We are extremely pleased with the on-field success of some of the contributing coaches to our “INFLUENCE Coaches Leadership Workshops”. Although on-field successes (the WINS) are just a by-product of having great relationships throughout an organization, it is nice to see when young football players are pushed with real Love. These players get to chase something very tangible today and may be the reason they got into football, but they are lucky recipients of something much bigger. These young men are blessed to have been in organizations where true love is lived every day and it has been non-negotiable. Today, we have our friends Steve Jones from Kimberly, Steve Rux from Waukesha West and Dave Keel all going for a state title in football.
These men and organizations operate from a platform much different than that of many of their peers. These organizations are fueled by Love. This is not Love the Feeling like that of snickers or the Green Bay Packers but love in action and service. This Love puts others first. Lombardi stated “my love will be relentless’. This love does not tire easily. The impact these men and their respective organizations have on their players will pay them for many years to come well after their cleats are put away! This impact is real. It has been earned.

These gentleman understand the true meaning of the word Love and its place in a locker room. This is the Love of incredibly hard effort, service and sacrifice. It is also paying great attention to the culture that is promoted within. Their cultures don’t just happen by default rather very much by design. These coaches and leaders have identified behaviors that will never be allowed within their organization, celebrated service and the selfless acts frequently and turned the power pyramid on its head. Not one but many are on the top of this pyramid. These men serve first and do it with their character and lots of Love.

Good luck today to some already very lucky players.

Patrick Van Abel Raising The Steaks Fundraising & Leadership Development.

Raising the Steaks Fundraising and Leadership Development has announced that it will be re-scheduling Hollandtown / Fox Valley INFLUENCE event scheduled for July 9th to a date to be determined after the fall high school season is completed. We are doing this to better accommodate coaches busy in contact days and with family holidays. We will have be holding INFLUENCE events state-wide in spring of 2016

Raising The Steaks Fundraising and Leadership Development hosted its’ first ever INFLUENCE Coaches Workshop on April 15th at Van Abel’s of Hollandtown. This event was attended by over 55 coaches from 26 schools. INFLUENCE is a grass roots effort to bring together like-minded individuals committed to bringing Leadership Development to high school athletes.

This free event was led by speakers Steve Jones of Kimberly High School, Jeramie Korth Menasha High School, Dave Keel of Homestead and Patrick Van Abel of Raising The Steaks and Badger Sports Park. The message was simple. What can we do as coaches do to spread the word and better practice servant leadership?

Van Abel started off the meeting highlighting his journey in servant leadership over the past 22 years at Badger Sports Park. Steve Jones spoke about the pressures facing today’s youth and the ‘Twin Thieves’ of Judgement and Fear of Failure. He also went in depth on the specifics of his culture program at Kimberly High School and how his main focus is to create servant leaders. These young leaders are challenged with pressures from social media and fight the battle between being liked versus being respected.

Jeramie Korth spoke on his leadership journey at Menasha High School and how they address developing leadership in broken and single parent families. Another focus was the “Benevolent Bluejay” program that they have created on getting these student athletes to focus on serving others in their community. This group of young leaders meets with coaches every week before school to discuss their leadership goals for that week. They also have a “Big Brother” program where seniors and freshmen mentor each other. The leadership goes both ways in this program.

Dave Keel spoke about the specifics of his leadership council at Homestead High School. Keel has been coaching for over 30 years and it wasn’t until he started his leadership development programs that his focus was truly on the right thing, which was creating leaders and adding more personal accountability to himself, his coaches and their players. Many of the coaches left the meetings highly energized and said they will be focused on either starting or improving their own leadership programs. Coach Pete Kittel of Brillion stated “I wanted to send a note to thank you for organizing the servant leader workshop last night. I felt it was a great evening to share with like minded people. It is something I have believed very strongly in for my 29 years in coaching” A short video of coach Jones speaking can be found here
The next INFLUENCE Coaches Workshop is scheduled for July 9th. There will also be chapters forming in Milwaukee, Madison & Stevens Point. Please visit our website Raising The Steaks

For any press related questions, please contact Patrick Van Abel at 920.428.4878 or pat@raisingthesteaksinc.com

Raising The Steaks Fundraising and Leadership Development hosted its’ second INFLUENCE Coaches Leadership Workshop on April 13th at the Holiday Inn & Convention Center in Stevens Point. Coaches Steve Jones from Kimberly High School, Jeff Koenig from Stanley-Boyd, Tony Resch from Raising The Steaks and Pat Cerroni from UW Oshkosh were all speakers and contributors in this great evening.

