held piecemeal jobs.

Ricky Byrdsong told James he used to be the head basketball coach at Northwestern University "... until I got sacked a year ago." He laughed ruefully. "Nobody would hire a coach with a losing streak. Didn't think about panhandling, though.... You make good money on this corner?"

James laughed in spite of himself. The tall man was obviously well-off now. Turned out that he worked across the street at the Aon Corporation-the second largest insurance broker in the world-as vice president of community affairs.

"Don't you miss coaching?" he asked his new friend.

Byrdsong grinned broadly from ear to ear. "James, I've got the greatest job in the world. They're actually paying me to go to schools, talk to kids about what's important in life, and run basketball camps for inner-city kids in the summer. Not just basketball, either. Kids come to camp to play basketball half the time; the other half we teach them computer skills, take them to work, try to give them a vision for something besides basketball." His eyes had fire in them. "I want them to know there are other options besides becoming an NBA superstar like Michael Jordan-which isn't very likely-or hustling drugs. I want kids to know there's dignity in education and hard work."

Dignity. Pride. That was hard to come by panhandling on a street corner, even though it put food in his stomach and helped pay the rent. There was something about Ricky Byrdsong that inspired James Saunders, made him want to "stand tall," get off this street corner, and do something with his life.

"Ricky, do you think you could help me get a job?" he asked one winter morning as the two men exchanged their usual hellos.

Byrdsong scratched the back of his head. "Can't promise anything, James. But I'll see what I can do."

Within a couple of days Ricky ushered James's wheelchair into the Human Resources office of the Aon Corporation. There was a job in the mailroom. Did James think he could handle it?

James could hardly believe his ears. "I'll be the best employee you've got!" he said. "I'm dependable. I'll show up here on time, even stay overtime if I need to."

"He's got that right!" Ricky Byrdsong chimed in. "If this guy can show up on a street corner in the Windy City every morning, rain or shine, summer or winter, without fail, you know he's going to show up for an inside job!"

Their laughter bounced off the walls. And James was true to his word. He didn't make as much money as he sometimes did panhandling, but Ricky Byrdsong had given him something far better: friendship and dignity.

An advocate speaks up on behalf of someone else who is often overlooked in society.

FROM GOD'S WORD:

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed (Psalm 82:3, niv).

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT:

1. Why would a man like Ricky Byrdsong make friends with a panhandler who "worked the corner" across from the big corporation where he worked?

2. Why is helping someone get a job more helpful than just giving someone money?

3. Is there someone you pass by every day-on the way to work or school-who needs you to be an advocate for him or her?

VICTORY

>From Tragedy to Triumph

He's dead, you know," said...