Vikings Prepare for Battle with the Rebels

Last Monday’s loss has taught us many lessons on and off the field.  We have learned much more from our loss than from our previous games.  Adjustments have been made to every aspect of the game.  I look forward to seeing some of the athletes play in new positions as well as getting more athletes into the game from the beginning.  We have at least 4 new starters in some area of the game.  The defensive changes include starting two 7^th graders.

Opponent:  South Page Rebels

Game Site:  College Springs

Bus Departs:  2:45

Game Time:  Monday, Oct. 8 @ 4:00

Post Game Reminders:  If you would like your son to stay and watch the JV game and ride home with you after the game, you will need to let me know following the game.  Also, any time your son is not going to ride home on the bus with the team, please let me know so that I have an accurate record of where everyone is.

Remaining Calendar of Events

Oct. 8                      Mon                Game 4 at South Page 4:00

Oct. 9-12                Tue-Thu        Practices end @ 4:30

Oct. 12                    Fri                   Practice ends @ 4:00

Oct 15                    Mon                Game 5 at Lenox 4:00

Oct. 16                    Tue                 Clean equipment at home

Oct. 17                    Wed               Early Out-pack equip

Oct. 18                    Thursday       Turn in equipment

Pizza Stop ?

For the past several seasons, athletes have liked to stop on the way home from our last game of the season for pizza.  Since we will be traveling to Lenox for our last game, Breadeaux Pizza in Corning could possibly provide us the opportunity to stop and eat.  I can check this out if there is enough interest.
 

AM Strength and Conditioning UPDATE!!

The participation in our AM workouts have been enthusiastic and well attended.  Tuesday, we were missing 2 athletes; Thursday, we were missing only 1! 

We moved into phase 2 (weights) of the program.  We have been exhausting our bodies in the gym from 7:00-7:30, then going to the weight room to learn.  I have taught them the proper form and technique for 3 lifts so far.  I have encouraged and enforced that they use light weight and higher repetitions until they have gotten the technique down.  They shouldn’t have much left after the gym workout anyway J.

THANK YOU parents for time and effort to get them here!  This success would not be possible without your encouragement!

LOCKER ROOM Etiquette

Throughout the season, coaches at all levels have been dealing with messy locker rooms, missing equipment, etc.  By extra conditioning and constant reminders, we are still coming up short of perfection.  My biggest concern in this area is STEALING.  Each athlete has been issued a padlock and a locker to keep their valuables in.  We do not have security cameras, so we have no means of investigating responsible parties short of the responsible persons coming forward to admit their guilt.  We realize that not all equipment fits into the lockers available in the building.  The equipment that is too large for the smaller lockers is encouraged to stay in the shed by the practice field.  There are plenty of hooks on the wall to hang helmets, shoulder pads, etc.  Shoulder pads, helmets, etc. should not need to go home on a regular basis other than to inspect and repair if necessary.  With equipment being stored in the shed, the only thing left in the locker room to lock up is their gym bag and/or book bags.  Junior High football players commonly will leave their book bags on the stage floor or in the bleachers during practices.  Please make sure to remind your son to put any valuables (cell phone, calculators, CASH, mp3 players, etc) into a LOCKED locker.

If you feel there some simple and easy to implement solutions, I am open to constructive suggestions/conversations (that include the school’s administration) on how to resolve this issue.