Newsletter 10

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ST. CHARLES NORTH
NORTH STAR FOOTBALL 

WEEKLY JOURNAL 

Quarter 2 March 9th – March 15th

Hello! So I think we can safely say that this newsletter is the reason for the great weather.  It is hard to deny the correlation. I hope this message finds your families doing well and enjoying this taste of spring.   

I am sure you are all reading the headlines and having to process what  is happening in the world right now. So much information coming in at such a high rate can flood the cognitive system. It is hard to sift through what is factual and what is sensationalized. In short, it is difficult to know what and who to trust.  As a parent I find it challenging to navigate my concern for my family and keeping life status quo for my children. I appreciate the efforts that you make to give your families the best and protect them daily. I wish for your family’s health and peace  during this time. 

TRUST 

Every year, I spend the months of December through May studying leadership, team building and cultural dynamics. I have a passion for researching what attributes makes teams go from good to great and what behaviors allow programs to attain sustained success.  The dynamics of a great business or team are not all that different. Trust is the foundation that all relationships are built on. It is the thread that holds together the fabric of every relationship we have. As we move into the beginning of the 2nd quarter of our performance development program it is essential to reaffirm how the St. Charles North  Football Club works to define, develop and earn trust. 

Trust by definition is vague, it has soft edges that can be manipulated to fit many molds. In the SCN Football program we want to provide clarity to our stakeholders and define trust as being comprised by the following buckets. 

Character: ethical trust 

Competence: technical trust 

Connection: personal trust 

The ideology of trust not being given but earned is a common theme within our program. Every experience we give is going to either strengthen or weaken the bond of trust. In order to truly build trust we must give consistent, repeated positive experiences.

As the head coach, it is my job to earn every stakeholders trust in our program. I learned from a great mentor of mine the following. 

“Earn their trust ! Don’t assume because you have the title of head coach that trust will follow. Trust is earned/ lost through every experience you give that person.” 

Character

At the core of St. Charles North football is our character development program. Iron Star football is built on the behaviors of being a leader , accountable, selfless, prepared and invested. As the head coach I must show our players what being a person of character looks like. Our players will remember what we did as coaches long after they forgot what was said.  I want our players to see me as a father, a husband, a brother , a son and a coach. They need to understand that character is not just a sometimes thing it is an all the time thing. We show our players the way and remind them that character is fragile. You can spend your whole life building your character and one bad decision can ruin it.  

For our players we want to clearly define what character looks like within our program. As a parent/ family I encourage you to think about how the experience you give in our program can represent our values. 

Competence

The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick live by one simple motto “Do Your Job”. Regardless of your title, each constituent is in charge of doing their job to the highest level. In our program we define competence in the following ways. 

  • Knowledge – know your scheme’s 
  • Skills – execute your duties with elite detail
  • Attitudes- be a positive influence
  • Personal Character – be passionate not emotional

In my opinion anyone can “do their job” but only the best can understand and execute their job with elite detail. That is the difference between good and great. The good do their job while the great do their job with unprecedented attention to the finite details. In the St. Charles North Football program we lay the expectations out to our players on what competence should like as it relates to our value system. 

I recently gave a speech at a clinic talking about trust and competence. As the head coach one would assume that X and O competence is a given. (insert head coach joke here) For me, I look at competence as the ability to show that I am worthy of coaching your son’s or daughter’s.  You see, different aspects of the trust paradigm weigh differently for specific groups of people. As a parent, you are allowing me access to your most prized possessions. It is my job to earn your trust by proving that I am competent in having a hand in their development as an athlete, student and person when they are not under your roof. I view this as a HUGE responsibility and it has formed the basis for much of our program philosophies. 

