Spring is in the air, and I hope your family enjoyed the fantastic weather. It is time to start making our summer plans and fine-tune the summer programming to have our Stars primed and ready for another championship run. Every detail is being considered, from how we train and recover our athletes to how we will progress them through our competitive and mental conditioning program. Nobody prepares like the Stars; our summer is not your typical summer program. Our summer program is THE opportunity to build our belief systems and prepare our players and coaches for the moment. As the program's leader, it is my job to explain our purpose clearly and consistently. It is essential to the program's success that every person who comes into contact with our program understands why we do what we do. Understanding the "why" often helps to answer some of the questions that come up. Is summer essential? Why do we practice so much? Why is the summer so important?

I will share why Northstar football is exceptional and the purpose of the off-season and summer events. Everything we do in our program is built around this ideology. I am sharing an excerpt from my other newsletter that I write for coaches nationwide. The focus of the newsletter is talking about "The Moment" .

The simple question, "why are we here?" It is a loaded question that can detour in a thousand different directions, and that is the point. At this moment, when all the stakeholders in your program have a different answer, you guide them to the only solution that will be acceptable for your program. Everything we do as a program in the St. Charles North football family is designed to prepare us for the "moment." What moment is that? It is the crossroads of investment, preparation, selflessness, and accountability. It is that pivotal moment when we must lead ourselves to success. We are constantly pursuing this moment, and the beauty is that it can happen multiple times a year. It is not hard and fast, but when you get there, it is undeniable to recognize it.

A personal experience of a "moment" for reference. In 2021 we were young and had lost one game in overtime and one game on a last-second field goal. We were 4-4 going into week 9 of our regular season. Five wins would be good enough for us to get into the playoffs with our point total and strength of schedule. Only one problem, we were playing our conference rival, who was 8-0 and perennially one of the best teams in the state of Illinois. That week we didn't shy away from the obvious; we knew we must win to get in. Our playoffs started now! Our kids prepared, and we spent each practice visualizing how our game would go, even down to the two-minute drill we would need to win the game. As Friday came, we knew it would be a fight for our lives, but one we were ready for. The game was as good as advertised and came down to the final drive. We were down eight and had to score and get the two points to push to overtime. It was a "moment" that seemed random to the untrained eye but not to our kids. They had prepared and been there many times already that week.

Our kids scored, got the two points, and earned the overtime. The first overtime has the opponent with the first possession. They proceed to score and get the PAT. We were down 7 with our opportunity. Our kids never flinched and put the ball in the endzone, and now it is up to me to decide if we push to the 2nd OT or go for the win. Against the book and our kid's judgment, I elected to go for the PAT and move to a second OT. As fate would have it that night, we were not able to hold off our great opponent, and unfortunately, we turned over on downs to the end the game.

At that moment, as the pass fell to the ground incomplete, I could feel all the blood leaving my extremities, and my only thought was how I could react with poise and focus on my players whose season had just ended. I would be lying if I said that moment was easy to process. In actuality, it was the single lowest moment of my coaching career. It was a moment when I second-guessed and stayed safe instead of trusting in my staff and players. It was a moment that drove me to get better every day of the off-season without relenting.

Fast forward to the first day of summer and our team culture meeting. To open, I show our 2-minute drive and subsequent conversion. Next, I hone in on the excitement and how engineered this moment was. I then move to our season and how we play the same team in week nine. However, this time, it will be for the conference championship; it may come down to the last possession, and this time, we/I will not let the "moment" slip past us. From then on, our sole focus was to prepare for the moment of redemption and learn how every second we are together is a chain on the link that will prepare us for that "moment."

Well, believe it or not, it all came true. Week 9, and it is winner-takes-all. The game goes to double overtime again! We score with our second possession, and now it is time to decide to go for the win. Our kids and staff didn't flinch. We had prepared and invested from day one for this moment. It was ours to seize, and we would not let it go. I am happy to say that our kids did exactly what they said they were going to do. As the team celebrated our victory, I used this experience to reflect on our kids. We talked about how even at your lowest lows, you never know what that moment is preparing you for. It may be the catalyst for change and allow you to reach the highest of highs when your next moment comes.

This is why the summer is so important. This is why our kids spend hours upon hours preparing. This is why I have spent every moment possible over the last ten years building this program. St. Charles North football is more than just a team. St.Charles North football is a family that understands its mission, vision, and purpose. We must all understand that we play a role in this plan, and our decisions and behaviors will determine our success when the next moment arrives. Our next journey lies before us, and there are moments to be had. We must let the Northstar Mentality guide us to success.

* UPDATE WE HAD 0 PLAYERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY

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