a QUALITY FOOTBALL PROGRAM FOR LIFE

one thing I thought was real neat, and I don't know where this fits in....BUT I know Lloyd Carr at Michigan has an annual car wash with the players (wear T-shirt jersey) in the Spring where the money raised goes to some charity. We've done a lot of fundraising and though it may SEEM like charity, we're really doing it to raise money for the program. Going the 'opposite' way, by working with no real 'reward' would be beneficial - it lets the kids know that they have to be responsibile for the community, not just themselves.

I think if I were involved in another program, I'd try to do more altruistic stuff with the kids - get them to see beyond themselves and help other, community....this is also a great PR move and gets kids exposure. This is stuff that Catholic Schools do as part of sacraments, that kids not involved in that never get (not espousing one religion over the other, though).

One thing we do in the off-season, is a TEAM activity every month. It might be (cheap) bowling, a movie, camping, paint ball, go carts, etc....but the team gets out and bonds. It's nice when you have a whole broad spectrum of kids from every demographic involved.

TEAM contact camps in the Summer.

LEADERSHIP sessions once every month in the off season - early morning at 630 am, kids are instructed on a 12 point Leadership manual from the JROTC. Leaders that make 95% attendance on this become the Leadership counsel of the team and have a strong voice in what goes on during the season.

One of the biggest things football can offer is what happens in the WEIGHT ROOM. win or lose, the life fitness lessons learned in the weight room are invaluable. You may have a certified BFS instructor already that's fine...one of the first things we did when we started our program was to meet and talk with a guy that knew how to train - he was an Olympic bobsled coach, Dave Juering, and he came in and instructed the kids about being athletes (how to train like one) how to do the olympic lifts, but most importantly TALKED TO THE KIDS ATHLETE-TO-ATHLETE. I know kids that go through BFS and really don't understand the how and whys of the movements. Love for fitness / competition is one of the greatest benefits of team sports.

Another thing, I thought was kind of cool (again, something Carr does - not that I'm a fan of his or anything)....

But every year, like the car wash for charity, he apparently has "Football 101 for Women" Clinic or something. It gets the kids out - I believe he has the kids (or coaches) giving instructions / drills to girls and mothers about basic football fundamentals.

Women will root for any sport where they KNOW a kid (see soccer) - if the kids are out being seen, and relating what a given responsibility is (drill / coverage) they are more likely to be a "fan" and/or respect what that kids is actually doing (less likely to boo).

With this (I think it's a great idea to start), we currently do the following;

** Youth camp (4th - 7th grade) for football prior to actual camp starting. We have our Seniors help coach each position (either with a coach or by themselves) of the youth. Again, altruism. Get their faces out there.

**Parent / Grid Club film review on Sunday evenings. We meet at a local Pizza place (have a buffet parents can eat and drink at), while we show the game film off a projector. We point out what some of the plays were trying to do, where we could've been better, etc. It's a GREAT milieu for parents to air concerns, comments, praise - heads A LOT of foul spirits off at the pass. Parents will stand up for the staff against other contentious (power of group thought / peer pressure) parents - coaches can just sit back and watch....