CONNECTION 

In the physical world connections are used all around us. The light switch that creates energy to  your house, the transfer on the tollway that allows you to travel the country and even your smart phone that keeps you tethered to your social circle. Emotionally, some say that connections are the single most influential factor into the success of a unit.  A strong connection can be life changing. It is the reason why many of us got married and started a family. When we connect with someone you make an emotional investment into them. For many of us making a strong connection can be difficult. It requires us to get out of our comfort zones and have a willingness to become somewhat vulnerable. When we connect we give up a little control and for guys like me that is scary (insert type A personality joke here).  On the flip side a family, team or program that is connected can be an unstoppable force. Think of it like a water hose. When the hose is laid out straight the water is allowed to flow with power and a great amount of force. However, if one part of the hose is kinked the connection is not as strong. The water will still figure out a way to flow but without as much power as before. Take it a step further and if the water is impeded entirely and the connection is cut off, the results can be catastrophic.  My job in this program is two fold 

  1. Connect our key stakeholders through a common mission, vision and purpose through shared experiences. .
  2. Look for kinks in the hose and address them before it blows up in our face. 

Simple Math 

Addition/ Subtraction/Divider/ Multiplier 

A great coach in our program Pat Shannon explains connection in simple terms. He says that we can play 1 of 4 roles in our program. You can be a connector and add value to everyone in our program. Some may choose to talk negatively and in turn subtract from the program’s value. Others may choose to divide the program and create cliques by  only connecting with those who share similar perspectives. Finally, and what I hope we all can work to become, is a multiplier. A multiplier is a catalyst of positive connections. They believe in the program’s mission and pass it along to anyone who wants to be a part of it. Multipliers create the greatest impact in any business or program.  Unfortunately, the multipliers are also the hardest to find. 

I am excited to begin this second chapter of  our 2020 season. To our athletes who are in spring sports, be the best version of you. Bring your standards into that program and hold others to them.  To everyone else, the program never stops. There is always something that can keep you connected. Seek them out and invest your most treasured commodity. TIME!

SPRING PERFORMANCE TRAINING BEGINS THIS WEEK!!!

Monday March 9th  

8PM LEGACY TRAINING 

  • OPEN TO RAM’S 
  • CHEETAH’S WHO NEED TO MAKE UP

Tuesday March 10th

-Film Study 6:15am Team room 

–  Whole Group Lift @SCN 2:35pm 

Wednesday March 11th

  • LEADERSHIP TRAINING   2:30pm 

8PM LEGACY TRAINING 

  • OPEN TO CHEETAH’S 
  • RAM’S WHO NEED TO MAKE UP 

Thursday March 12th

–  Whole Group Lift @SCN 2:35pm 

Friday March 13th

  • POLAR BEAR 6AM (MEZZ) 
  • OPEN GYM 2:45PM -4:30PM 
    • DRESS FOR OUTSIDE
    • BRING CLEATS / WATER ETC. 

Saturday March 14th 

  • 8am Legacy Training

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

SUMMER CAMP DATES 

COLLEGE RECRUITING 

MARCH 21ST YOUTH CAMP/PARENT NITE OUT

ALL AMERICAN 7 ON 7 

COLLEGE 411 PRESENTATION 

– MARCH 25TH 6PM ROOM 302

– Clint Cosgrove Director of Midwest Scouting @ National Preps Scouting

– 1 hour informational meeting design to help navigate parents through the recruiting process. 

– RSVP form coming this week  

SUMMER CAMP LIST 

This year we will have the usual camps listed below . 

*June 1st- 4th is designated for youth and individual skills camps. 

* We have added a new camp opportunity. June 6th – July 30th we will be running a separate strength & conditioning class. Bryce Biel of Legacy Performance and his staff along with our Staff will be running a 75 minute strength & speed session M-R. Camp times will vary from June to July. The availability of this camp will allow us to separate our football and strength development. While this is an extra cost, the development to the athlete is well worth it  in my opinion. Prices have yet to be released but I can assure you it will come down to less than 10 dollars a session which is well below Bryce’s usual cost. We took this step as the logical progression in our program’s development. We have always felt that our strength development conflicted with our football development in the summer. This will alleviate that problem. Additionally, we start official football camp on June 22nd. From June 1st – June 18th we will be having OTA (organized team activities) film and scheme sessions from 6pm – 8pm. These are non padded classroom based sessions. A full curriculum is being developed to better prepare our athletes cognitively for the summer installs. Again we feel this aligns more consistently with our 4 quadrant development model. There will not be a camp sign up as these opportunities are free of charge. 

* I appreciate the monetary investment you make on your child’s behalf. If you have questions please contact me.