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Post by fcboiler87 on Aug 20, 2015 7:04:51 GMT -6
You have to be up front with them. I had a similar situation unfold this past week. It was a senior kid who I really kind of figured just wouldn't cut it. He thought he should be the starter and did okay in practice versus some of the scout competition. We all knew once we got into live action he'd get burned (cornerback). Sure enough it happened. Repeatedly. At that point we had good video evidence as to his abilities or lack there of. I told him, "son, you're just too slow." You try hard but at the end of the day this kid keeps his man in front of him and can make up for mistakes with speed. You can't. It's not the nicest thing in the world, but I was up front with him. We'll try to use him on special teams and maybe rotate at a WR spot but he just doesn't need to be on the field much.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Aug 18, 2015 9:04:37 GMT -6
We deal with this same thing to an extent. The kids know the expectation. We don't do anything on the weekends so they have all day Saturday and Sunday to work. There are a few of them that work after practice. That'd be a heck of a long day and I have a feeling some of them do it for $$ on the weekends but hey what do I know. Regardless, employers tend to be flexible and work around kids' schedules. Ask the player if you can speak with his work and see if they can work out a schedule.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Aug 6, 2015 10:58:03 GMT -6
Been on staffs where we met on Saturdays with kids and coaches. Both of those programs were bad. The thought was that we had to do more to be successful. Truth is, we could have worked 24/7 and it wasn't going to matter one bit. We didn't have the horses.
As an HC now, our staff will not meet with kids or coaches Saturday. We won't even meet as coaches on Sunday. We will talk on the phone, through text but not in person. Weekends are family time and rest/recover. Don't get me wrong, I know I will still spend hours on film, but I will also utilize a lot of time throughout the week to do that as well so it's not all put on the weekend time.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Aug 2, 2015 8:46:56 GMT -6
This is my first year as HC at a program that's been pretty good recently. I thought by the recent success, these summer attendance issues would be small. I was way off. The culture was much less than what I expected. We have been working hard on changing the mindset and getting them to understand what it takes to compete and be successful against the teams we play.
We had a kid who probably was going to start for us quit the other day. I haven't seen him since last season, save for a few days here and there and none this summer. I asked him why he didn't want to play. His response was that the other players were giving him crap about not being there all summer and that he'd have to earn his way because they all had.
I hate to lose such a kid, but at the same time I wasn't real mad because it showed that many of them are starting to get it. Don't get me wrong, if the kid decided he wanted to play, we'd let him and have him earn his way. I just don't see it because of the poor attitude he has (more than just what I described).
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jul 17, 2015 7:16:39 GMT -6
I bought some the other day at Bass Pro for $40. Not a bad deal.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jul 8, 2015 6:28:04 GMT -6
I think if you go too much or too hard all summer, you really start to burn out by early season. We take it relatively easy in the summer. Our "summer" is only about 6 weeks now so it's not even that long anymore. We lift two days a week (one upper, one lower) and do lift heavy then. We do an hour of football after each one of those days. One other day of the week is dedicated solely to football for 2 hours. So we go 3 days a week. We did one 11 on 11 scrimmage in June and will do two 7 on 7s in July. That's the extent of our summer. Next year I am thinking about scaling back the football in June and maybe just doing mostly workouts.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jul 8, 2015 6:22:56 GMT -6
I've been in this situation for several months now. Historically, this program hasn't been very good, except for under the coach that was here before me. He has this demi-god type of status among people it seems at times. It is still a good program, perhaps not at the talent level he had (which is good part of the reason why he left). So things have been difficult in some aspects.
Overall, scheme hasn't been an issue. I'm actually going from an I formation type of team to a spread team. One, because it's what I know and two, we really do have players to execute it. I am struggling with some of the kids - i.e. the fullback who is now a guard and the tight end that is not really utilized (the TE wasn't very good any way and the fullback is a better guard). But overall scheme buy in has been fine.
My problem has been with expectations. They were never really expected to show up in the off season, work hard, etc. That sounds crazy but that is exactly what I have been fighting and they tell me how it was before. I've noticed this and I've heard it before - the young guys know no different. My best attendance is from sophomores and freshmen and half the junior class.
