🙏MORE THANKS 🙏
A special thank you to the biggest Quakers fan and volunteer we know Mr. Pataky! All of our memories are captured to remember forever thanks to the generous Mr. Pataky.
We also thanked Ms. Nancy as she has a direct role in literally everything that happens in Quaker Football. We are incredibly grateful for her flexibility and team first approach! More thank you's are in the pic as well. We are grateful for everyone's contributions!
⭐Phase #1 runs every Mon. & Wed. @ STA from 7:30-8:30 through Jan. 29th⭐
We Move onto #ROAD25
We support multi-sport athletes and value our players developing other muscle groups, skills and leadership in multiple areas. Continued deposits into the program is also encouraged as you have likely heard me discuss in the past there is no AAU, travel league or tournament teams for tackle football. Development comes primarily from your high school program and other avenues explored through individual families at their cost.
The Quakers are only guaranteed 8 games per season. Additional OPportunities are earned by those who sacrifice and exhibit discipline. They are earned for those who participate in offseason work. The Quakers have a multi-tiered offseason that incorporates a variety of means such as three phases of strength and agility training, film work, 7on7 sessions and uppers camps to name a few. The players should continue to check HUDL for messages. They should also check our X account (@OPQuakersFB), our website (www.orchardparkfootball.com) looking for messages with updates!
Quakers Prospect List
🏈Contact Coach Cieslik with your interest.
🏈Set up a meeting with player, parent(s) and Coach Cieslik. Please plan for a one hour meeting. We can meet at a coffee place, MS or HS at anytime that works for all.
🏈The goal is to educate the player and parent(s) on the process of becoming an NCAA prospect and options for the future!
🏈These meetings are recommended to begin as early as a player's FRESH year.
Contact Coach Cieslik for additional information!
ORCHARD PARK QUAKERS FOOTBALL ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
It's my honor to include a piece about Buffalo State University OL/DL and Quaker Alumni Alex Westcott! As I've told some of you in the past I was lucky enough to work with and coach "Westy" early in my Varsity career!
I'm going to only mention his HS accolades such as Trench Trophy recognitions, All League recognitions and being a true DI NCAA football prospect. Those are special but what Alex has done since is equally, and truthfully, more important!
Alex has overcome adversity, worked hard in the college classrooms, worked tirelessly at his craft and has become a team leader/captain. He is proof hard work wins every time! It's always how you respond and finish rather than how you start (anything).
Take a minute and read about Alex's recent interview as he works at his goal to make it in the National Football League. Here is the link: https://x.com/DraftDiamonds/status/1874080013123019025
You have OPportunities just like he did. Your parents chose to live in OP. OPHS has a rigorous and expansive curriculum, access to BOCES programs and other services to ensure all students needs/goals can be met. You also have an athletic program and staff that will work tirelessly to train you, develop you as a young man and student athlete and football player. Win each day, be the hardest worker in the room and be better tomorrow than you were today. That's the formula! It's been for our NCAA football, baseball, basketball, swimming and rugby athletes, doctors, businessman and HVAC workers that once walked the same halls at OPHS as you do!
Good luck Alex as you honor your past and attack your future!
Sports are Good
He talked about how nervous his team all seemed to be before a big game. "This isn't stress," he said. "You want to know what stress is? Stress is losing your job and having a wife and two kids to take care of. Stress is finding out your wife has cancer. Football isn't stressful? This is fun. Where else can you get a chance to screw up and then make up for it the next play? This is fun."
I learned a valuable lesson reading that day: Sports has a ton of transferrable skills to teach us. In fact, one of my favorite things about practice was to practice revision. What I loved about it was getting a chance to see a new play introduced on Monday, then run about 100 times over the course of practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, before it is officially unveiled in the game on Friday. Each time it is ran it in practice, the players worked harder to get their technique right to do it faster and better.
That is something I still use on a daily basis in my life, though I may never - God willing - have to run a 40 yard dash or do up-downs again, I will use the transferrable skill of refining things through hard work again and again. Sports mimic life!
Book Recommendation - Start with Why by Simon Sinek.
It's become cliche to even use that phrase, as in, "What is your 'Why'?" But that all comes from Sinek and his research.
What this book explores is how - as a leader - you need to get your team, class, students, workers, or organization to buy into the 'why.'
What Sinek means by this is a concept he calls the "Golden Circle." What he means by that is that everyone communicates and thinks in three circles - Why (inner most circle), how (middle circle), and what (outter most circle). The key distinction is that most people think about that from the outside in.
Most companies and people know 'what' they do. Then they can even communicate 'how' they do it, but few organizations and leaders can effectively communicate or illustrate 'why' they do what they do.
Sinek states that this 'why' is the most important, and it's so intrinsic that we often have trouble putting it into words even as this inner most 'why' functions at the unstated level of feelings and emotions.
He offers numerous examples, but one of my favorites is the story of Samuel Pierpoint Langley. He was hired by the government to achieve flight. He had great connections and all the money he could ask for. Yet, he failed. Sinek argues that his 'why' wasn't correct. He was in it for the money and fame.
Now contrast that with the Wright brothers. They weren't backed by anyone. They ran a bicycle shop. But they were possessed by the idea of being the first humans to attain flight. And they did. They were properly inspired by their 'why.'
And how do we know Langley didn't have the right 'why'? Because he gave up as soon as the Wright brothers accomplished their feat. Langley could have taken what they did and improved upon it, but he didn't.
Now, as leaders the key is to communicate what and why we do what we do NOT from the outside in, but from the inside out. That is we start with showing our why to our players. For example, Prowler football's why is to great life long memories and to be part of something bigger than ourselves. How do we do this? Through working hard and sacrificing for each other. And finally, what does this look like? It's in a football team that is competitive and wins.
If we don't get our kids to buy into the 'why' of our program, we don't stand a chance of winning many games.
