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Post by blb on Jun 24, 2024 6:29:49 GMT -6
Those of you that have a Freshman (9th Grade) team, do you:
A. Keep them separate from JV and Varsity so they can be developed at their own pace,
B. Have them participate in summer activities such as weight room, 7-on-7s, camp, etc. with 10-12 graders, or
C. Some combination of above.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jun 24, 2024 7:29:31 GMT -6
A- Practice in the fall with the other Thursday night players, but get some time with varsity coaches. Everybody basically coaches everybody, except for me and a couple others that just do the young pups.
B- The do summer stuff at the same time as the MS aged kids, but Frosh/MS alternate days between offense and defense. They lift as a separate group since they are still learning the techniques (MS just do body weight exercises)
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Post by irishdog on Jun 24, 2024 10:45:18 GMT -6
I spent most of my career at small schools so I never really had the numbers to have just a freshman team. My freshmen were part of our "JV" team, but in reality it was more like a frosh-soph (B?) team. Only had a few juniors play "JV" (played a quarter, maybe more depending upon our frosh-soph numbers). We "invited" all freshmen to dress for varsity games if they chose to, but most declined (except for the homecoming game), but we required them to help set up on Friday nights, be on the sidelines to help the managers, be water boys, ball boys, and take down when the game was over. All sophomores dressed for varsity games.
In practices we always did our best to pair freshmen with freshmen, and sophomores with sophomores, or the better freshmen with the better sophomores. Most of their contact work was done in individual group sessions. The "JV" guys were our scout O and D during team sessions, and got their "team session" in after varsity practice. The freshmen and some sophomores would get their weight workout in before varsity practice while the varsity guys (including sophomores who played on Friday nights) were watching film.
During the summer the incoming freshmen lifted with the 7th/8th graders to be. They would lift for an hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays after the high school boys (10-11) while the high school boys lifted on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays (8-9:30). Wednesdays were competition days utilizing various physical activities that sparked some competitiveness, and fun, while getting into shape. Early Friday AM's were reserved for the high school boys only (7:00-9:00) for team sessions. Worked well b/c we didn't have to fight with parents and long summer weekend plans. The last week of July was a "dead week" so most of our parents scheduled "family vacations" at that time.
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Post by coachscdub on Jun 24, 2024 11:14:54 GMT -6
Been in two different spots that were slighlty different as a whole program.
- Program One, Frosh-JV-Varsity all practiced separate of each other. (Varsity had 50 going north, JV 50 Going South, Frosh on Auxiliary Field)
- Program Two, JV-Varsity together at all times with one coaching staff for both teams. With the Frosh team practicing alone and at a different time than the other two.
Both spots had the kids come in for weight lifting in the summer. Frosh always lifted before JV/Var.
We did not do 7 on 7's or away camps.
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Post by irishdog on Jun 24, 2024 17:05:15 GMT -6
Been in two different spots that were slighlty different as a whole program. - Program One, Frosh-JV-Varsity all practiced separate of each other. (Varsity had 50 going north, JV 50 Going South, Frosh on Auxiliary Field) - Program Two, JV-Varsity together at all times with one coaching staff for both teams. With the Frosh team practicing alone and at a different time than the other two. Both spots had the kids come in for weight lifting in the summer. Frosh always lifted before JV/Var. We did not do 7 on 7's or away camps. We did 7 on 7 (high school 10-11-12) only one day per week in July. We went to a team contact camp each summer for 4 days in June. Invited all prospects (9-10-11-12). Probably the single best team activity we did to inspire the youngsters to play football. Parents of all players had nothing but positives to say, and the 9th graders really enjoyed it and encouraged their buddies to go out. |
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Post by MICoach on Jun 24, 2024 19:10:18 GMT -6
From my experience we've done each of the following...
A. Freshmen and JV practice together, all coaches are fully platooned so for example varsity offensive position coaches take the same positions with freshmen/JV while varsity is on defense, flip half way. JV will provide scout looks for varsity as needed, which gives freshmen more one-on-one time with position coaches.
B. 10-12 practice together, freshmen operate as their own entity. Varsity coaches would usually help their groups during the first week or two of summer camp, by the first game week they would be unattached to the freshmen team. We had dedicated freshmen coaches for this, occasionally a varsity assistant would coordinate one side of the ball for freshmen if needed. Varsity position coaches coordinate the JV team. The practice planning for this is a bit of a nightmare but it is good overall.
