Football players ‘excited’ to be at practice
Following last week’s announcement by Gov. Asa Hutchison that high school football could start practice with limited contact, programs across Garland County have been seeing progress while hoping for the season to take place this fall.
Lakeside head coach Jared McBride said that his team “had a good three days of practice.”
“It’s been a little bit different, but we’re seeing some resemblance of football,” he said. “We’ve had energetic practices. The kids are excited to be out running around and doing a little more football. There’s still things that are different for us just how we go about our day getting in and out of the locker rooms. … That’s still different for us, but overall we’re finding a way to have productive practices.”
McBride noted that he has seen an increase in athletes coming out for the team.
“Our numbers are good,” he explained. “We’ve got more out right now than we did last year. We’re seeing about 78 kids a day in high school, and we’ve got our eighth- and ninth-graders practicing also.
“They’re resilient. They adapt well and adapt on the move. It’s probably harder on us old football coaches than it is on them, but they have been listening well and adhering to what we’re trying to teach them and in the environment that we’re trying to teach them in.”
Numbers are also looking up for the Cobras’ football team this year as Fountain Lake second-year head football coach Kenny Shelton anticipates a higher level of play this fall.
“Our numbers are better than they were last year for sure,” he said. “Right now, we have 33 kids that’s been practicing, and I’ve got two that have been out of state. They haven’t made their way back, so right now I’m looking at
35, maybe 36 — quite a bit better than last year when we were right around
25.
“We have a really strong senior class this year, and they’ve done a great job at coming up to the weight room. In fact, I’ve got one senior that did not miss one day (or) one workout the entire time from June all the way until now. There’s a couple other seniors that have missed just a handful. Pretty impressive, espcially when it was voluntary and not required.”
Shelton said that his players were “excited” to get back into their equipment Monday.
“It’s gone really well, and the kids were really excited to get helmets and get all their equipment and everything we normally do in the spring that we didn’t get a chance to,” he added. “They were definitely excited, almost kind of reminded me of peewee kids. … There’s been a good little pep in their step; they’re just kinda champing at the bit. They’d like to actually hit each other, and I’m hoping we get that chance next week hopefully.”
Gearing up for competitive play is what frames the mentality behind the Rams’ work ethic in practices starting this week.
“We’re preparing like our season is gonna go down like normal — that’s the best that we can do,” said McBride. “We just prepare to have the best day we can and be ready to practice the best. Things are gonna change on us one way or the other quickly, and we’ll just be ready for that when we have to.”
Shelton explained that while some struggle at times with following every new guideline, the Cobras are putting in the effort to stay safe while enjoying some normalcy and familiar drills on
the field alongside their teammates.
“It actually feels like football again to a certain degree,” Shelton pointed out. “We’re able to hit the sled and hit the dummies, and we’re able to actually run plays as an offense ,which we’ve not been able to do. … Even though they’ve been doing (light, non-contact workouts) for the last couple months, it’s still, with all the restrictions, just trying to remind the kids during water breaks to stay socially distant. … (It’s) hard to keep up with a mask out on the field.
“They do a really good job, and they’re very used to wearing the mask in the weight room. Monday was the first day we were allowed to actually let them in the locker room, so a fairly easy transition as far as wearing their masks in there. But again, it’s tough. Kids are kids, and they forget occasionally. Even us coaches kinda forget as we’re coaching, and every once in a while it’s kinda hard to coach through a mask.”
After two months of strict non-contact conditiong and individualized workouts, Fountain Lake is taking advantage of the new developments to prepare the team.
“Kids were getting tired of just being able to lift and condition, and I think every day and every week that kinda went by with no word was the biggest issue: not hearing potential, not really giving us a whole lot of hope until kind of out the blue, they made that announcement,” explained Shelton. “I could definitely tell it was weighing on the kids. I know it was weighing on us as coaches whether or not we were gonna have a season, and that’s the one thing that the governor gave us was hope.
“We’re preaching to the kids to be as cautious as possible, and we are definitely practicing like we are planning on playing and not just going through the motions. We have a lot to prepare before our first scrimmage game on Aug. 20, and that’s just right around the corner, so I feel like right now it kind of feels like spring football. … It kind of feels like we’re having to step it up and play catch up, and try to get ready for that scrimmage then we play the following week. It’s coming quick.”