Cliff Charpentier - Varsity Assistant Coach

Cliff Charpentier

Varsity Assistant Coach

Coach Charpentier is very competitive, though he believes he - even more so - is a ‘people' person.  The gratitude he gets from coaching is not only in the wins and success on the field it's also in the relationships he has gained with the players and parents he shared his coaching journey with.  This is very important to him.  If asked, he believes the players he has coached would remember some of the nice successes they had on the field but more importantly he believes they would remember the work and fun on how they got there. 

He believes  players should be taught to become their own coaches in some regard - taking responsibilities for both their mistakes as well as their accomplishments.  To him, each player is an individual and it's his job to learn about that individual and find a way to make her/him play at the best of their ability and in doing so enjoy what they are doing.  He often asks players "Who is the hardest on them?".  Is it him - the coach?  Is it  perhaps their parents?  Most realize ‘they' are, it's themselves.  They are  the hardest on themselves.  To succeed, a player must be able to make a mistake but move on from it, so that one mistake doesn't lead to another.  He likes to push the positive rather than spend too much time dwelling on what went wrong.  Most of the time the players do know what they did wrong, immediately.   Learn from your mistakes but then let's correct it and move on.

When he is not coaching he also spends a lot of time on the field as an umpire.  This gives him a different perspective of the game.  It also helps him learn more about the game in observing what other coaches may do, not only in how they do in certain situations but how they treat and work with the players they coach.

Birthday:  December 12th

Hometown:  Saint. Paul, MN

High School:  Johnson High School, St. Paul, Minnesota - class of 1973

For a Living:  37 years with Qwest Communications (soon to be Century Link).  Most of that time was spent as a 911 Implementer working with the design, testing and implementation of  all the 911 network for the 14 states of Qwest.  

Coaching Experience:  Coach Charpentier has been coaching since the mid-90's - both softball and baseball.  It started with the teams his children were on.  First with his daughter through the slow-pitch and then fast-pitch for O.A.A (Oakdale Athletic Association) and then spent some  years with both sons coaching them in traveling baseball, gaining state tournament berths at both the the 10's and 12's age groups as a head coach.  He passed on coaching for a few years until his sons graduated from high school and was lured back into coaching some 9 years ago by his friend Tom Nemo.

Coach rejoined forces with Tom whom he had coached boy's traveling ball with to take a 16's girl's association team from Tartan for a summer. After a successful summer they  took the team to nationals in Canton, Michigan where they placed second.   That summer rekindled his coaching desires and he joined Tom's high school staff the following spring.  He spent 4 years at Tartan and then both jumped ship, landing at North St. Paul the last 4 years.  At North he coached the B-squad and assisted with the J.V.   As head coach of the B-Squad went 71-10 over 4 seasons, 40-1 the last two seasons and won the  B-squad conference championship 3 of the 4 years and helped develop many players that went on to help the Varsity to 3 State Championship games in 4 years.

During these last nine years Coach Charpentier also continued to coach summer ball where he served as the ‘A' team head coach and coached a group of Tartan girls through 14's, 16's and 18's for five years.   He took one summer off and was then asked to coach the North St. Paul 14'A' team.  The last two summers he has served as  the head coach of the North St. Paul 14 ‘A' team, playing  in the summer 'Elite' league, playing all-star teams from around the Metro and State.  This past season they finished the season 27-13-5 and took 5th at Northern Nationals, going 7-2.  On their way to that mark they defeated some of the state's best Elite teams including the Elite State Champion, the Mankato Peppers.  As an Association team of all players from North St. Paul, they were the highest placing team from Minnesota including all the state's 'Elite' teams.  He remains in that position for the upcoming summer.

Favorite sport other than softball:    He says this is tough because he likes many.  His two sons were very good hockey players and through their years playing at Tartan.  He really enjoyed hockey.  His Fantasy Football days of writing a yearly book made him an even bigger football fan.  However, right now he probably would say being a baseball fan is his most profound favorite, as he remains a huge Twin's fan and follows them closely.

Person in softball who's had the most influence:  This would have to be his good friend Tom Nemo.  Nine years ago Tom got him back into coaching softball.   He had coached both baseball and softball for periods of time but had taken time off of coaching to watch his two sons finish their hockey careers at Tartan.  With his boys graduating from high school, Tom,  who Coach Charpentier had coached traveling baseball with back when their boys were growing up, beckoned him back to the diamond.   He joined Nemo to help coach an association team from Tartan, which would be most of the High School team the following year, through summer ball of 2003.  The rejoining of forces for them was not only fun but very rewarding. 

After a very successful summer they took the team to play in a National tournament in Canton,  Michigan where they a took 2nd.   The experience rekindled his passion for coaching.  He joined Tom's Tartan High School staff the following spring and has been back coaching on his own and with Tom at times since.  So it's Tom he has to thank for bringing him back into doing something that we can share and both have a huge passion for.

Most memorable softball moment:  There are just too many to say he has one.  Coming back to coaching and taking 2nd in Canton, Michigan in 2003 would be one.  Spending the last 4 years at North St. Paul and being part of a coaching staff that made to the State Championship game 3 times in 4 years and being the State Champion one of those years was very memorable. He has many summer great memories as well, including beating State Elite Champion, the Mankato Peppers in the Northern Nationals last year after having lost to them 3 times previous, is a memory that will stick with him. 

Spare time:  Coach Charpentier spent 20 years formalizing the game of Fantasy Football and writing the Fantasy Football Digest - and annual publication handicapping NFL players for the game of Fantasy Football.    These days he enjoys coaching both at the High School level and summer fast pitch and spends a lot of time in the summer umpiring - which gives him a different perspective on the game.  He also has a passion for playing cards and - of late - participating in local Texas Hold'em tournaments.

Best way to reach:  "Always willing to talk softball" - coach can be reached at  (C) 651.329.3371