C. Unique coaching staffs for all three levels...I think this is the worst of both worlds for a variety of reasons.
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Post by kylem56 on Jun 25, 2024 9:25:54 GMT -6
I have been at 5 schools over the course of 20 years now. Small school rural 2x, big school suburbs, medium size mix of rural and suburbs, and my current school which is small school in suburbs. Schools anywhere from 300-1800.
Whenever possible we kept the 9th graders separate. This largely depends on your ability as a staff to coach it the right way. They are not a separate program, but we want to develop those kids and have 99% retention.
The best set up I was apart of, Freshmen had their own team camp and 2 a day schedule, but it always started before the JV/Varsity camps. The varsity HC and staff would come down and help coach them, really focusing on building relationships with those kids more than anything.
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Post by irishdog on Jun 25, 2024 9:55:50 GMT -6
I have been at 5 schools over the course of 20 years now. Small school rural 2x, big school suburbs, medium size mix of rural and suburbs, and my current school which is small school in suburbs. Schools anywhere from 300-1800. Whenever possible we kept the 9th graders separate. This largely depends on your ability as a staff to coach it the right way. They are not a separate program, but we want to develop those kids and have 99% retention. The best set up I was apart of, Freshmen had their own team camp and 2 a day schedule, but it always started before the JV/Varsity camps. The varsity HC and staff would come down and help coach them, really focusing on building relationships with those kids more than anything. Agreed. Whenever or wherever possible coach the 9th graders apart from the varsity in practices as much as you can, but include them in as many activities as possible. I learned early in my career an effective and efficient coach is a better coach. Takes a lot of personal sacrifice. There were many times I wouldn't get home from practices until very late because I was still on the field, or in the weight room, or in the film room working with my youngsters. They were the program's future so spending a little extra time with them in the present was a good first step in guraranteeing that future. |
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Post by kylem56 on Jun 26, 2024 17:55:32 GMT -6
I have been at 5 schools over the course of 20 years now. Small school rural 2x, big school suburbs, medium size mix of rural and suburbs, and my current school which is small school in suburbs. Schools anywhere from 300-1800. Whenever possible we kept the 9th graders separate. This largely depends on your ability as a staff to coach it the right way. They are not a separate program, but we want to develop those kids and have 99% retention. The best set up I was apart of, Freshmen had their own team camp and 2 a day schedule, but it always started before the JV/Varsity camps. The varsity HC and staff would come down and help coach them, really focusing on building relationships with those kids more than anything. Agreed. Whenever or wherever possible coach the 9th graders apart from the varsity in practices as much as you can, but include them in as many activities as possible. I learned early in my career an effective and efficient coach is a better coach. Takes a lot of personal sacrifice. There were many times I wouldn't get home from practices until very late because I was still on the field, or in the weight room, or in the film room working with my youngsters. They were the program's future so spending a little extra time with them in the present was a good first step in guraranteeing that future. It sounds like you are on the right track. My only advice from a guy who has failed a marriage cause I thought working harder was better. Involve your family as much as you can. Not only your family but your assistants families. Heck we had a 7-on-7 last night, my 7 year old son was there hanging out then hitting the record button on our drone camera. He was jacked up to be filming varsity football! Keep them involved and work smarter. |
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Post by center on Jun 27, 2024 12:28:46 GMT -6
Not enough kids now to be totally separate. We used to in the past.
Now:
Summer:
Workouts 3x/week.
3:30 FS warms up and lifts
4:00 varsity comes in to warm up. All do speed/agility together
4:30 Varsity lifts/ FS dismissed
Contact days. FS practices together.
No cross over with varsity.
We have an offensive staff and defensive staff in summer. Teams rotate at each practice.
In season: FS practices together.
No crossover with varsity.
They have their own staff and play on Mondays.
Some sophomores may dress varsity game on Friday night but not many.
Try to get every player playing time on Monday FS games.
Will schedule a Freshman game or controlled scrimmage if possible.
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Post by coachphillip on Jun 28, 2024 8:47:55 GMT -6
It was always best when we kept the frosh separate. They lifted and practiced separately. The numbers were always similar to: 35 freshmen, 30 JV (sophs), and 45 varsity. The frosh had such a high learning curve and we wanted them to not get cheated out of coaching attention, so having them separate was best for us. Also, weight room just wasn't big enough to accommodate 65 kids in there at once. We routinely would split the teams when lifting into bigs and skills with half of them starting outside doing speed work and core while the other group lifted.
