When everyone walks around referring to you as “The Coach”, you’ve obviously got a story to tell that relates to sports. In the NCS community, Bill McClain proudly carries this nickname. McClain recently shared with us where it came from.
“I have coached AAU basketball and high school ball at East Forsyth, Reynolds and Atkins. And I’ve coached in college – Greensboro College, Shaw University and the women’s team at Wake Forest University. To me, there are a lot of Christian concepts you can compare to the sport of basketball, such as discipline, obedience, fellowship – just like life,” says McClain.
Being a coach allowed McClain to have an impact on youth, not only in their sport but in how they developed as people.
“When I coached little kids, I liked to think I was teaching them how to grow up and be older kids. When coaching high school kids, I wanted them to grow up to be good men and become a leader of men while in college. I have seen many of them develop into great men and keep ongoing relationships with them, even as they begin to raise families.”
McClain has a pretty full life, with five kids and 14 (yes!) grandkids. Twelve of them live in town, and he gets to see them often and even coach some of them in basketball. While he would love to spend more time with his grandchildren, he is so glad to have found NCS and invest his time in the organization.
A friend of his who does community outreach with McClain, Stuart Epperson, Sr., told him about NCS. Epperson invited McClain to a meeting and he was immediately hooked. He just couldn’t stop going back. McClain shared how comfortable he is in the NCS environment with a group of men who had Jesus Christ in common.
“It’s hard to find that these days,” shared McClain. “Men in Christ don’t fellowship very often, so what we’re doing at NCS is so encouraging.”
McClain has seen first-hand how God has led decision-making in his life. For a long time, he had two jobs, although he had looked forward to the day it would just be one. God eventually led the way for McClain to retire from the Housing Authority, so now he works one job – at his own production company doing sound, light and video. God also opened the doors for McClain to start a 501c3 youth intervention programs called GIDE (Guiding Institute for Developmental Education). Working for the Housing Authority is what gave him exposure to the need and allowed him to start GIDE. McClain loves what he does with GIDE and is able to spend most of his time there.
Despite the impact McClain is making with GIDE, he still finds daily struggles in living out his faith and following God’s will for his life.
“The program I lead requires resources, and I’m constantly surprised that I’m surrounded by so many with unlimited resources, but we struggle to raise money to stay operational. While I work to live out my faith, I have to remember that it’s all in God’s hands,” shared McClain.
Seven years after walking into his first NCS meeting, McClain is still coming back. He loves the brothers of NCS because he thinks they are legitimately seeking God’s favor.
“I find them to be straight forward about their walk, and I consider it to be an honor to be a part of them.”
You can’t ask for more of an endorsement than that. Thanks Coach!