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Zeke Bratkowski and Earle Bruce this Friday and Saturday

Submitted on February 22, 2012 - 7:48am

Join us THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

FREE Character Building Clinic hosted by SportsLeader for Coaches and Captains
Please RSVP!

FREE Character Building Clinic hosted by SportsLeader for Coaches and Captains
www.sportsleader.org
($20 donation appreciated but not required, checks made out to SportsLeader)

February 24-25, 2012

At Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller High School
9001 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati, OH 45242

Registration Instructions:
Reply to this Email with your name, high school, address, cell phone number and position

SportsLeader Awards Night
Friday Night February 24, 2012

6:30 Arrival

6:50 Award presentation to athletes who have displayed great virtue and initiative in serving others

7:15 Award Presentation to Coach Trent Todd: Youth FB Coach and Double-Lung Transplant Survivor

7:45 Some of his athletes give testimonials

8:00 Break - Social

8:15 Zeke Bratkowski: Former QB for Green Bay Packers, Member of the Packers Hall of Fame, NFL quarterback coach/offensive coordinator. Prepared Tim Tebow personally for the NFL.

9:15 Social 

SportsLeader Character Building Clinic
FOR COACHES AND CAPTAINS
Saturday Morning February 25, 2012

7:30 Arrival and Registration

8:00 Clinic speakers 1
High School Track - Aaron Segedi, Trenton MI- Community Impact Projects: Victory Day
Grade School Track - Jim DeJoy, Sycamore Cincinnati OH - How to Discipline Players and Deal with Disappointment

8:35 Switch

8:40 Clinic Speakers 2
High School Track - Steve Frommeyer, Eminence KY - The Importance of a Systematic Virtue Program
Grade School Track - Brian Redden, St Gertrude OH - Integrating a Virtue Program into Your Boosters Organization

9:15 Switch

9:20 Clinic Speakers 3
General Talk - Bill Sweet and Ron Adams, Wyandotte Roosevelt MI - How to Train Captains and Build Leaders Year Round

9:55 Break/Social

10:20 General talk for both HS and GS - SportsLeader Director and Cofounder... Lou Judd - Integrating a Virtue Program into Your Team and School

11:00 Switch

11:05 Clinic Speakers 4
High School Track - Chris Tracy, Franklin County KY - Traditions that Build a Program and Transform Families
Grade School Track - Ron Jennings, Lakota Stallions Cincinnati OH - Transforming Your Youth Football League Through Virtue

11:35 Switch

11:40 General talk for both HS and GS - Earle Bruce: Former Head Football Coach at Ohio State

12:15 Wrap up

12:30 Departure

 

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A Better Coach, A Better Husband, A Better Father

Submitted on February 17, 2012 - 3:20pm

Join us next week Feb 24-25, 2012

FREE Character Building Clinic hosted by SportsLeader for Coaches and Captains
Please RSVP!

Below is a wonderful testimony from a coach in our association who feels that his life and his family have been changed for the better through virtue and growing closer to God.
 
May his words fire you up to keep going!
 
Thank you, Sal, for sharing.
...
 

Lou,

I wanted to share with you the impact your SportsLeader program has had in my own life. Having been a man of faith for several years, I, like most people, wondered away from God's glory. Over the last few years, and especially since the passing of my father in 2009, I have felt God calling me back into His way. I've dabbled and studied the Bible over the years and know that God is faithful and He does not give up on us. His Son did not die for us so we would be lost forever. 

At St. Gertrude Parish we implemented the SportsLeader Virtue Program this year. As the head coach of the 7th/8th grade football team, I realized I needed to live the life God has called me to live, a life that reflects His Son. If I tried to fake it the kids would never believe in what we were teaching. So I dove into the Word and got back to praying to God. God, through SportsLeader and your friendship, changed my heart. His strength is in me because of the virtues I try to live. I am not perfect but God is. I am weak but He is strong. Living His virtue = Having His strength. 

As you and I have discussed, I felt God is moving on men all over to stand up and be the MEN God created us to be. That we need to share our faith with our families and with those around us. That we need to be the spiritual leaders of our house and our community. Through trying to be that leader for my football team, I started to be that leader in my home. 

I came to the realization that I was not treating my children with the same patience and respect I gave my football players. Through prayer and study of God's word, I have changed how I parent. I am more of a coach at home than a dictator. In just under a year my 14 year old daughter, who is a freshman in high school, has taken her grades from failing to A/B with a few high C's. Just by taking the time to go over things as many times as needed, just like I do with my players. 

