Dreams begin in the off-season at Chelsea, Dexter

They were at opposite ends of the gym. And at opposite ends of the long road to becoming a champion.
On a late Friday afternoon at Dexter High School, a small group of track athletes had gathered for a conditioning practice. They were on the track running, stretching, getting ready. It didn’t matter that the track outside was buried in a foot of snow.
At the other end of the track stood Dexter’s Dan Flowers, taking a break from his workout in the weight room. While track is weeks away from even starting, Flowers is at the finish line of his dream. He’s a senior. State qualifier. One of the favorites to win it all this weekend in Auburn Hills at the wrestling individual state finals.
But state titles aren’t won the weekend before the state meet. Athletes in the spring, like the Dexter track team, win state titles and league championships when the snow is on the ground. Basketball teams win state titles in the middle of the summer when their friends are going swimming and the dedicated players are headed off to basketball camp.
And at Chelsea High School, football championships are won after school in February – not in October or November.
Here’s a point that wasn’t lost on me after visiting the two schools last week.
Is it coincidence that on Friday afternoon in Chelsea the indoor track above the gym is full of football players? Yes. Football players. They were working hard, running sprints and putting themselves through different kinds of agility drills. I didn’t see any coaches. This was a voluntary workout. And the track was packed with strong, young men in gym shorts.
I didn’t see any football players at Dexter working out. The point? Well, anyone who follows these two programs already gets the point.
And you can also make the same point for the Dexter track team. I know they are pretty good every year and I know the cross country team knows the way to the state meet without using Mapquest. There is a reason why they are so successful. The reason was in full view on Friday.
And just ask the Dexter swimming team what it takes to be the best. They don’t just show up in November, put on their goggles and learn how to swim. You don’t win 12 conference titles in a row by accident or luck. Most of them swim year-round and already are in great shape for that first practice. You could say that the road to the championship is already paved before they even hit the water.
This brings me back to Flowers and the main point. Championships, state titles and elite performers are created over time and through hard work. Chelsea’s Travis Ostrowski and Dakota Cooley will be joining Flowers this weekend in Auburn Hills chasing their dreams. All three wrestlers are seniors. All three are close to achieving their dreams.
"It’s what I’ve been dreaming about and working towards since I was a freshman," Flowers said.
Some of those athletes on the track on Friday at both Dexter and Chelsea looked like they were freshmen. Four years ago you can bet that Cooley, Ostrowski and Flowers were working out in the off-season, sweating, hurting, practicing, preparing. They didn’t race home after school to play video games. They went to "run on the track" because there was something at the finish line that they wanted to accomplish.
Football is a good six months away. Don’t tell that to the Bulldogs. Football is year-round. That’s how you win championships. You pack the track on a cold Friday afternoon in February. The same way Patrick Roberts, Stefan Elslager, Rachel Cooperrider and Elly Mioduszewski spend parts of their summers inside an empty gym.
The basketball playoffs for both boys and girls begins this month. The girls is already underway. But the champions were crowned long ago. At this point, you either have it, or you don’t. Sure, there will be upsets and surprises, but hard work and years of preparation usually prevails.
Dexter wrestling coach Shane Rodriguez was asked recently about his wrestling team.
"We are going to be tough to beat next year," he said. "We have some really talented wrestlers and the middle school had a great year and the Dexter Wrestling Club is doing great." That’s how you build a program and create a tradition – look at the Dexter cross country and swimming teams or the Chelsea football team.
And success isn’t always whether or not you win it all. Sometimes, it’s about expectations. The Chelsea hockey team lost a rink full of good players off last year’s team. Still, they improved over the season and proved they could play with pretty much any team in the state.
The Dexter girls’ basketball team overcame a devastating injury to one of their key players early in the season and have proven that the team concept can win basketball games.
Flowers is spending his final days before the wrestling championships tweaking, fine-tuning, perfecting. The hard work, dedication and commitment have all been accomplished for this young man. But for others, it’s just the beginning.
So don’t frown when your coach or parent tells you that championships are won in the off-season. The proof was running on the track on a cold, Friday afternoon.
Opposite ends of the track. Opposite ends of the dream. But the same blueprint for success.