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Post by blackknight on Jul 5, 2024 10:21:04 GMT -6
It was always best when we kept the frosh separate. They lifted and practiced separately. The numbers were always similar to: 35 freshmen, 30 JV (sophs), and 45 varsity. The frosh had such a high learning curve and we wanted them to not get cheated out of coaching attention, so having them separate was best for us. Also, weight room just wasn't big enough to accommodate 65 kids in there at once. We routinely would split the teams when lifting into bigs and skills with half of them starting outside doing speed work and core while the other group lifted. We were very similar, numbers wise. We believed Frosh Football was closer to Youth Football than it was to High School Football as there were so many athletes that were new to the sport. |
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Post by coachd5085 on Jul 5, 2024 17:14:51 GMT -6
It was always best when we kept the frosh separate. They lifted and practiced separately. The numbers were always similar to: 35 freshmen, 30 JV (sophs), and 45 varsity. The frosh had such a high learning curve and we wanted them to not get cheated out of coaching attention, so having them separate was best for us. Also, weight room just wasn't big enough to accommodate 65 kids in there at once. We routinely would split the teams when lifting into bigs and skills with half of them starting outside doing speed work and core while the other group lifted. We were very similar, numbers wise. We believed Frosh Football was closer to Youth Football than it was to High School Football as there were so many athletes that were new to the sport. yes, and the puberty process was still probably the "#1" factor in success. |
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Post by groundchuck on Jul 5, 2024 18:40:21 GMT -6
It all depends on how many players you have and how many coaches. My experiences:
Small school class A ball: I had 3 total coaches. We practied 9-12 together for everything and found time to get them reps running our offense. In fall camp it was OK but in season it is really hard to get them reps. I am at a small 2A school right now and it is the same story.
When I was at a larger 2A/3A they were able to do indy with the varsity and have team on their own for much of practice. We had enough players and coaches to make it work.
As a 4A varsity assistant we never saw our 9th graders once we got done with the first week of fall camp. After that they were entirely on their own. Enough players and a dedicated staff.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jul 5, 2024 20:02:48 GMT -6
We were very similar, numbers wise. We believed Frosh Football was closer to Youth Football than it was to High School Football as there were so many athletes that were new to the sport. yes, and the puberty process was still probably the "#1" factor in success. 1 thing I've always checked is when each freshman has his birthday. Fresh men with a May/June birthday is WAY behind the ones with August/September. Another plus to factor is if he was held back. |
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creid
Sophomore Member
Posts: 150
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Post by creid on Jul 6, 2024 0:53:36 GMT -6
We keep freshmen totally separate. As a group, the first time they work with the upperclassmen is spring of their 9th grade year when we start spring practice with the current sophomores and juniors. We want them to develop as a class. If we have a kid that we think can play varsity as a sophomore, he will start working with the older kids in January of his 9th grade year. We have a full 9th grade staff and the varsity coaches only get to work with the 9th graders during summer skills and the first week of practice because they start a week early because of no spring practice for them. Once the varsity can practice, the 10-12 staff doesn't work with them again until after the season is over. The HC and coordinators will go to 9th grade games and be on the sidelines with them when they play at home on Thursday nights. (We have 3 freshmen teams with 40-50 kids each.)
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Post by coachwoodall on Jul 6, 2024 7:29:14 GMT -6
We keep freshmen totally separate. As a group, the first time they work with the upperclassmen is spring of their 9th grade year when we start spring practice with the current sophomores and juniors. We want them to develop as a class. If we have a kid that we think can play varsity as a sophomore, he will start working with the older kids in January of his 9th grade year. We have a full 9th grade staff and the varsity coaches only get to work with the 9th graders during summer skills and the first week of practice because they start a week early because of no spring practice for them. Once the varsity can practice, the 10-12 staff doesn't work with them again until after the season is over. The HC and coordinators will go to 9th grade games and be on the sidelines with them when they play at home on Thursday nights. (We have 3 freshmen teams with 40-50 kids each.) ahhhh, Texas Years back at a previous stop where we would regularly have 70-80 on the freshman team, we tried to have 2 freshman teams, but the HS League shot it down. |
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