Naperville North athletes like soccer player Abhi Wadhwa and two-sport athlete Connor Batogowski are bringing their experiences from the high school field, and their infectious passion for sports to the next generation of young players by coaching. This story is sponsored by Fair Oaks Ford and Fair Oaks Lincoln.
Wadhwa and Batogowski go from competing to coaching
“I feel like my passion has always been giving others the same experience that I had, or at least doing my absolute best to make others fall in love with soccer. Just the free style of soccer, like kicking a ball and running after, and just making sure that you have a smile on your face when you’re playing,” said Abhi Wadhwa, a senior on the North soccer team.
That enthusiasm led Wadhwa to sign on as a coach, CTO, and co-founder of Coach Connect. The business, founded and managed by student athletes like Wadhwa and Batogowski, bridges the generation gap between teens and younger kids by offering coaching sessions run entirely by student athletes.
One such player is second-grader Andy, who’s learning stronger soccer skills from Coach Abhi.
“At the start of the season, he showed me how to kick the ball. I’ve been so much better at kicking the ball. You have to get it perfectly with the laces, but with the bottom of your foot,” said Andy.
Coach Connect brings varsity experience to sports sessions
The setup allows up-and-coming players to get firsthand advice on how to travel the path that could eventually lead them to a varsity team. All an athlete has to do is pull up the website, pick a sport, from soccer to hockey to dance and more, then select a time and a coach to set up their group or private coaching session.
“Well, these varsity athletes, they know the program. Many of our coaches communicate about how these coaches see things or what they want. So for basketball, some people really like using both hands. So if you want to play it for Naperville North, use your left hand and your right hand. So these are some of the things that the coaches who have been through this program can teach the kids and get them ready for this program,” said Connor Batogowski, Naperville North student athlete, and co-founder and CEO of Coach Connect.
Coach Connect started with Naperville North’s business incubator and business accelerator classes. The initial founders created a team of coaches, several of whom have state championship credentials with the Huskies. The group is thriving thanks to the passion for sports that its employees are eager to pass on.
Naperville North athletes lift up young players through Coach Connect
“Teamwork is something you learn at such a young age in sports. And I think it’s totally one of the biggest things that’s helped us because we all play sports at Coach Connect,” said Batogowski
“I didn’t really believe the word grit until I saw it. And with Naperville North soccer, I feel like it seemed like a generalized term, like, oh yeah, grit. It means to work hard, but actually seeing it in action and seeing what it means to actually show grit on the soccer field really translates. So now I know, what it means to show grit and how to teach these kids at a younger age. You know, this is what grit means,” said Wadhwa
The student coaches take pride in passing that knowledge along, giving up-and-coming players a solid base as they grow in their sport.
“He’s showing me stuff that some college players don’t know how to do. Which is amazing because if I can do that, then I’m ahead of all of them,” said Andy.
For more prep sports stories and highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
