Niles North athletic director Karl Costello named 2014 Development Zone Leadership Fellow

Niles North athletic director Karl Costello was named a a 2014 Development Zone Leadership Fellow by Positive Coaching Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to providing a positive youth and high school sports experiences.

PCA is a national non-profit that aims to build “Better Athletes, Better People.” Costello is one of eight members of the inaugural class of Fellows after expanding Niles North’s Development Zone to encompass feeder schools and youth sports organizations.

“When I became aware of PCA, we were trying to build a more competitive athletic culture,” Costello said. ”Our district, our board of ed, wanted to be more competitive because they realized the great benefits, the life lessons, the values that student-athletes learn in a program that isn’t necessarily winning championships all the time but is doing everything it can to be as competitive as possible. We were at a cross roads. Was I going to support a win-at-all-costs, results-only, scoreboard-oriented outlook? Or were we going to concentrate on the process of building a competitive program, soundly, thoroughly and on the educational principle of improvement, of getting better every day, just like we do in the classroom?”

Click here for more on Costello’s award and PCA.