March 16, 2016
Get to know Coach Charlie Kern
York High School Track Coach Charlie Kern has so many roles at this school in the western suburbs of Chicago. Not only does he coach the track team during the spring and volunteer as an assistant coach for the cross country team in the fall, Kern spends his days in the classroom teaching philosophy, world history, and sociology at the school. He has been teaching at York for 16 years.
After a full rounded school year, there are some people in the teaching profession that need to take time off during the summer to recharge their batteries. Kern recharges his batteries by running two running camps during the summer. He does not view these camps as work but rather as opportunities to give back to younger athletes what he has learned as an athlete.
Kern has achieved so many things in his running career including winning the state championship in New York in the 1600 Meter Run, earning All-SEC Honors in Cross Country and Track while attending the University of Kentucky, and winning the World Masters age group championship 1500 Meters in the 40-45 age group in 2009. It is those experiences that have catapulted him into wanting to make an investment in the future of running in the Elmhurst running community and throughout Illinois.
“While I was in high school going into my senior year, I went to a junior elite distance camp in Colorado Springs. It was a phenomenal experience for me of the people I got to meet. One of my all-time favorites was getting to meet Roy Griak (the late University of Minnesota Coach),” Kern said. “We went up on the Cog-Rail to Pikes Peak and then the guys were allowed to run down the trail back to the bottom. It was a case of guys trying to measure each other out and I knew I was not in great shape. I decided to take the train back down. While waiting for the rest of the runners, I was standing next to Coach Griak. He said to me, ‘Let’s go get an ice cream.’ We went inside to get an ice cream cone. Even though I did not have any money, Coach Griak bought me a cone. He was super kind and super nice. I had a blast at that camp. That is probably part of the reason why I do this camp at Elmhurst College and the Championship Academy. It gives the kids a great experience.”
Kern is the Camp Director of the Nike College Prospect Cross Country Camp that takes place at the beginning of June at Elmhurst College. He also is the Director and founder of the Championship Training Academy that takes place during June and July in Elmhurst. Both camps have a big place in Kern’s heart. It also shows a passion he has for the sport and for the kids that take part in it.
“When you bring in people that have a “name”, it creates a “wow” factor,” added Kern. “I’ve had Pat Tyson come. I’ve had Bill Aris come. Kids are wowed by this. They get to pick the coaches brain. It affects me also because I also get that opportunity to pick their brains. I get a chance to meet kids from other schools. I was approached by Elmhurst College to do a camp similar to what I do with the Championship Academy. I just did what I did with the day camp over the summer into a weekend event with Elmhurst College.”
One of the runners that attended the Elmhurst College Camp was three time IHSA 1A State Cross Country Champion Jon Davis of Oakwood High School. He attended the camp before his junior year in high school in the summer of 2014. It was the first year that Kern was associated with that camp.
“For my first half of my cross country / track high school career, I really took a liking to camps. I went to the Bradley camp twice,” said Davis. “The camp in Elmhurst was really fun too. We played a lot of games. Made a lot of friends including Coach Kern and his son Charlie. I ran a work out with Charlie. It was 200’s or something like that. He stuck with me on every interval. Coach Kern definitely knows his stuff. He has been around the sport for a long time. I think he has a lot to offer to the camps as well as the York program.”
Coach Kern’s son Charlie is developing into one of the top runners in Illinois after earning all-state honors during his first two seasons. Part of his stepping stone to where he is now was through the participation of the camps.
“My favorite moment with a coach was when went downtown on the train to run along the lakefront. I sat with Coach Bill Aris from Fayetteville Manlius. We talked about training and what he thought I could run in my first year of HS cross country,” the younger Kern said. “I was in awe the entire time, because I knew how successful he has been as a coach. I also enjoyed the nights when we are on the soccer field playing ultimate or soccer. We are all tired from running during the day, but it is so much fun to sprint up and down the field with such great athletes like Jon Davis, Dustin Maciuba, and Eric Dettman.”
A great thing in life is learning and then passing that down to the next generation. Kern is doing that teaching and coaching at York as well as his involvement with the two camps.
“The camps are a kickoff so to speak for the cross country season. It teaches kids things that they can do by themselves the whole summer like working on hip strength and basics like good form running,” Kern said. “It is also all a part of having a fun experience. With the Championship Academy, we had 380 kids be a part of the camp last summer. Because I am the track coach at York, the York team cannot be part of that camp. So it is now mainly middle schoolers. It gives me the opportunity to teach them and help them what it means to be a runner and help set them up for high school running and the success they will have later on.”
Kern’s motto for his Championship Academy is “Changing Lives One Mile at a Time.” It is not only a motto for Kern but a lifestyle. His positivity rubs off on the people he works with. It also rubs off on the children that he coaches and teaches. It’s an investment that he is making now that in the long run will pay off in the future of these kids not only in running but life.
For more information visit www.ussportscamps.com or call 1-800-NIKE-CAMP (645-3226).
About US Sports Camps
US Sports Camps (USSC), headquartered in San Rafael, California, is America's largest sports camp network and the licensed operator of Nike Sports Camps. The company has offered camps since 1975 with the same mission that defines it today: to shape a lifelong enjoyment of athletics through high quality sports education and skill enhancement.