Crystal Lake Central Boys Basketball

The Tigers excite the fans on both sides of the gym with this Transition Dunk in their 52-46 Overtime win at Crystal Lake South during Hoops for Heroes on 12/10/2011.

The Tigers fight for every inch against Cary-Grove in a 53-41 victory last Saturday.

The Crystal Lake Central Boys Basketball Program has teamed up with the American Cancer Society and will be hosting its 5th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament. Six area teams will be participating this year, host Crystal Lake Central, McHenry, Prairie Ridge, Carmel, Belvidere North, and Hoffman Estates, with all proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society.

Coaches vs.Cancer has been in existence since 1993. Originally the brain child of basketball coach Norm Stewart (University of Missouri), the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society; this event has seen much success and continues to grow. Currently, 500+ Division I, II, & III colleges participate, and high schools across the country are now joining the effort as well.

CLC players, coaches, and parents will be volunteering their time to help run this event in an effort to raise community awareness about the need for additional cancer research funding. Last year. we raised over $7,500 and this year's goal is $10,000!

Please join us in our objective to raise both money and awareness by supporting this event which starts Monday, November 21st in Crystal Lake Central’s historic fieldhouse, and continuing on Friday and Saturday, the 25th and 26th. This year’s admission is $3. Raffle prizes and giveaways for fans in attendance.

A detailed schedule of events can be downloaded here.

For more information regarding sponsorship or donations, please contact Coach Czeslawski.

Meet the Parents – Monday, November 14th 7:30pm-8:30pm (CLC Auditorium)
We will be handing out pertinent information for the upcoming season and discussing how you can support your son and the program. This is a VERY important meeting in regards to our Program Community Service events and we ask that you attend if at all possible! Questions will be answered as a program and then each level will break down into small groups at the end.

Team Pictures – Wednesday, November 16th
Team and individual pictures will be taken at CLC. An order form was sent home that your son must bring with him and give to the photographer on this day if you desire individual pictures of your son. All team members will be in the team picture whether you order individual prints or not.

Moonlight Madness – Friday, November 18th 6:00pm-8:00pm (CLC Fieldhouse)
Come for an evening of entertainment as we tip off with our 6th Annual Moonlight Madness! All three levels of our program will play in intra-squad scrimmages. There will also be performances from the CLC Band, Cheerleaders and Poms, as well as contests and prizes! It should be an exciting event for the whole community, so invite your family, friends, neighbors and anyone else you think would enjoy!

The Tiger Basketball Program has hit its goal of raising $7500 for the 2010 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament!

Prior to the Dec 15th home game vs. Richmond-Burton, the Tigers presented a check to Natalie Regan of the American Cancer Society with a donation check in the amount of $7,548.28. The money was raised during the 4th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament held here at CLC during Thanksgiving Week.

This donation would not have been possible without the amazing efforts of the Tiger Basketball players, parents and coaches, as well as our Sponsors - The Northwest Herald, Builders Insulation, Trib Local, Buffalo Wild Wings, Adams Collision Center, Keystone Display, Imagine Creative, Icon Development Group, Burrito Grande, The Graphic Edge, Davis Speed Center, and Fast Model Technologies!

Special thanks from Coach Czeslawski goes the Booster Club, the CLC Athletic Department and to committee members Lisa Knoeppel, Charlie Murphy, Tom Nemcek, Nancy Panicko, Liz Tevyaw and coach Denis O’Brien who organized the event.

"Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it is not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives."

-excerpt from Mindset, by Carol S. Dweck, PH.D.

In order for us to continue taking this program to the next level, each player and coach must improve their PERSONAL MOTIVATION. In life, if you want to be successful at anything you do, you must put in the time and effort to hone your skills and give yourself the confidence to perform when it counts. The more you push yourself to work when no one is watching, on days you don’t really feel like doing it, and without someone prodding you, the more pride you will take in your achievements.

From now until the day school starts, we are asking you for 44 minutes a day. Why 44 minutes, you ask? There are 1,440 minutes in every day. 44 minutes represents a mere 3% of that day and is a small investment that will pay huge dividends. Even if you take into account that the average American teenager sleeps for 9.4 hours (564 minutes), there are still 876 minutes in your conscious day, and we are only asking for 5% of that day.

Ask yourself if taking 5% of your waking day in order to prepare yourself to be a great player and teammate is worth it. Envision our program competing for a State Championship every year and you being a big part of it. Take every shot the rest of the summer as if it were to win the State Championship. If we do the work, we will have the success we desire.

There are many ways to free up 44 minutes in a day. Wake up 15 minutes early and watch one less TV show. Wake up 30 minutes early and play one less game of Guitar Hero. The possibilities are endless!!!

This website contains several workouts for you to do to fill the 44 minutes. We also encourage you to pair up with a teammate to help keep each other accountable. Having a workout partner is a great way to build relationships with your teammates and allows you to push each other.

We encourage you all to post the “Pyramid of Success” (link in the menu on the right) somewhere you will see it often (bedroom or bathroom mirror, the ceiling above your bed, next to your video game console, etc.).

Remember, the work (or lack thereof) we do in the offseason is what translates into wins and losses this winter. Don’t waste this opportunity to improve your game and our program!!!

-Coach Czes

Tigers,
Please consider the following quote from Marianne Williamson's, A Return to Love and think about its meaning as it pertains to how you behave in public settings and how the thought behind it could help our program continue to grow.
-Coach Czes

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

-Marianne Williamson, A Return To Love