Elite Athletic Club IN: We Overcome Adversity
Adversity Is Tattooed on My Back
The Story Behind Kevin English’s Elite Athletic Club (IN)
By Bill X. Barron
“At its core, wrestling is overcoming adversity,” emphatically states Coach Kevin English, founder of the widely acclaimed Elite Athletic Club. “My high school coach drilled that word into us, to the point where it is tattooed on my back.” Though not even 3 years since its founding, his club has smashed onto the national scene.
Spend a few always intense moments with Kevin – you will learn firsthand that confronting adversity is the heart and soul of what he preaches those who come to his 2.5-acre facility in NW Indiana’s Lake Station. National, state, and tough-minded regional athletes from all over the state seek his keen guidance, as well as wrestlers who travel from neighboring Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
All these athletes have one goal in common: not only learn how to become elite, but also to master the skills and develop the attitude necessary to sustain that level against the very best competition. To that end, EAC’s travel team invites wrestlers across the United States to participate in – and often win – dual team tournaments held coast-to-coast.
Just the same, the EAC is more defined by its commitment to push each athlete toward his or her best than it is by individual titles earned by those in the room or won in team competition. Though their dual teams have won elite championships from NUWAY’s Summer Nationals to the USAW King of the Ring, Coach English emphasizes: “We care less about the titles in the room or on the wall, more about who you are inside.”
After competing in college, Kevin went from training at the USOEC in N. Michigan to a successful 12-year MMA career: “hand-to-hand combat is the foundation of grappling.” Why are the wrestlers of today so committed to the confrontational style and go-go-go atmosphere that English’s EAC inspires?
Coach E answers: “Kids still respect competitiveness. We have developed a differentiated approach to training and conditioning that meets the goals of all-comers, from the most competitive in-your-face wrestler to those who need more hands-on coaching. Each knows s/he will get better in our room.”
EAC succeeds because their coaches believe in and elicit techniques and mental aptitudes that take full advantage of each wrestler’s natural abilities, personal style, maturity, and competitive desire. “You not only need to convince parents that you can help their kid, but also to help them understand that success may not come right away. As Gable stressed: ‘Once you’ve wrestled, everything in life is easy.’”
Though preparation for competition is the ultimate goal, English recognizes the importance of developing relationships. He led a Class A seminary school in Illinois to an undefeated season by creating a team environment that balanced beating one another in hand-to-hand practice combat with enjoying the match moment, turning out the gym lights for a team entrance through fog presented by a DJ.
Recently, EAC won the overall team title at RMN’s Mt. Rushmore Mayhem. “We were impressed with how smoothly it ran. RMN Events is willing to work closely with teams and clubs to help us return to normalcy, in an atmosphere that makes wrestling fun, while making a place for prayer and valuing the national anthem, all of which was ingrained in me while growing up in Indiana.”
Coach English’s goal is to organize at least 20 travel teams annually, bonding kids from all backgrounds year-round: “I’ve always wanted to run a wrestling academy. With a spacious practice facility, bunkhouse, and a weight room, we already run overnight and commuter camps, which are especially helpful before team trips.
“Eventually, we plan to become recognized as an RTC, training athletes to compete at the highest level. But most importantly, I am doing something I love. Kids see the passion in me, and they know that I speak truthfully with them. I am blessed and happy that kids and parents embrace that journey alongside me. It’s work, but then it’s not: it’s what I love to do.”
Kevin speaks to the importance of maintaining our focus and sustaining the toughest sport known amidst challenging times. “I have faith in God; that’s the way my parents raised me. While the pandemic is scary, through our faith in one another we will do what is needed to get through this, as we become better human beings with our health, our hearts, and our heritage still intact.”
He reminds us that true wrestling is a “grind,” which only makes the end objective more worthwhile. In wrestling and life, you may not succeed immediately or always. “Wrestling teaches you that through work you can get to the top. But just as importantly, it teaches you morals: how to live your life.”
Wrestling Has Molded My Character
Moments with Ashton Jackson, EAC Wrestler
By Bill X. Barron
Ashton Jackson’s father Adam and Kevin English wrestled at the same weight on opposing high school teams growing up in Indiana. Thus, when Coach English founded the Elite Athletic Club during Ashton’s 7th grade season, it was natural for Ashton to become one of EAC’s early proteges. Adam now serves as an assistant coach with the club.
As Ashton relates: “My dad wrestled his entire life, so as soon as I showed interest, he was all behind me. At Elite, I immediately noticed how much more physically demanding the practices were. Great kids come from all over just to be there, including several state champs. If you can stand up to that competition, and beat them, then you know you are ready for the best. That’s why I like the challenge of RMN Events, where the great meet and beat the great.”
As a 9th grader, weighing 100 pounds while wrestling against those who cut weight to make the 106-lb. class, Ashton placed 3rd in Regionals and got as far as Indiana Semi-State, where he lost 2-0. Like his coach, he embraces the philosophy that facing adversity reveals the type of person you are and want to become. “I know that in order to succeed, I must show up and do the work.”
A wrestler with high aspirations, Ashton says that “since 3rd grade, I have always wanted to wrestle for a Division I school.” He looks up to Jacob Moran, an EAC club member and 3-time Indiana state champ who is now competing at 125 pounds for Indiana University. “The challenge of competing at that level makes me want to work even harder.”
“Wrestling definitely molded my character,” expresses Ashton. “I would not be anywhere in school, life, or family if I didn’t know the meaning of sacrifice. Average kids have not put themselves to the test. You must devote all of yourself in order to become the best. Other kids complain, but I am up at 5 am to begin working out. I am not one to cut corners.”