From Gold to Friday Night Lights to a New Path

Every day of coaching, I feel like I learn something. Some is to be expected - such as what kind of coaching is needed in a game vs. practice, or what my role is on a coaching staff of five - and the other things cover a wide scope. This week, I've learned something that probably no male coach could've told me, and that is: if you make treats to take to a football game, make sure it doesn't make a mess in your locker room (think: rice krispie treats). The boys didn't actually make a mess, but Coach L's first reaction was to yell that into the lockerroom after the cupcakes came in for Coach H's birthday (which was Tuesday) and because I still felt a bit guilty for missing their first game because of class last week. No matter, I also learned that with a logical explanation, boys move on with no problem. My center M asked me about it Monday and as I was apologizing to him, it was already over. Cool. If I was still coaching girls, I think they'd still be mad...

This week's fun at practice culminated yesterday with a JV - frosh scrimmage because our first game was postponed to 9.16. It was a let-down, but still a good opportunity to prepare some things, especially because Coach H was gone this week at a coaching clinic across town. On Tuesday when Coach L told the boys about the scrimmage vs. game situation, I walked down to the locker room with my center M, TE C and a few other boys. M tells me right off the bat: "Coach, we're going to get killed." Of course I had to say if he felt that way, he should just stay home on Thursday... but in truth, I wasn't sure what to expect. The challenges of the frosh squad are many but one is that we aren't able to really "scout" the other team. We can see what our boys are doing through the practice tapes we take on Thursdays and we can see what the opponents' varsity squads are playing but it will be a mystery for personnell and game planning. The same was a little t

On the night of the Varsity’s first home game last Friday (8.27), the home crowd was buzzing. Little kids in football jerseys and "cheerleaders" were running around after a clinic held on our practice fields, adjacent to the stadium. They formed up a tunnel to high-five the players as they ran out onto the field, and as you can tell from the photo, things have gotten advanced. We have a wonderful facility with lockerroom for the varsity, coaches’ offices and lockerroom, rooms for film and study, a kitchen with adjacent multipurpose room on the second floor, training room and patio/deck for pre/post game meals. From the photo, you can see the banner and the fog machine and the cheerleaders…. High school football isn’t the same here, even for a town itching for a decent squad in some time. I remember running out onto our (shared) field, with its Astroturf and burning lights… it was fall and it was fantastic. This is the same feeling, but more restrained for me. Some of the coac