I also came to the realization that I needed to pray with my wife. I found that very intimate and extremely difficult. It is easy for me to get up in front of my football players and pray, pray with the opposing team after a game, but to lay in bed with my wife and pray for our marriage, the kids and the infertility we have been dealing with the last year was petrifying. Through the Spirit working in my heart, I worked on it and realized I feared my wife judging me as either a hypocrite or a fanatic. She knows me more intimately than anyone else. 
 
But through the grace of God and the Blood of Christ, I was able to see I was only psyching myself out. That I needed to trust in God to come to Him through Jesus Christ as His Word says to do. So I started praying for my marriage, my wife and for God to bless us with a child. This is my wife's first pregnancy and she has been such a wonderful mother to my two kids that I believe she deserves to have one of her own. I prayed to God and it took time. I took time for me to realize that I'm to come to Him and pray it as if it were already so. We did. We prayed that God would do this in His time, and I'm honored to say God blessed us, and my wife is now 2 months pregnant. 

The last thing I would say that I've realized because of my new devotion to Christ and the study of my Bible is the excitement and courage to share God's love, mercy and grace with others. Let's face it, John 3:16 says He so loved the world that He gave His only Son for us, to die for us and to save us from separation from Him. That kind of love needs to be shared. As Christ said, if you deny Me before man I will deny you before the Father. I know I surely want Christ to call me a friend when I face Him in Heaven, so I better get out there and share what he has done for me now. 

Having a friend like you who is not afraid to share his love for Christ excites that same passion in me. It is great to see your love not only for Christ but for the young catholic men in our community. That you have made it your life's ministry to go out and as iron sharpens iron, sharpen the hearts and virtues of young men to be leaders in Christ in the servant/leader attitude Christ taught. Through your leadership with the SportsLeader Virtues Program, you are not only promoting change in our young men but also in the coaches that you come in contact with. We need more men of faith not afraid to say that they belong to Christ. 

Thank you Lou for bringing SportsLeader into my life. God used that tool to make me a better coach, a better husband, a better father and a better servant of Christ. 

God Bless You,

Sal

~Choose to be Awesome and make today an Outstanding day!

 

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Two Outstanding Young Men

Submitted on February 15, 2012 - 2:24pm

Join us next week Feb 24-25, 2012

FREE Character Building Clinic hosted by SportsLeader for Coaches and Captains
Please RSVP!

Below are a series of emails that I wanted to share that I believe sums up very well what SportsLeader is all about ...
 
The emotion, the passion, the struggles, the hopes ... seeing the results and having a heart exult with pride.
 
Maybe you are not seeing some of these results at this moment ... but KNOW that you are changing lives.
 
Enjoy!
 

Lou,
 
I am sending you this email with joy in my heart, and a bit of emotion on my sleeve.  It has been less than a year still since I took over here at Madison Southern.  With 3 wins in the previous 4 years, you can imagine what the confidence, attitude, and overall work ethic of this place has been.  Not good would be a kind statement.  My goal in taking this job is to of course turn around a program that  everyone feels is a losser, but more importantly I wanted to get closer to the root of impacting kids.  At the collegiant level I only had so much influence, as they are sure of who they are by then.  Madison Southern was my chance to change lives on the ground floor, and make men out of boys.
 
I have to admitt, at times this year I have struggled to see as much progress as I wanted with my leadership and character development.  During season, it was shining through our young men on a daily basis.  I could see it in their eyes and in their determination to not quite despite a rough season (we won 2 games, which I felt was decent with where we started).  After season, kids go their own ways and they became distant from the program.  This is usually short lived, but I could see the changes in character and virtue taking place, and not for the better. 
 
I am a perfectionist by nature and I want to see every kid that comes through my program become the best he can be.  I struggle sometimes with the realization that this isn't always going to be the case, despite my tireless efforts.  Some people just choose the path of lease resenstance.  That being said, I struggle seeing the good things we are doing sometimes because I am always focused on for lack of a better term, my failures (the ones that I know have the potential to be men of virtue and strength but struggle making good decisions).  I often feel that for every step I take forward with one kid there is always another who will take two steps back. 
 
