Interview with GREAT INSIGHT into our Program from 2006-2007

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1.       On behalf of Tony and I we would like to offer congratulations on another fine season! What are your programs goals for the 2006-2007 season?

Our Goals for the season are the same every season.

1.       First and foremost we want our athletes to enjoy themselves and their families to do the same as members of our program.

2.       We stress that our program is about more than just wrestling; we hope to assist in developing young people and aid in that development on and off the mat.  I cannot tell you how many kids from our program and say thank you for the life lessons they learn from our program. 

3.       We want to offer wrestling at its highest competitive levels. Doing so would do a disservice to any of the boys that register for our program… That means ELITE tournaments, wrestling the best all the time, and working hard with proper mental focus each practice…but ya gotta remember these are kids… that’s not always possible.

I don’t set goals about winning or losing.   Success comes with doing the little things right.  Everything correlates.  On and off the mat… Personally I believe that success is defined by our daily agenda… what we do everyday to improve as people and athletes.

Obviously, we want to see improvement everyday; we reach for our max potential everyday in practice.  We constantly stress Doing what’s right, paying attention to detail, and Being the best they can be.

2.. Who are some of the wrestlers that we need to watch for this year?

I think we have the potential to be pretty good.  Obviously we are lead by our returning qualifiers and place winners; we also have a midget group that won the midget sectional as well as the Tinley Park Team Dual tournament.  I think our younger kids as a group sometimes fly under the radar because we don’t get overly involved in the midget “state” open. 

We are excited going into the season.  I can say that expectations are high; but they are high every season.  That’s not being arrogant… its an expectation of excellence we have for ourselves.

3. Who are guys that we don't know about but soon will hearing their name called?

I am biased to our kids… so I will not name any names… I don’t want to put any undo pressure on them… We handle that type of stuff in our practice room.  Seeing my name on the message boards and people taking shots is one thing… It’s another for people to take shots at kids… By me coming on here and saying “Eric Nowak” (named after former TP Bulldog great Eric Novak) is going to do this or that does nothing but set a kid up for potential ridicule… and we all know kids read this forum/

4. Where do you see LCWC five years from now?

Honestly…  Our program has grown to a size, success and organizationally to levels I never dreamed of… Five years from now I will hopefully have my three sons and a nephew in the mix of things. I hope we are still improving in all facets.  I think that’s the most you can ask of yourself and your people.  I will be 40 years old then and have been involved with the IKWF for almost 21 years then… Kind of an old man in terms of years involved.

5. What do you think of kids specializing in one sport and the role of off-season wrestling?

I am not a big fan of specialization.  It robs kids of being involved and being exposed to other experiences as well as other good coaches.  My 5 year old son plays soccer, T-ball, and will give wrestling a try this year… But I won’t push it though… If wrestling is something my kids enjoy fantastic… If they don’t… Well, I guess it’s my thing then; not theirs. 

I don’t believe in the burn out syndrome either.  How often do you see kids Burn out of Play Station or riding their bikes?  They simply move on to things that are more complex and challenging. 

6. You guys are an establishment program and have been around now for what 15/16 years what are the strengths of a program like LCWC and what are areas that you think you guys need to improve in?

I think the biggest strength our program has is the support and strength within our parent’s commitment to the program.  With out that nothing is possible. 

Another driving strength of our program has to be our coaching staff…  We have been fortunate to have a number of people that coach that know more than just wrestling moves… Many of our coaches who run our practices have been certified teachers/coaches.  These people are trained (using a variety of methods) to present, practice, evaluate, and recognize needed remediation of skills for our athletes.  Case in point- a teacher is trained and within their careers to work with young people and get them to progress from point A to point B…  Without question- a definite strength…  A strength comparatively to someone who does for example heating and air conditioning, sales, or secretarial work for a living??  Does that make sense?  Don’t misunderstand my point though… That’s not to say that someone who isn’t a teacher COULDN’T be a fantastic coach and relate and teach extremely well… For example- Joe Fessler, Quint Harrell, Jim Considine, Hector Gomez and Jose Martinez… I don’t think any of those guys are teacher in an academic setting but they do a fantastic job in their practice rooms.    

Improvement? I think we have made HUGE strides fundamentally in the past 10 years compared to our first 5-6 years…  Our kids early in our program were SO HUNGRY for success… Our kids in our program now have upped the level of technique; I would love to see that combined with the hunger of our earlier teams.   

I truly enjoy watching our kids make those strides from Point A to Point B that I mentioned earlier… Its much more rewarding than anything else. 

7. There are all types of programs starting up out there. For the young coaches starting programs out there what advice would you give them?

1. Keep the kids first- Animals run the ZOO!  Parents do what kids want… Always keep the kids best interest at heart.
2. Remember everything correlates on and off the mat… stress doing the right things in all settings… Probably the toughest thing to do.
3. Focus on improvement daily.
4. Lead with the heart before the hand-
5. Don’t b afraid to push your athletes… As the coach- you are the supposed expert and parents have put you in charge of their athlete’s development.

8. What tournament, situation, defining moment had you feeling that hey we have a chance to move into the elite? What was that moment that you felt you guys turned the corner?

There are a number…

1. The junior sectionals 1992 I believe- we had like 3-4 sectional champs plus 3 or 4 seconds.  I thought we definitely had the makings of a strong group
2. 1993- Our 3^rd year as a club we placed 2^nd in the novice division…
3. 1995- Our first state duals title; we had a 5 year plan and in our 5^th year we accomplished our goals.
4.  Heck I remember in 1992 being in 27 place at the Midwest classic; the next year we were in 4^th…  A huge improvement

9. What can we expect from the LCWC Elite tournament this year?

Hopefully more of the same as last year; Great wrestling with top wrestlers competing.  We look at the LCWC elite as one of the big three….LCWC ELITE in the beginning of the year; Midwest in the middle; and the Tholl at the end.

10. Any surprises this season out of LCWC?

I am not sure. We are going to be happy to show up and do the best we can with the boys we have.  Not much of a surprise there. I am excited about the coaching staff we have assembled, the strength of our organizational structure that has withstood a number of interesting improvements, as well as a group of athletes that are focused and love coming to practice everyday.  Honestly- I love practice; tournaments can be tough and people tend to lose their focus of why they are involved in youth sports.  Practice on the other hand is where we can make our biggest impact on kids.