Report day for the Moravian College football team. Freshman players show up early in the morning followed by the upperclassmen later in the day.
Great job by several of our team leaders helping the freshman move in. Always a little hard for the parents to say good by when they drop off the freshman.
Although we do have a few players who are from Maryland most of the guys are from within a few hours of the school. So getting homesick may be possible – but really when you think about it most of these guys can easily get their laundry home for their mom to do if they had to.
Funny though we had a player from Allentown a few years ago who lasted a day or two of training camp and then decided that he really did not want to play. Yeah you guessed it he – was homesick. Hmmmm….maybe it is harder than I think.
It’s not easy on the younger players – they are coming here expecting to be really good players right away. Some will be that undoubtedly. But really many of our upperclassmen have put in several years of training in the weight room and learning our systems. So, they have a big advantage mentally and physically.
It can be intimidating for a 17-18 year old competing against someone who has three years of preparation and often game experience on him. Most times these young guys are relegated to the scout teams and used more as actors in the preparation rather than actual “game” pieces.
Initially it’s hard for someone who was a star player and often a team captain in high school to see himself as “just a guy” on his college squad. But, it is all part of the process of growing up. Often it is difficult for the young players to look at the seniors on the team and realize that they were once standing in their shoes.
As coaches we often find ourselves dealing with young men who are struggling to understand their roles. Sometimes it seems easier for them to just to give it up and go home. I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had with young guys who need reassurance that things will get better if they just stick it out.
Going home and hanging out at the Dairy Queen and finding his old girlfriend seems like a great idea when you find yourself buried deep on the depth chart. Plus you just got chewed out by a coach for screwing up a play. Things seem pretty dark from the football side, and that escape home just seems like a pretty smart idea.
But, if you can convince them to just take a long look at what is going on and they really will succeed if they just hang in there and put the time and effort in.
By Thanksgiving the Dairy Queen will be an afterthought when they figure out that football is just one aspect of their college experience. Like my old friend the late great frank Gansz would say….”Boy’s you got to hang in there….hang in there like an old set of balls.”