Well, I survived my first practice at Moravian. Forgot how long these practices can be. With all of the NCAA rule changes and limitations to how much work you are allowed to do with the players the practices have actually been lengthened (I guess the NCAA allows up to three hours of work in a practice session).
Given the attention span of most normal people that is an awful large amount of time. Now, for people who don’t understand football or how a sports team practices – you don’t just stand there doing one thing for three straight hours. The practice is divided up into sections where you work on various parts of the game.
So, there is little monotony – there is quite a variance in the day where there are different drill periods – some scripted – some competitive – others dedicated to a certain area of the game (think goal line, red zone, field goal etc.) Really, there is a lot going on.
But, three hours of stressful activity does take its toll. There is an art to maximizing practices – keeping your team fresh and alert both physically and mentally. Obviously there are some very demanding parts of the day…but you have to balance out practice with a certain amount of mental work without grinding your team down and wearing them out.
If you practice with a heavy volume of contact and exertion your team will not be fresh when they compete. In fact you will begin to see the nagging hurts that an athlete expects turn into full blown injuries and that will obviously hurt your team when you begin to play games.
On the other hand if you don’t practice hard enough and train with a certain degree of physical emphasis you will find that your team is not prepared for the rugged demand required to play a game. It is a delicate balance that coaches constantly talk about.
There isn’t a meeting that goes by in the coaching offices that doesn’t have some discussion about the overall health and development of your team. You have to work hard…but as a coach you must be smart with how you train your players.
Unlike bigger schools where you have a larger number of athletes on the team here at Moravian we generally start off with around 95-100 players. Now, that sounds like a lot. But, in reality there are a very high number of untried players who are really unseasoned by college competition.
For instance there were 45 or so freshman players brought onto the roster this year. That is close to half of our players. Now some of those guys will have to play – and some a significant amount. But it is really hard to count on young players who have never experienced a college game.
There aren’t any coaches that I know of who really want to play with young and inexperienced players. Regardless of talent these young guys tend to make more mistakes than veterans – and often at really bad times.
But, that is the way it is in Division III football. You do your best to keep your team healthy and still get them well prepared for competition and you train the younger players to step up into the breach when you need them.
Don’t get me wrong – it is a great challenge and a tremendous amount of fun.
*********************************
Our football field blues continue on here on the campus. As many people know the Steel Field complex is in the process of getting a new synthetic surface. It was to have been completed at the beginning of our training camp.
Like I said – was supposed to be completed. To this point over two weeks later the Hounds still have yet to set foot on that field. Countless problems – most of which seem to be the fault of the installers – have forced the team to practice at Liberty High School.
Fortunately Liberty is only two blocks from our locker facility. A short walk and we can practice on their field. It is awful nice of the school to grant us access to their facilities. Unfortunately in a day or so more problems are going to drop onto our heads.
The high school season opens up this weekend and we are going to be unable to get into their stadium as easily as we have these past few weeks. In fact with the beginning of classes next week at Moravian and Liberty’s scheduling we are going to be in real trouble trying to practice.
It is hard for me to imagine problems like these arising in major schools. In fact I would bet that you would be hard pressed to find a situation like this anywhere. This is a catastrophe waiting to happen!
WE HAVE A GAME ON THE FIELD NEXT SATURDAY!
What a crime that a reputable company cannot even get a project finished on time. It appears to me that Moravian is being held hostage over something the school cannot control!
************************************************
Despite all of the outside problems with the field and it’s completion the camp itself has been a very smooth operation. The players have been absolutely awesome and done a fantastic job of changing direction in midstream over and over again.
There has been no complaining….no bitching and moaning about what a pain in the ass the walk up the street to practice has been. The daily (if not hourly) changes to the schedule has been carried out without even a sideways glance.
Obviously the staff led by Jeff has done a great job of managing the problems. Reacting and leading without looking around and the shaking of heads. They have met the situation head on with professionalism and enthusiasm – in fact with great humor!
But there is so much credit that needs to be given to the senior class. Despite being small in number the members of that group are large on strength. They have banded together with a very strong junior class who have kept everything running smoothly.
Moravian College should be proud of these guys – they are absolutely awesome.
Can’t wait to watch the guys play next weekend – just hope we can play on OUR field!