It was mid-August 1999. High school soccer practice was over. I was doing my “Leadership Minute” with our seniors.

We only had four seniors that season. BJ was our captain and only returning starter. I asked them, “What’s your dream? Where do you want to be at the end of the season?”

BJ stood up, looked me in the eye and said, “Coach we want to play for the state title.”

From the look in his eyes I knew he was serious. In almost 20 years of soccer at our school we had a lone section championship and that was 10 years ago.

As coaches we didn’t talk about championships. We didn’t think it was possible. Typically, we had a winning record but always lost to one of the big schools in the playoffs. We were average.

BJ’s dream was unrealistic, especially this year with only one returning starter. I was ready to suggest he aim a little lower. For some unknown reason I said, “We have a lot of work to do.”

BJ convinced me and the seniors it was possible. Together we convinced Bruce, the head coach and the rest of the team. Because of that lofty goal and their belief in it the team worked harder in practice. At the end of every practice I asked the team what our goal was. It was usually to beat the next team on our schedule. Then I would jump up in the air throw my hands up and scream, “What’s the dream?” The boys would yell back, “To play for the state championship!”

That season was magical. We won our section and region. In the state semi-final we were behind 0-2 at halftime and came back to tie the game with one second left.

The boy who scored the winning goal in overtime to send us to the state championship game is now Lynnda’s cardiologist. We accomplished our dream but lost to Morgantown High in the state championship game.

Our thinking as coaches and as a team was forever changed. We knew anything was possible. The new dream was to win the state championship. That took a little longer but the 1999 season was the beginning of our now 17 regional and 6 state championships. The most recent was 2021.

Last week we attended and spoke at the Adhesives and Sealants Sustainability Forum in Pittsburgh. It was a mix of large and small companies. The large companies like Dow and Coverstro have lofty goals to be carbon neutral by 2050 or before. They are serious and having successes.

One company tied employee bonuses to achieving environmental goals. That is a motivator. No one knows exactly how they will achieve their lofty goals.

It will require technology that isn’t developed yet. In 1999 we didn’t know how we would achieve our dream when we started. Everyone at the conference had the same ultimate goal of lower carbon and a clean environment. Different ideas were presented on how to achieve it.

Disagreement is healthy. No one has all the best ideas. In this forum there was open honest discussion.

People listened and asked questions. There was no name calling or personal attacks.

One lady from Mexico stated the USA was the biggest problem having the highest carbon footprint per capita. That disturbed me.

The USA has reduced its GHG emissions by 21% since 2005 and is the only nation according to IEA to meet the Paris climate targets. China has increased GHG emissions by 100% since 2005 and is now producing almost three times as much as the USA. She pointed out the USA is enabling China to produce GHG emission because of our increasing consumption of Chinese products which we need and use every day.

I realized she was right. Our Chinese imports have more than doubled since 2005 from $200 billion to $500 billion annually. We are essentially dumping our waste in China. We don’t think about it because we don’t see the end result.

At lunch I sat down next to the lady and we had a discussion. We agreed the solution is to start making more products in North America and dramatically reduce imports reducing emissions.

The Shale Crescent USA presentation of our study with Jobs Ohio later that day showed it is now more profitable to manufacture products in the USA instead of China. We shared examples in the region of companies that shortened their supply chains, reduced costs and lowered emissions.

The major industrial costs today are energy, raw materials and transportation (primarily ocean transportation). Labor is now a very small part of the cost for most products. We recently talked to a European company coming to the region who said, 70% of their costs are energy (electricity and natural gas) and raw materials.

At the forum, I told the BJ story to show the importance of keeping an open mind and changing how we think. No company at the forum thought about looking at their supply chains as we suggested. Probably because in the last 30 years it wasn’t an option. Some companies are creating regional supply chains.

Intel, who is building a $20 billion facility near Columbus announced all of their suppliers will be within 500 miles of Columbus.

Every success starts in our mind. If we change our thinking we change our lives. BJ, by having a high dream, forced me and the other coaches to change our thinking about what is possible. That change impacted hundreds of our players including our high school girls team. The BJ story has been retold hundreds of times to audiences in the United States and groups from around the world. BJ impacted thousands of people because of his vision and courage to express it. We can too.

It all starts with how we think. Dream high, believe, do the work and don’t quit in adversity.

All things are possible.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA. www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and numerous published articles.