By: Jared Van Acker, Head Coach
Freedom High School, South Riding, Virginia
I can smell it now, the fresh cut grass, the fresh scent of new field paint, and the bright lights on the practice field – football season is back! With the majority of states beginning practice in early August, I wanted to give you a couple of ideas that I use during the preseason to pump up the kids, parents, fan base, and community. Many of these “traditions” were passed on to me from many experiences that I had the pleasure and honor to be a part of in my short playing/coaching career. Most of these “traditions” came from my playing days at the traditional state football powerhouse, Geneseo High School, in Illinois. High School and College Hall of Fame Coach Bob Reade, who would begin our tradition at Geneseo and take it to Division III Augustana College in the 60’s to the 90’s, started many of these events that I still use today.
The first idea I want to share is known as the Mother/Son Banquet during the first couple of weeks in the preseason. This event coincidences with our last preseason scrimmage that is considered more like a practice game here in Virginia with live game scenarios and full contact. The night before I have all the mothers of the players and all the players come together in a special evening for both. I have a potluck dinner, where all members of the team are assigned a specific dish to bring, with an emphasis on carbohydrates such as pasta, chicken, etc.
After dinner, I read them a sappy poem titled “Mama, Look at Your Big Boy Now” by Gene Keel. Coaches, if you plan on doing this, make sure you bring a couple of boxes of tissues because the tears will be flowing. I then proceed to have the players, with the help from their mothers, adorn their football helmets with the fresh decals for the season. When finished, the players take their moms to the locker room and put up their helmet and are given their away/home jersey to wear to the major scrimmage the next evening. This is a special evening for the mothers who usually get the “mis-treatment effect” by their sons during the football season and are asked to clean dirty laundry, cook late meals, and provide transportation to and from practice. I cannot tell you how much praise I get from mothers about this event, feeling like being a part of the football program, and how much they cherished the memory of helping and spending time with their sons.
Secondly, I want to share with you the development of my Leadership Council. My Leadership Council is a group designed to give my team a “voice” into the operations and management of their own football team and program. I think the Leadership Council has been a vital aspect of the success of my football programs. After our second week of preseason practice, right before our first live scrimmage, I have the kids and coaching staff vote on three permanent captains of the team.
Those that are up for being a candidate for captainship must meet certain qualities such as being a part of the Champion’s Club, attend summer team football camp, and maintain at least a 2.5 GPA. Those that qualify under those guidelines who wish to be considered for captainship must then write a letter to their teammates expressing why they feel like they should be a captain. When the team votes for the three permanent captains, they also elect one player from their prospective class to represent them on the Leadership Council.
My Leadership Council is comprised of the three elected permanent captains and a class representative from the senior, junior, sophomore, and freshman classes. I meet with them every Monday either at lunch or before practice to gauge the temperature of the team. This is their forum to talk about issues/concerns of the team, leadership education activates, suggestions, selection of jersey combinations for the upcoming game, etc. Though they have this avenue of communication, I make sure that they understand that I have an ultimate “veto” power to make decisions about the football program. However, I feel that the kids are more prone to follow when they have a voice and I have actually incorporated a couple of ideas into the program from these sessions.
Last of all, I want to talk about our annual Champion’s Club Steak Dinner Night. The Champion’s Club, is a group of elite student-athletes who really push themselves working out in the off-season. In our off-season “Legs ’N’ Lungs” program, responsibility, sacrifice, hard work, dedication, and accountability are assessed by the commitment of our student-athletes for success in the upcoming football season. I honor those that have shown commitment in which I consider “above and beyond the call of duty” and I reward them with certain privileges. To be considered a part of the Champion’s Club, a player must have an attendance rate of 85% – 100% at all off-season activities. Each member must have participated in our team summer camp, which was held this year on the campus of James Madison University. Lastly, they all must have and maintain at least a 2.5 GPA, which is equivalent to the minimum academic requirements for an athletic scholarship from the NCAA. For their hard work, I reward them with a nice NIKE Pro-Fit Compression Shirt with their number on the sleeve, first choice preference of equipment and jersey number distribution, the opportunity to be elected a captain for the team, exemption from the preseason conditioning test of ten 110’s which are timed, and last of all a steak dinner prior to the beginning of the season.
My kids look forward to that night because they get rewarded for the hard work that they put forth in the off-season. However, the effects of this night radiate to the rest of the team, especially the young kids, with the emphasis of offseason participation and the overall goal of winning championships.
I hope you like these preseason activities and, if you plan to incorporate any of them, I would love to hear about the results. Best of luck this coming season.