Jesus and the Underdeveloped Pons

Whole BRAIN: Whole GOSPEL   PART 1

Three players on my JV squad quit last week.  It got too tough.  The losses mounted up too high.  The coaching got interpreted as attacks.  The perception of their peers became crushing.  Their brains freaked out. They told the players it was survival time. As in…life and death survival time. Fight or Flight baby.

FIGHT looked like this:

After being taken out of the game for being selfish with the ball (taking quick shots without sharing the ball) one player blamed others, “Why don’t you take out X.  He has been doing it all game!”   Then to me, “You are soft.”  

FLIGHT looked like this:

After a rough loss, one player got passive-aggressive: “Whoever doesn’t say ‘yes coach’ is a <<bad word>>” I heard him say as I walked around the van.   Then throughout the ride, I am profusely shown deference by all players…over and over: “Yes coach… yes coach… yes coach.”  When I confront the player on it, he acts confused, then gets out of the van. We were near his house.  Finally, he tweets about quitting the team and wonders how I might handle it.

Another one of them skipped the hard conversation and just disappeared for 3 days.  When I finally tracked him down on campus, he indicated, “I don’t want to play anymore.  I am done. It’s not fun.”

Reactions like these are all too familiar in my household.  Between multiple books and classes at Brain Highways, I have learned more than I ever anticipated about the brain.

Fight or flight reactions originate in the PONS, or the lower center of the brain.  The role of the pons is actually important. It perceives threats and then communicates with both hemispheres of the brain.  When underdeveloped, the primitive reflexes of brain are fired off rather quickly.  But the lower brain should not be 'calling the shots' in mildly challenging situations like these.  My players should be getting through these challenges using a developed CORTEX.  They should rationally work through the competing messages in their heads and realize that things are not that serious.   THIS more clearly explains the dynamic.

But their brains are underdeveloped.  It’s true.  I’m not making light of it, or trying to provide excuses.  But trauma in early childhood has real effects.  Most of my players suffer from some degree of trauma in their childhoods.  This trauma stunts normal brain development. 

I was unaware of this physiological dynamic in years past.  But parenting children with trauma in their past has me learning at a rapid pace.  Learning cutting edge science about the brain is making me a better parent and a better coach. Equally important, it’s making me a more hopeful Christian. 

Here’s why:

The gospel is pervasive.  It can influence far more than our intellectual set of beliefs.  It can change us.  It has power.  The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is able to heal some of the deepest wounds in our lives.  It can even help us use our CORTEX more effectively.  

I am not suggesting that our brain functionality can be magically optimized at the moment of conversion. But I do believe that, science-based efforts to reorganize the brain can be part of the healing process God might use this side of heaven.

Traditionally Christians have expectations of behavior change in folks, once they start following Jesus.   I do.   But now I am tempered by an understanding of the effects of trauma on the brain.  It makes me a more empathetic coach and mentor.  It helps me be more strategic in my interactions with them.  And it makes me long for healing in their lives.

If the gospel is as potent as I believe it is, then development and reorganization of the brain is a realistic hope.

 ***UPDATE: All 3 players indicated interest in returning to the team.  All 3 apologized for their behavior and faced individualized consequences.  All 3 made significant contributions in last night’s win.