EXTRA POINTS NORTH STAR FOOTBALL

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Coach’s Message

7.25-7.31 

Star’s Football Family-

Happy weekend to all, I hope your family gets chance to enjoy some time together.  This was extremely busy for our Stars football family. All the key stakeholders were hard at work. The season is just around the corner and you can already feel the anticipation building. As usual, I will give you some of the highlights, low lights, and happenings for our Stars.  

This week we held two of our favorite summer program events. Normally, our summer youth camp and selfless service week are not held simultaneously. However, due to the new “post covid” summer schedule, we decided to team these two opportunities up and the results were amazing! We had over 125 2nd -8th graders in attendance for our 4-day youth camp. These future Stars brought the juice each and every day. Our platoons each took a day to help lead the program. I was continually impressed with our players and there ability to connect with the kids. The goal is to give them an experience that drives home our servant leadership philosophy while giving our youth an ELITE camp that helps to build the Northstar culture. Mission accomplished and a heart felt thank you to all who helped to make this possible. 

IRON STAR VALUE OF THE WEEK

Selflessness was our value of the week and a tip of the cap to Goodfellas on their fantastic presentation. Led by Joe Curzon, Goodfellas did a great job of highlight what selflessness sounds, looks and feels like. One take away we dug into was the “We before Me” philosophy. The boys made the connection that all great teams have 3 things 

  1. Unselfish play
  2. Trust and connection 
  3. Relentless effort 

I found this to be a great jumping off point for a deeper dive into positions and how each player should be open to moving positions to better the team. It will take selfless decisions like that for our Stars to reach their fullest potential. 

EARN YOUR STRIPES UPDATE 

The race is heating up as we enter our final week a champion will be crowned. Big Baller Brand is still in the lead but only 80 points separate the top from the bottom. As we enter the final push the campers will see our platoon challenge shift to daily tactical training drills. Platoons will be ask to perform maneuvers and task in unison and on command. The ability to follow directives with precision and efficiency is a foundational element to the game of football. 

We also have seen our first group of players eclipse the 50 point total! These young men will get their strip for their helmet. There is always a sense of pride when the players get thier strips. Its a badge of honor to wear the blue, black and silver strip and our players appreciate the legacy. 

UPDATE CHALLENGE 

SERVANT LEADERSHIP 

Our Stars have been out and about in the community completing their service learning projects. It is always so much fun to see what each platoon comes up with. It is humbling to see how willing our players are to help others. The goal of the project is to build collaborative planning skills. This is a project that our players must brainstorm, plan and execute on their own without coaches help. We want our players to be able to problem solve without the coaches intervening. On the football field, the best teams have players who can adjust and modify on the fly, often in the heat of the moment without coaches directing them. Again, everything we do as a program has a bigger picture, every moment can be used to build the behaviors that win. 

Celebrate The Little Things | A Gourmet PB&J Bar - Lulu the Baker

PB & J BAR DONATIONS 

Calling all parents, grandparents, friends, and family! Our Stars work hard on the field and we love to give them some food and drink after the day is done. If you have availability we are accepting donations of chocolate milk, Gatorade, water, and pre-made PB&J sandwiches known as UNCRUSTABLES.

Please contact Tricia Sharkey me if you are interested in donating. 

JOURNEY VS DESTINATION 

As we embark on this new season, I want to stress the importance of focusing not just on the destination we are striving to achieve. Getting to the top of the mountain is a great goal, but to make this a reality, we must first embrace the journey we are about to take. The day-to-day climb will feed our souls and build the behaviors that we will need to reach the destination. Focusing on a destination is not a terrible thing to do but often it is just a point on a map and it offers no benefits until the destination is reached. On the flip side, when we focus on the journey we can appreciate each small step that we take in preparation for reaching the destination. 

ESSENTIAL

In our preparation paradigm summer camp is the unofficial start to our season. While no camps are mandatory, our player’s attendance is an essential part of their development. With limited time, each day is a highly choreographed production with finite goals attached to each learning opportunity. Absences are expected, but players are encouraged to keep up online with all installs as a part of our accountability value. Again, our goal is to provide an ELITE experience for all participants. Lack of accountability or preparation on the player’s part will inhibit that experience. I say this not to scare anyone but to simply be transparent in our expectations and standards. 

Finally, our communication loop must be clear, concise, and accurate.  Please take the time to read emails, newsletters and check our website www.scn4thphase.org As always, if you have any questions please reach out to any of our group leaders 

The next steps 

As we close out camp this week, I want to shed some light on the beginning of the season plan. Below are some important dates and notes for your reference. A complete summer schedule will be coming out by August 4th. 

  • July 31st – Aug 8th IHSA dead week 
    • No player to coach contact allowed 

*

  • Aug 9th -IHSA season begins 
    • M-F times will be after 2:30pm 
    • Saturday times TBD 
    • Please have registration and physical on file 
    • Aug 11th Fall ‘21 Fundraiser Begins 
    • Aug 14th Family Day 
    • Aug 20th Black & Blue Scrimmage 
    • Aug 27th Palatine (youth nite) 

THIS WEEK PLAN 

  • July 23rd – July 30th
    • 7/26 All level camps 
    • 7/27 
      • Var @ Willlowbrook Team Camp
      • Fr/So regular camp time 
      • Fr/So 5 PM 7 on 7 @ Marmion
    • 7/28 
      • All Level camp REGULAR TIME
      • 4-7:30pm  var 7 on 7 
      • 8;00pm VAR Ottercove 
    • 7/29 
      • Frosh regular camp time 
      • Soph regular camp time 
      • Var NIU 6-8pm (busing) 
      • Var 8:30-10:00pm Team Building NIU 
    • 7/30 
      • NO FROSH CAMP 
      • VAR/SOPH CAMP 7-10PM 

In a normal year the varsity camp culminates with an overnight trip to NIU. Unfortunately, covid has put a temporary halt to this trip. While we are extremely disappointed that we cannot give our players this opportunity, our program does not dwell on what we don’t have. Instead we focus on solutions and an unwavering commitment to our mission. Starting on Wednesday our varsity will be having the first annual “SCN Football StayCatioN! Each day we will have unique opportunities for our varsity players both on and off the field. The goal of the staycation is to complete this phase of our team development plan, account for what we learned and then plan for the next phase of our journey. I will be sending a specific itinerary early this week. Finally, I do not normally ask but in our world this experience has been invaluable to our over all success as a team. If your son or daughter can prioritize these events and attend as if they were overnight with the team it would be appreciated. 

KEEP CLIMBIN’