Tackling Youth Development Through St. Ann Football

He played football in high school and college. He grew up in a family that taught him the value of being a part of a religious community.

Now, Channahon’s John Krenkel wants to inspire others by sharing what he learned on the gridiron and spreading the message of his faith.

Krenkel, a 35-year-old project manager/financial professional with BNY Mellon and the father of three children between the ages of 5 and 12, is the mover-and-shaker behind the launch of the St. Ann Parish Football program.

The program, in its first year, will serve the families of three parishes—St. Ann, St. Mary in Minooka and Holy Family in Shorewood. Registration is under way now and spring workouts begin April 20 with two levels of play—junior varsity (fourth- through sixth-graders) and varsity (seventh- and eighth-graders).

The cost is $120 for a single player or $195 for a family.

“We saw a need in the area,” Krenkel said. “We have one football program, which is the Channooka Braves football program and they typically always have overflow traffic. We’re geared toward Catholic students, who are in religious-ed or Holy Family School.

“And we thought there would be enough of a population to fulfill a Catholic program.”

Krenkel’s goal is to recruit 20 players for each team in the first year of St. Ann football. The two teams will play in the Catholic Grade School Conference of Chicagoland along with the likes of St. Raphael of Naperville, St. Al/St. Pat’s of Lemont, St. Mary of Riverside and Infant Jesus of Flossmoor.

Krenkel still is working to finalize details of where the St. Ann players will practice and play their games. He has options that range from park district facilities to high school football fields and the open grounds next to St. Ann.

He once was an offensive tackle at Thornwood and went on to play collegiately at Illinois State University. While he was at ISU, he also was an active parishioner at the Newman Center.

And he said football and faith guided him on a path to where he is today—he and his wife, Kim, are raising their own family and reaching out to be there for others, too. The Krenkels have three children—Josh 12, Amie, 10, and Julianna, 5.

John is in his first year teaching religious education at St. Ann. He has persuaded Bob Slattery, Piero Setta and Fred Ban to coach in the football program with him—Setta sticking out as the big “name” in the bunch.

He was a placekicker at the University of St. Francis and went to play briefly in the pro ranks. He now runs speed and agility training sessions for area athletes.

“Our program is geared toward a values-based mentality of coaching,” Krenkel said. “Growing up—I grew up at Thornwood, that was my high school program, and I think football as a team sport builds a lot of character. There is a lot of in-between rest and you need to be able to listen, whereas soccer or basketball is constantly going.

“And I think in football you build relationships with teammates, you build relationships as a team together and character does count, especially in today’s age where our youth are struggling to find good role models in sports.

“They’re looking for mom and dad to step up to the plate. I think our program—while not a substitute for mom and dad—we do really emphasis our values and that’s why it’s on everything we’re marketing. Values-based program, faith-based program—all the stuff that we want to teach our kids to give them just a little bit more of a push toward being good human beings in life.”

The five values Krenkel will preach through St. Ann football are faith, integrity, generosity, humility and trust.

“Success isn’t defined by wins and losses,” he said. “Success really is defined by how you perform as a team, how you perform as an individual on the team. You make a good point about showing up on time. But it goes way behind that.

“We’re partnering with a company called Sports Leader, which is a faith-based organization out of Louisville. What they do is they create mentor/player relationships so you can create a virtuous team.

“So, they know No. 1 is faith, No. 2 is family and No. 3 is football—all the time. We will always say that religious education is more important than football. So, if you miss religious education to come to a practice, you’re going to be in big trouble with me.”

Krenkel said St. Ann will begin fall drills on Aug. 6 and will play its first games on Labor Day weekend. For more information, contact him at john.krenkel@sbcglobal.net or visit stannfootball.bravessites.com