'Battle-Tested' preseason program
gives Lake Park fresh perspective
By Ken Keenan
From summer camps, tryouts and on-field training to personal workouts, team meetings and strategy sessions, coaches are faced with a variety of concerns in the process of constructing their high school team.
Finding the right combinations, blending different personalities and skill-sets into one cohesive unit, balancing schoolwork and commitment to the team ... it's all part of the mix. The methodology includes a host of other variables, mostly designed with a student-athlete's overall development in mind.
Though the methods and messages can often be the same, discernible coaches often search for that little something extra to ensure that all the bases are covered.
Sometimes, that entails bringing in someone from the outside to get the point across, and to offer some fresh, big-picture advice along the way.
For Lake Park girls and boys head coach Sean Crosby, that outside presence is certified mental performance coach Blake Williams, founder and owner of Battle-Tested, a one-man entity offering on-site programs catered to enhancing the entire student-athlete experience.
Williams, a longtime Elk Grove Village resident and a native of Alabama, conducted his second-consecutive program for the Lancers' girls team just prior to the scheduled start of the now postponed 2020 season. Crosby first utilized Williams' services in preparation for the 2018 boys season, which ended with the Lancers placing fourth in the IHSA Class 3A state tournament.
"He came out for his first event with the boys team and was just great with our players," Crosby said. "He was really into helping with our program regarding team-building, communication off and on the field, leadership training ... stretching their minds with a team approach to what they do every day."
Crosby continued: "For the coaching staff, we're always speaking about teamwork, competition, training. To have an outside perspective, a different voice that's not just biased to soccer, that message is about life lessons outside of the field or court. It brings a level of awareness that it's more than building soccer skills or in their specific sport. It opens up players' eyes to more than just competition ... (it) creates a desire to overcome obstacles and build mental toughness."
Williams, also the author of "The Battle-Tested Teammate: Stories and Principles to Improve Yourself and Your Team," said, "I'm trying to be an extension of the coach's voice, but I'm coming at it from a different angle. When you're around someone so much, you can become kind of deaf to their words. If they hear the message from someone else, there's definitely power in that."
Added Williams: "At Lake Park, Sean Crosby has built a great culture there -- boys and girls -- and he and I speak a lot of the same language. Some coaches hire me to check a box: team-building. But Crosby, he's all about the character of the student-athletes. So he wanted to focus on communication and competitiveness."
Crosby said the visit from Williams this year featured an Olympics-based style of competition that combined physical play with learning how to communicate and execute a particular plan. In one instance, Williams used the pretext of failure in order to determine how the players would react toward their teammates.
"He sends a list of themes to focus on, and that helps tailor the approach," Crosby said. "They're really character-based, communication-based -- the mental approach. So (Williams) had the girls work in small groups to build on that."
Added Crosby: "It allows them to develop mental toughness in challenging moments: having a team approach, relying on your teammates, holding yourself accountable and your teammates as well. (Also) being open to communication with teammates, how to do it the right way in the heat of the moment."
With Williams leading the way, Crosby said the Lake Park coaching staff was provided with an opportunity to, "take a step back and get a chance to see how the players were reacting to these different challenges. We could see things that stood out ... who is taking it in and pushing their limits."
Lancers junior midfielder Patty Lechowiez, a two-time Battle-Tested participant, is a big fan of Williams and his approach.
"Blake was really nice to us, and it was nice to learn things in a different way," Lechowiez said. "He really teaches team bonding and supporting one another. And you really learn a lot about yourself, how you can become a better leader for yourself -- even outside the team."
Williams uses breaks in the physical portions of a Battle-Tested event to tell motivational stories. Lechowiez said that was one of her favorite parts of the program.
"This year, he talked about sticking to your task," she said. "In soccer, you have to support your team while continuing to do your task. I learned that even if you have the smallest role on a team, you can still step up and be a leader. You can help others around you learn ... step up for other players and show support."
Williams said, "We try to create situations where they see that their role is important to the success of the team, and their self-esteem grows because of that. Whether you're on the bench or a starter, you have to contribute."
Another key element of the Battle-Tested regimen focuses on the use of communication skills to help build camaraderie.
"One of the greatest values in team-building is taking the time to get to know each other," Williams said. "How we communicate with each other, it makes everything you do as a team. The bonding process, that's pizza parties, etc. Team-building is about getting them to develop as leaders, grow empathy and respect one another."
Added Williams: "Learning that before a season, it translates off the field. They enjoy each other more. At Lake Park, the girls do a great job of supporting each other. Shared suffering, I call it. When you fight through those challenges together, you build that support."
Lechowiez indicated that she and her fellow Lancers are fully on board when it comes to enjoying each other's company, in good times or bad.
"When you're with a team, you have to find ways to be positive -- in the play and as a group," she said. "It's easy to be negative when things aren't going well in a game. But you can learn to be positive, learn from a mistake instead of getting upset. You can figure out how to keep the positivity going and not shut down."
Added Lechowiez: "Building on friendships, you can learn things about how teammates will handle situations. Being friends with everyone is a major attribute to have when you're playing. You can click together ... anticipate what your teammates are thinking."
Crosby certainly is pleased that the Battle-Tested message has been well-received by his troops.
"Holding yourself accountable and building on that, that's the biggest thing," Crosby said. "Approach the game with a team-first mentality, then build communication. And that goes beyond just the soccer field. You learn life skills through success, failure and competition. On or off the field, be professional, be a good teammate and be a good person in the community."
gives Lake Park fresh perspective
By Ken Keenan
From summer camps, tryouts and on-field training to personal workouts, team meetings and strategy sessions, coaches are faced with a variety of concerns in the process of constructing their high school team.
