For incoming 8th grade football players, there will be a speed and strength clinic starting the week of May 3. They will learn proper form for lifting weights, running, and start running basic offense and defense skills.

Coach Shipley said, “The training is for incoming 8th graders to become accustomed to our offseason weight and speed training program.”

The goals for the clinic are to “get some cardiovascular endurance, get in shape a little bit and start learning the basic offense and defense. It’s relatively simple but it takes repetition,” said Coach Manier.  

This  is important for the 8th graders because they will need to gain cardiovascular endurance, strength, and the knowledge of the plays that their new team uses. And another big part of that is being together, building a bond that the team would have.  Getting to know one another is important, and trusting a person to play their position is even more important. 

Manier also said ,“We need to start being together, being in the same place together, to start building that bond.”

This Clinic is an opportunity for entering freshmen to build friends as well, and is a goal of the coaches. Since these kids will be playing together for the next four years, if they do not get along it will not be good for the team. They must also learn to work together, doing things that they are new at. 

In the end hopefully all of the kids will get along, and  learn to be faster and stronger, as individual players and as a team.