There is an email below that I recieved today that almost brought me to tears (sad I know, but it hit me).  It is something that has given me fuel to keep fighting the good fight, and ever harder.  I have never felt as proud of anything, as I do of the young men listed in this email.  It reaffirms me that we are getting through to them and that we are making better men.  It takes time and it does not happen over night, but it happens...and because of us.
 
I have to preference this story a bit, as to why it makes me so emotional.  They young men in this story are young men I selected to do this based on that fact that they have nothing at home...money is very tight and they struggle constantly financially. 
 
Thank you for all your guidance and support.  It is trickling down Lou...1 drop at a time. 
 
Jon Clark

Head Football Coach
Madison Southern High School
...

From: Ramage, Amy
Subject: FW: Two Outstanding Young Men at MSHS

Coach Clark,
First, thank you for assisting me by finding two outstanding young men who helped me to move last Friday.  Wes and Brett were both great help.  I wanted to share with you what I shared with Superintendent Floyd this morning.  I have been around young people all of my adult life, and maybe two or three times have I ever been as moved as I was by what Brett Sipple said and did last Friday. 
 
Thanks, again.  I can see the character that you and your program is building in your young men and you should be so proud.  Whether they having a championship season on the field or not, these two young men are going to be winners in the game of life.   Brett invited me to come to a game this fall to see them play.  If I can get back to the area from western Kentucky on a game night, I will definitely be there to see them play.
 
Thanks, again-
Amy Ramage
...

From: Ramage, Amy 
 
Mr. Floyd,
 
I hope this finds you well.  I wanted to share something with you because this is indicative of what I always found so special about Madison County and the people there.  I think it also represents what you see there and what you are working for every day.
 
Working through Coach Clark, I asked if he could find me a couple of football players whom I could hire to help me load furniture for the move last Friday.  Coach Clark arranged for Brett Sipple and Wes Proctor to come over Friday after school for $50.00 each.  First, I have to tell you that these two young men were extremely polite and respectful (and they were great heavy lifters!). When I went to pay them is when I was touched more than I have been in a long time. 
 
Brett Sipple explained that he could not take any money because he was seeking to be “an uncommon man” and he wanted to do things for people who needed help without taking anything in return.  He then offered to go with us to help unload (not knowing we were going over 200 miles).  I finally got them to take the $100 on the condition that they find something to do with the money that would make a difference for others—whether it was at their church, their school, or their community. 
 
Eddie and I were so moved we were still talking about it this morning.  I am going to email their coach, but I wanted you to know in case you are at Southern and see them.  I was so impressed with them and the great character that they showed.
 
Take care,
 
Amy Ramage
District Assessment Coordinator
Christian County Public Schools

 

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Learning from Bamboo

Submitted on February 14, 2012 - 6:38am
One of the more rewarding aspects of SportsLeader has been the relationships I've been able to develop with coaches all over the world. Coach Yeager is from Alabama. We've never met but you can readily see that we are on "the same team."
 
Below is a link of an abbreviated video presentation of Coach Yeager's first lesson to his team:
 
This is another great aspect ... sharing everything that you do that works to build up our young people.
...


Six years ago our staff evaluated the training of our players. We identified nine categories that we felt our players were receiving superior training: speed, strength, power, flexibility, agility, nutrition, cardio endurance, muscle endurance and position skills. We realized we were not investing in the most important issues of the game - the intangibles (issues of the heart and mind). These areas are important for many reasons:

1. We can gain an edge in our performance by being trained in the intangibles
2. When the nine physical traits fade with age the things we emphasize in Character Education are the things that will stay with our players for the rest of their lives.
3. Training of the character completes the education process - with character education you are receiving and education superior to your contemporaries.
 
Our Character Education begins with identifying the purpose of our football program. Our purpose is not to win games. Winning games is a weekly goal. The purpose of our program is to develop men of significance. If you are successful your influence dies with you. If you are significant your influence remains long after your football career, occupational career and life are over. Significance ensures you will live a life of purpose. Significance transcends time and space. As long as there are those that bear the stamp of your influence your life continues.
 
Last year our Character Ed study used the story of the battle of Marathon and the building of Temple of Nike Athena to teach the Four Pillars of Significance: Character, Vision, Discipline and Leadership.
 
Our mascot is the Spartan so we have adopted as our creed, "The strength of the Spartan is the warrior at his side." I am responsible to develop myself to my maximum potential because there is someone at my side trusting in me. I am motivated because I know he is developing himself to his maximum potential for my benefit.
 