I don't know that it's the right answer, but I believe what you have to do is put what you believe in place, explain why and sell, sell, sell. Then stand by what and why you are doing it no matter what.
I think what some people may say is if you are new in that situation, try not to radically change things. That will make the transition easier. I didn't necessarily do that. Like you, I have been in programs where you are working to change things around. I've worked to hold on to traditions, etc. but have stuck to my guns as far as building the program as I see fit. We will see how that goes. We have a pretty decent team and have the potential to do well, but we will see how the buy in goes. If it gets better, we should do well. If not, we could struggle.
I am looking forward to any other input, as I have often thought about this same question.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jul 4, 2015 13:10:10 GMT -6
Something else I thought of was the website gofundme.com. This is the most popular funding website out there and people raise money for all kinds of things, even pet's medical bills and end up raising a ton of money. I think it'd be worth a shot. You can set it up, then link it up from facebook pages, etc.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jul 2, 2015 20:18:55 GMT -6
Kentucky does not separate theirs. Tennessee has a separation for the two in the playoffs.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jul 1, 2015 9:38:11 GMT -6
To my knowledge, there isn't any such thing. There have been more than 5 schools here in southern Indiana add football over the past several years and they all had to come up with how to fund their start up programs. Two of the larger schools in the entire country finally added football (well both resurrected after 30+ year layoffs). One program simply went out to area businesses, explained their plans and asked for help. I think they received over 20k to get things going. Now I believe it's on the program to fundraise on their own. The other program was parent/player funded. They are a community that is on the rise and is in good shape financially. They footed the bill over time. Basically it was pay to play, but now that they have the equipment in place, they just fundraise like any other team to keep things going. I don't know that the school provides any financial assistance.
A few other programs that got started in the area did so through a referendum. This was something that had to be voted on by the tax payers and somehow went through in all instances. I only say that because we all know how much people hate taxes. I think it was a minimal increase but did help get these programs going.
At least one other program in the area is trying. They are trying to pay for it themselves but their school corporation won't let them. There isn't really a good reason, but they've been trying for 5 years and haven't been successful. They are a school that should have it too, with plenty of numbers to support it and students constantly fleeing to other schools to play.
There are various grants out there. I believe it was Muscle Milk that has a 25k one they do but not sure if they do that anymore. I'm sure if you researched these would be available, but probably mostly in small chunks, like 500-1k a piece. USA football has one that is around that amount.
If it's something they're serious about, I think the community would come behind them and help, especially any prominent businesses in the area.
Out of curiosity, which school is this? You can PM me if you'd like. I coached in KY for a while and I know that new programs really aren't something that is happening there like it is here in Indiana with nearly 10 schools adding programs within the last 10 years. Glad to see it happen anywhere, as we should always have more schools playing.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jun 3, 2015 11:43:18 GMT -6
I know a local coach who used to have his kids compete in one different thing every week as the last thing they would do as a team. They would do all kinds of stuff: basketball 3 on 3 tournament, ultimate frisby, etc. He said it was needed so his guys could learn to compete and actually hang out with each other since they didn't hang out during school hours. We did something like this all off season. One day each week at the end of weights we had a competition day. I explained at the beginning what it was and why we were doing that, then re-emphasized that each week when we came back around to it. We have done everything from basketball to dodgeball to various weight room competitions. I told them to remember that these are their teammates, but your job is to whip their tails at whatever it is you are doing right now. It went well all off season and they had fun. Plus it was a way to break up the typical off season of just weights. It became part of the routine but we always changed up what we did so they always stayed fresh with things. I feel like it went really well but I guess we will see this fall!
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Post by fcboiler87 on May 15, 2015 10:41:35 GMT -6
I am also a first year HC. I am taking off two days next week to go and visit the local elementary and middle schools. I will speak with every student (in a group) and talk about the camp and the game. I have fliers that are sorted out in groups 30 stacks of 25 or whatever the school requested. That way, you make it easy on them to pass out. Every kid in grades K-7 will get our fliers, and that will be over 1200 kids. In addition, I will push it on social media as well as the local newspaper.