Finding the right combinations, blending different personalities and skill-sets into one cohesive unit, balancing schoolwork and commitment to the team ... it's all part of the mix. The methodology includes a host of other variables, mostly designed with a student-athlete's overall development in mind.
Though the methods and messages can often be the same, discernible coaches often search for that little something extra to ensure that all the bases are covered.
Sometimes, that entails bringing in someone from the outside to get the point across, and to offer some fresh, big-picture advice along the way.
For Lake Park girls and boys head coach Sean Crosby, that outside presence is certified mental performance coach Blake Williams, founder and owner of Battle-Tested, a one-man entity offering on-site programs catered to enhancing the entire student-athlete experience.
Williams, a longtime Elk Grove Village resident and a native of Alabama, conducted his second-consecutive program for the Lancers' girls team just prior to the scheduled start of the now postponed 2020 season. Crosby first utilized Williams' services in preparation for the 2018 boys season, which ended with the Lancers placing fourth in the IHSA Class 3A state tournament.
"He came out for his first event with the boys team and was just great with our players," Crosby said. "He was really into helping with our program regarding team-building, communication off and on the field, leadership training ... stretching their minds with a team approach to what they do every day."
Crosby continued: "For the coaching staff, we're always speaking about teamwork, competition, training. To have an outside perspective, a different voice that's not just biased to soccer, that message is about life lessons outside of the field or court. It brings a level of awareness that it's more than building soccer skills or in their specific sport. It opens up players' eyes to more than just competition ... (it) creates a desire to overcome obstacles and build mental toughness."
Williams, also the author of "The Battle-Tested Teammate: Stories and Principles to Improve Yourself and Your Team," said, "I'm trying to be an extension of the coach's voice, but I'm coming at it from a different angle. When you're around someone so much, you can become kind of deaf to their words. If they hear the message from someone else, there's definitely power in that."
Added Williams: "At Lake Park, Sean Crosby has built a great culture there -- boys and girls -- and he and I speak a lot of the same language. Some coaches hire me to check a box: team-building. But Crosby, he's all about the character of the student-athletes. So he wanted to focus on communication and competitiveness."
Crosby said the visit from Williams this year featured an Olympics-based style of competition that combined physical play with learning how to communicate and execute a particular plan. In one instance, Williams used the pretext of failure in order to determine how the players would react toward their teammates.
"He sends a list of themes to focus on, and that helps tailor the approach," Crosby said. "They're really character-based, communication-based -- the mental approach. So (Williams) had the girls work in small groups to build on that."
Added Crosby: "It allows them to develop mental toughness in challenging moments: having a team approach, relying on your teammates, holding yourself accountable and your teammates as well. (Also) being open to communication with teammates, how to do it the right way in the heat of the moment."
With Williams leading the way, Crosby said the Lake Park coaching staff was provided with an opportunity to, "take a step back and get a chance to see how the players were reacting to these different challenges. We could see things that stood out ... who is taking it in and pushing their limits."
Lancers junior midfielder Patty Lechowiez, a two-time Battle-Tested participant, is a big fan of Williams and his approach.
"Blake was really nice to us, and it was nice to learn things in a different way," Lechowiez said. "He really teaches team bonding and supporting one another. And you really learn a lot about yourself, how you can become a better leader for yourself -- even outside the team."
Williams uses breaks in the physical portions of a Battle-Tested event to tell motivational stories. Lechowiez said that was one of her favorite parts of the program.
"This year, he talked about sticking to your task," she said. "In soccer, you have to support your team while continuing to do your task. I learned that even if you have the smallest role on a team, you can still step up and be a leader. You can help others around you learn ... step up for other players and show support."
Williams said, "We try to create situations where they see that their role is important to the success of the team, and their self-esteem grows because of that. Whether you're on the bench or a starter, you have to contribute."
Another key element of the Battle-Tested regimen focuses on the use of communication skills to help build camaraderie.
"One of the greatest values in team-building is taking the time to get to know each other," Williams said. "How we communicate with each other, it makes everything you do as a team. The bonding process, that's pizza parties, etc. Team-building is about getting them to develop as leaders, grow empathy and respect one another."
Added Williams: "Learning that before a season, it translates off the field. They enjoy each other more. At Lake Park, the girls do a great job of supporting each other. Shared suffering, I call it. When you fight through those challenges together, you build that support."
Lechowiez indicated that she and her fellow Lancers are fully on board when it comes to enjoying each other's company, in good times or bad.
"When you're with a team, you have to find ways to be positive -- in the play and as a group," she said. "It's easy to be negative when things aren't going well in a game. But you can learn to be positive, learn from a mistake instead of getting upset. You can figure out how to keep the positivity going and not shut down."
Added Lechowiez: "Building on friendships, you can learn things about how teammates will handle situations. Being friends with everyone is a major attribute to have when you're playing. You can click together ... anticipate what your teammates are thinking."
Crosby certainly is pleased that the Battle-Tested message has been well-received by his troops.
"Holding yourself accountable and building on that, that's the biggest thing," Crosby said. "Approach the game with a team-first mentality, then build communication. And that goes beyond just the soccer field. You learn life skills through success, failure and competition. On or off the field, be professional, be a good teammate and be a good person in the community."