This year I read Greg Bell's book "Water Your Bamboo". We took it a step further and formulated a Character Ed study that coincides with our four pillars of significance:

Cultivate your Bamboo
• Prepare the Soil - Develop and Protect Your Character
• Select and Plant the Seed - Discovering the Vision for Your Life
• Watering, Weeding and Waiting - Discipline: Making Daily Decisions that Reward
• Harvesting and Manufacturing Your Bamboo - Leadership
• Bamboo (your team) in the hands of the right person has endless potential
 
Again I have enjoyed your work and have drawn from it and shared it with my players on numerous occasions. I tell everyone your website is a great resource. Thanks again for all you do.
 
Chris Yeager
Head Football Coach
Mountain Brook High School

 

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Virtues of St Paul Award

Submitted on February 9, 2012 - 12:37pm

 

It is always exciting to see young people receiving awards for being virtuous. Here is yet another example.
 

By Dan Duddy
 
I have a football player who has just been informed that he is receiving the Virtues of Saint Paul Award from a wonderful group in Chicago, Sports Faith International. He was nominated by me, his head football coach. I have the responsibility to teach him how to make punishing tackles, play through tough times, “suck it up”, run into the end zone and help his team win games. 

But the greatest thing I did for him was nominate him for this award, and not by any means for the purposes of celebrating like “hey mom! I got an award!”, although he personally achieved the nomination through his dedication and participation in what we call our Virtue Program. Sportsleader did the same for me last year and I thank Lou Judd for that because it did for me what it is about to do for Sean McGovern.

We honor what we value. Our players will live the values that we, their coaches honor. We are always affecting the identities of our athletes, and they will act in accordance to which they feel they are. Their actions will affect those around them, hence the chemistry of the world. So consequently we as coaches are affecting quite a lot. We need to understand this, accept it, and then man up to it. This is “no joke”, we are affecting either negatively or positively an awful lot, and there is no “in between”. Life never stands still, it is either going in the right direction, or the wrong.

Since Sean has been informed of the honor he has studied Saint Paul and his Virtues. He knows now that any man, a sinner, can play a huge role today in changing the world with Boldness and Truth no matter what he did yesterday. The impunity clause is over,”becoming a saint” isn’t any longer something that men did a long time ago in paintings with haloes over their heads. He is now called to something out of his comfort zone, just like we do in our tackling drills. He is also beginning to understand that it is his responsibility to his very own existence to become one.
 
If Sean can truly take this on at age 18 and give up “yesterday”, then I can too. Give up yesterday every day. Give your kids an identity with hard work that takes them out of their comfort zones every single day. Honor the traits that you want them to initiate and generate in the world. 

You’ve got not only the individual and personal world of the athlete it in your hands, but God’s world.
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Skyping for Virtue

Submitted on February 2, 2012 - 10:47am

Technology can be a great tool and we took advantage of it yesterday when I was able to Video-Chat through Skype with a High School basketball team from Rice Lake Wisconsin.

Head Basketball Coach Kevin Orr found our web site over the summer, he reached out and ever since we have developed a great relationship.

He is blessed with a very talented team this year both on the court and off. He is most proud of the "off the court" success.

In the past few weeks:

The School Superintendent visited him in his classroom to thank him for the wonderful example the basketball team is setting for the whole district ...

It has become almost ordinary for the referees after the game to approach him and congratulate him on a classy group of young men who play the game with a lot of character ...

An elderly couple calling him to let him know that his players thanked them for coming to the game, appreciating their support, that they have attended many a game over the years and this has never happened, that it made their week ...

I had never spoken with a team through a computer before so it was admittedly a bit awkward but hopefully it helped.

We spoke about what they could do as a team, as a brotherhood to strengthen their bonds right now ...

To pour their hearts into their "Letter to Mom Ceremony" coming up next Tuesday ...

To dust off those goals sheets from Virtue Camp and talk about it with their mentor coach ...

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A Life Changing Event: Father-Son Affirmation Night

Submitted on February 1, 2012 - 6:52am

I was blessed and honored to be a part of a truly special evening last night. 

The Cincinnati St Xavier High School wrestling team hosted their first ever Father-Son Singlet night. About 60 Fathers and their sons participated and I believe they will remember it for the rest of their lives.