The INFLUENCE workshops are designed for coaches to collaborate on how to best reach the Hearts & Minds of their athletes. Jones spoke on the pressures facing today’s youth and gave a detailed breakdown on the fabric of their culture at Kimberly HS. Jeff Koenig gave a passionate speech on “How to Motivate your team Thru Love”. He spoke about the importance that Stanley-Boyd places on developing respect and dignity amongst their athletes and coaches. They are not afraid and in-fact encourage the use of the word love on a daily basis and love in your daily actions. Pat Cerroni spoke about the importance of the development of leadership councils and “giving control of the team to the players”. He also stated “Winning is not about x’s and O’s but rather the relationships that you develop”.

Tony Resch spoke about the new “Leadership Tickets” and “From The Heart” products that RTS has now available. He also announced the next 2 INFLUENCE events – On June 25th, at Kruegers Entertainment Center in Menomonee Falls. The speakers will be Fritz Rauch from Grafton HS, Clay Iverson from Mukwonago, & Steve Rux or Waukesha West. Finally, the last INFLUENCE event will be up in the Fox Valley at Van Abel’s of Hollandtown on July 9th. Joe Kiedinger of Prophit Marketing and About Me International will speak about “Destination Dignity” which is about understanding the motivations of the players and coaches in your organization. Why do some coaches connect instantly with some players and not with others? What really is the key to motivating any human being to do the ordinary extraordinarily. The key is to understand a person’s dignity. Understanding a players dignity allows you to speak directly to their heart. Joe Kiedinger will reveal the secret motivations that motivate all human beings. You will leave with a new perspective in connecting quickly with players and your own family.

RTS is still planning a Madison INFLUENCE event for later in 2015. Stay tuned for more details. Any question, please email pat@raisingthesteaksinc.com or call 920.428.4878. Have a Great Day!

Saturday March 14th 2015 Raising the Steaks Fundraising and Leadership Development hosted its’ annual year end meet and greet with UW star running back Melvin Gordon at Brookfield Central High School. The top sellers of cookie dough and other fundraising products were invited to hear Melvin speak about his journey from youth football to successfully playing for the Wisconsin Badgers. Every player in attendance got a picture with Melvin and heard him speak. About 300 people attended the event. Raising The Steaks Fundraising is headquartered in Menomonee Falls with offices in Appleton and Stevens Point. They offer full line of products for successful fundraising including cookie dough, discount cards, coupon cards, kringles and more.

Mr. Resch, On behalf of Charlie Company 1-68 AR we would like to say, “Thank you!” We received a care package from Raising The Steaks and really appreciate the time and effort put in to assembling the care package. Apart from my Soldiers eating all the candy and food in a matter of minutes, everyone really loved the toiletries you sent. We have your picture up in the company area and the Soldiers are passing around the reading material while they’re on duty. Thank you for your support and thinking of the little things that most people take for granted. I also attached a picture of us from our training the other day. Charlie Company, “Cold Steel,” is a tank company and we operate on the M1A2 Abrams. In the picture you can see us conducting maneuver training on tanks that we have on deployment. We’ll get some more pictures out from the company during our deployment. God bless! Very respectfully, Jonathan R. Greaney 1LT, AR Executive Officer Cold Steel “Strike Hard!” jonathan.r.greaney.mil@mail.mil

Servant Leadership Coaches Workshop

NE Wisconsin Chapter
You are cordially invited to the first ever servant leadership development workshop. This 2 hour program is designed for High School Varsity Football coaches from the NE Wisconsin area. It is intended for like-minded individuals who want to collaborate in an effort to better reach the hearts and minds of the varsity high school athlete. This is not about x’s and o’s or about winning football games. We are looking for people to share and learn about what can help coaches reach their players when it is most important….. AFTER they have left your program. We are looking for ways to reach and impact these young adults long after they have put their pads away.

Patrick Van Abel, founder and co-owner of Badger Sports Park & Raising The Steaks Leadership Development Group will start the evening explaining his journey into servant leadership and the youth leadership summit planned for later in 2015. Steve Jones leadership teacher at Kimberly HS will speak on the challenges that todays students are facing. Dave Keel of Homestead HS will share in detail the leadership council program that he uses to actively advance the leadership skills of his student athletes. Jeramie Korth of Menasha HS actively facilitate the round table discussions. Raising The Steaks Leadership Development group is sponsoring the evening and it will be hosted at Van Abel’s of Hollandtown.

When: Wednesday April 15th – 7 to 9pm – (Cash bar social after meeting)

Where: Van Abel’s of Hollandtown

Who: Varsity High School Coaches & Ath. Directors RSVP

Limited seating is available.

RSVP to pat@raisingthesteaksinc.com
WHAT CAN YOU BRING? An open mind and be prepared to discuss things you have done to better develop personally and what concepts have truly helped you and leaders improve their influence. Any leadership development programs that you have documented that can be shared are appreciated.