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     The year 2001 was one of immense change for Earl Stalter.  When the first plane flew into the World Trade Center, Earl was in the air, far from his wife and family.  He later learned that several of his friends had been lost in Tower One.  Earl had joined Arthur Anderson as a consultant right out of college and climbed the corporate ladder, traveling all over the world for 22 years.  He hated the fact that he was unable to get to his family during this tragic time and made the decision to change his life.  He believes in the theory of “Half-Time”.  The first half of life is about “success”……then comes “half-time” when you assess….. the second half is about “significance.”  

     Earl quit his job in October with no idea of what he would do next.  While driving down Route 18 he noticed a sign indicating that Pinnacle Sports was for sale……….the rest is history.   He purchased the property in 2002 with no business plan and no marketing plan. While figuring out how to run a sports facility, he came to the conclusion that he wanted it to be more. He wanted to change the way youth sports were run.  He pointed out that 1.9 million kids play high school sports. Of that number only 68,000 go on to play college sports and 2,500 go on to professional sports.  That means that only one in 736 college players make it to the professional level.  Maybe helping all the kids to become better adults was where the focus should be.

    Pinnacle measures their results by the impact they have on kids.  Their coaches are trained to integrate character development along with teaching skills.  They are in the process of launching a charity called “Be Like Coach”.  Their purpose is to research what it takes to be a successful youth coach. They have combined premier business skills with the very best coaches to create an enjoyable, positive growth experience for each player to grow at his or her own rate and learn to become responsible and successful members of society as adults.
     Earl, along with Lea Burns, welcomed over forty LMC alumni to learn about Pinnacle and enjoy a continental breakfast and tour of the facility. Learning about their philosophy and the process they use to fulfill their mission was moving as well as inspiring.  Not only do they teach technical skills but also try to instill the social and mental training to be successful.