If you are not familiar with the event, I know many of you are, the concept is very simple: Gather all the Fathers and Sons on your team for an evening of positive affirmation. We encourage the Dads to say, "Son, I love you, I'm proud of you because of A, B and C and you're great at X, Y and Z" as they hand their son their wrestling singlet/jersey, etc.
 
Then once the son receives the singlet he turns and tells his Dad some words of affirmation, tells his Dad that he loves him.
 
All of the young men told their Dad that they loved him, that they were very grateful for the support with school, wrestling and life ...
 
Because it was a large group, Coach Tim McDonald divided the Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors into 6 small groups and they went into different classrooms to go through the ceremony.
 
Then when all of the small groups had finished we came together in the wrestling room to witness the Seniors receive their singlets from their Dads.
 
I was amazed at the depth and power in some of the words. One particular gentleman had his back to me while he was speaking but his son was looking straight into his Dad's eyes and it was moving to see the awe, the almost shocked gratitude, the longing to hear those words from his father. It was inspiring.
 
The other aspect that was impacting was that you feel the "cultural acceptance" of saying the words "I love you" to your son grow stronger and stronger as all of the men and their sons said it ... like it was freeing, like it was good and masculine, that it was right and cool to say.
 
Our society needs this urgently.
 
If you know other coaches around your league, city, etc please forward this to them, please tell them about this event if you have participated in it yourself ...
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The Power of Initiative

Submitted on January 31, 2012 - 8:47am
SAVE THE DATE! Feb 24-25, 2012
FREE Character Building Clinic hosted by SportsLeader for Coaches and Captains
 
One of the athletes we are honoring this year at our SportsLeader Awards Night on Feb 24th is Joseph Fisher. Joseph is a remarkable young man who is truly an example of initiative - coming up with an idea on his own, following through and getting it done - all at the age of 12, 13 ...
 
Joseph is currently an 8th grader at St Agnes school in Louisville, KY. He played football for the past two seasons for Coach Paul Passafiume, Co-Founder of SportsLeader. He credits the SportsLeader Program as a big part of the success of his team. His team won the Toy Bowl in 2009 and 2010.
 
Joseph is consistently a 4.0 student, is a member of the Student Council, and the Kentucky Youth Assembly. 
 
Joseph is a volunteer at the Nazareth Home and created a group known as "Fifth Down Equipment Locker" where he collects used football equipment and donates to underprivileged football teams. He looks forward to attending St. X and playing for the Tigers.
 
In the past two years he has helped collect over 350 pieces of football equipment.
 
Joseph and teammate Colin delivered this season's collection to the Louisville Broncos of the Louisville Metro Youth Football League. The Broncos are a 1st year team and are led by Coach McAdory. Coach "Mac" was proud to announce that this year's team made it all the way to the Semi-Finals. Joseph and Colin shared the SportsLeader virtues of Charity, Humility and Determination. 
 
Coach "Mac" expressed his extreme gratitude and promised the equipment would go to good use and that it will help to include some who may not be able to participate otherwise. 
 
If you'd like to check out Joseph's work please visit his web site at: 
 
5TH DOWN EQUIPMENT LOCKER
http://5thdownel.weebly.com/

5TH Down Equipment Locker is a program to provide used equipment for football players of need. It is called 5th down because like a 5th down on the football field it gives us all another opportunity. 

In giving, we practice generosity. Not everyone has been blessed the way we have. We also display leadership by setting an example for others. When others witness the joy we receive in giving, it will inspire them to do the same. 

The person getting the equipment gets the opportunity to play football and experience the fellowship and camaraderie that we all know it brings. 

Here is how it works:

We will collect your used equipment (equipment you own). Please clean any equipment before you bring it in. We need anything you can spare: cleats, pads, pants practice jerseys, gloves, helmets, etc… you get the idea. Once we have the equipment gathered we will get representatives of our team to deliver them.

Please give freely. There are plenty of kids in our community that can’t play because of the cost of equipment. Let’s share the opportunity of playing football with them and make a difference in someone’s life.
 
We encourage others to follow Joe’s footsteps. If you would like to participate here in the Louisville area please contact us at flyingdfish@yahoo.com. 
 
We can help you organize your local collection and get you in touch with needy teams. We would also like to help you if you want to start one up in your local community.
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Leadership and The First Follower

Submitted on January 27, 2012 - 2:04pm
Tom Ryan, head wrestling coach at Ohio State, recently shared these lessons with his team and I thought it looked really interesting.
 
I've seen this play out time and time again as we've tried to introduce virtue into schools ... many times there might be ONE person ... and getting that first follower and the second is very challenging.
 
Our society urgently needs more virtuous leaders and followers. It's not an option - it's an urgency.
...
 
Leadership and The First Follower
By Derek Sivers
 
If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons:

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!

Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it's not about the leader anymore - it's about them, plural. Notice he's calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.

The 2nd follower is a turning point: it's proof the first has done well. Now it's not a lone nut, and it's not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is news.

A movement must be public. Make sure outsiders see more than just the leader. Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers - not the leader.

Now here come 2 more, then 3 more. Now we've got momentum. This is the tipping point! Now we've got a movement!

As more people jump in, it's no longer risky. If they were on the fence before, there's no reason not to join now. They won't be ridiculed, they won't stand out, and they will be part of the in-crowd, if they hurry. Over the next minute you'll see the rest who prefer to be part of the crowd, because eventually they'd be ridiculed for not joining.

And ladies and gentlemen that is how a movement is made! Let's recap what we learned:

If you are a version of the shirtless dancing guy, all alone, remember the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals, making everything clearly about the movement, not you.

Be public. Be easy to follow!

But the biggest lesson here - did you catch it?

Leadership is over-glorified.

Yes it started with the shirtless guy, and he'll get all the credit, but you saw what really happened:

It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.

There is no movement without the first follower.

We're told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.

The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.

When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

 

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Nicholas Holden - Courage

Submitted on January 26, 2012 - 7:34am
Nicholas Holden is one of the athletes we will be honoring at this year's Awards Ceremony on Friday February 24th at Cincinnati Moeller High School. 
 
One of his coaches took the time to write this inspiring note about him.
 
As a society we need to make more of an effort to recognize the strength of virtue and its greatness. Please join us!
 
Nicholas Holden - Courage
By Brian Redden

Courage comes in all shapes, sizes, and circumstances.  For those of us in the St. Gertrude Bulldogs Football Program, a shining example of Courage was presented through a very special family who faced a rare cancer with rare conviction and courage that inspired coaches and players alike with their "Get Er Done" attitude and an outlook on life that taught us to cherish every single day we have with our loved ones.

In October, 2010, Tracy Holden was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.  I say rare as it usually does not affect 40 year old Caucasian women, but rather African American men over age 60.  This would be just one of many distinctive traits that the Holden's friends and family would come to learn of them over the next 13 months as Tracy battled this aggressive disease.  One thing was true of her though, and that was her amazing outlook and attitude that she was going to give it her all to fight and do her best to beat the disease. 
 
I vividly remember sitting on the couch in her living room during a friends and family cookout at her over Memorial Day Weekend 2011 when she, then all of 90 pounds, told me how hard she was going to fight to get better and how much she was looking forward to watching her son, Nicholas, play football for our Reserve Football team at St. Gertrude and her daughter, Grace, cheering for that same team.  She and her husband Keith had always been great supporters and volunteers in the program and she hated that she couldn't do more in 2011.

I had the privilege of coaching Nicholas that season as the Defensive Coordinator and OL coach for our Reserve team.  Nicholas wasn't the smallest boy on our team, but he was close.  He was also one of the most fearless, toughest, hard-nosed competitors we had on our roster of 27 young men.  Not only did Nicholas never back down from making a block or a tackle against a bigger opponent in a drill or a game, he also played with a love and understanding of the game that you rarely see from boys in his age group.  On top of that, he was one of our most vocal leaders - letting team mates know when they did things right, taking care of team mates when they were down, and leading us in prayer praying for his mother and another parent from our program who was battling cancer too.
 
It could have been easy for Nicholas to take a break from practice while his mother was in the hospital getting her bone marrow transplant for the better part of 2 months.  It could have been easy for him to miss a practice or two when she returned to the hospital in October with complications from her transplant.  
 
It could have been easy for him to say that football was too hard with all he had going on in his life, that it was too physical when 90% of the kids are bigger or outweighed him, that it was too mentally grinding when his mom wasn't there to welcome him home after getting bruised at practice.  He never did.  He was, and is, a model team mate.  He is a quiet leader who pushed all of us to be better coaches and players, to do better on and off the field, to pray for our loved ones and their challenges while putting ourselves second or third.  He is a hero of mine and I believe is a model of the Courage that SportsLeader seeks to have our young people exhibit.
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