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Post by fcboiler87 on May 6, 2015 11:35:32 GMT -6
I had a very hard time with this in 2010. I went into a place as HC that I didn't do enough research on. I immediately realized I had to change the culture. I was coming from a private christian school and had just won a championship. I don't think I was being or wanted to be a jerk, I just had to completely change everything from how I found it and set high standards. My first team meeting I had 9 seniors. 3 of them were letter winners. By the first week 3 of them quit. Before the first game 3 more did something very stupid and I let them go. So I was left with 3 seniors and they just happened to be the 3 letter winners. I had to cut some other chaff from the junior group. I learned 2 major things from it all. #1 The frosh and sophomores bought in quickly, they didn't have bad habits and didn't have the culture or lack of from the previous regime. #2 You don't just change the culture of the players you have to change the culture of the entire place sometimes. The place I went to was a place of entitled excuse makers who never won anything. The parents of my upper classmen started a petition to get me fired because I cut a few kids and held others accountable. The booster president said I wasn't using my stable of talented running backs correctly and his son just happened to be one only getting 3rd string carries. (not 1 player on the entire roster ever played 1 snap of college football even though we had a middle of the road NAIA team in the same town) The admin had no backbone and really was a part of the excuse making culture so I got fired. They went back to the old ways. 4 years later no playoffs, no winning seasons, no college players and they fired the coach again, only this guy gets let go DURING the season after week 4 (he wasn't using his available stable of talent appropriately, apparently)! I am seeing similarities here. This has been a good program for the better part of a decade (typical winning seasons). I know the coach left because talent was on a down turn. I took this job for family reasons (moving home) and understood why he was leaving but knew the cupboard wasn't completely bare. The problem I have run into is still the culture. Because they have been reasonably successful, there is a great sense of entitlement. They do not want to work and do not think they have to in order to continue to be successful. There is talent and don't get me wrong we could win a lot of ball games, but they won't put in what it takes to be better than that. It's a very interesting conundrum and it's not one that I anticipated at all. You think a place is successful because of good culture, but I have seeming found that perhaps that isn't always the case. The young guys have bought in. That seemed to come naturally. Winning over the seniors? Maybe it will happen. All I can do is stick to the message and go. I've seen it working slowly but surely for some. Not so for others. I've not been a d!ck but have pushed expectation and standards on them and they don't like it. I guess that's all part of the challenge.
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Post by fcboiler87 on May 6, 2015 8:51:03 GMT -6
Interesting perspectives. I don't know that there is a right answer to it, but I was just posting this purely for discussion purposes. It just hit home to me because I am going through it and I know many others are so it's just neat to see one way it is being handled.
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Post by fcboiler87 on May 5, 2015 12:00:16 GMT -6
Tom Herman articleThis was an interesting article I read from Tom Herman. He says you can't change the culture as Mr. Nice Coach. I would tend to agree, but I am posting this for some discussion about this at the high school level. In a way, I have taken this approach as a first year HC. I came into a pretty good situation and a relatively successful program. But I won't do things the same way, I can't because I don't know how they did things, etc. So it has been apparent there is a culture change and I've been a fair person, but I wouldn't say I've been Mr. Nice Guy either. It has still been quite a shift and not easy for all those involved. How do you approach such things? Is Tom Herman right? What have you done to "change a culture" even if it was a reasonably successful one? I believe in any situation, our job is to try and better what we had. We of course have our own ways of doing it so it seems any time there is a coaching change, there is a culture shift of some sort. Thoughts?
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Post by fcboiler87 on Apr 29, 2015 10:42:16 GMT -6
I was always in the "I really don't care what they run, as long as they use the same terminology and skills" side of things. I never thought that the lower levels had to run what I ran because they may not be able to run what I run. Then last year we started to get closer to our local youth program and they wanted the Bible, they didn't want some half-baked drawings or ideas, they wanted the full on Bible of how to run the offense and defense. They wanted the terminology, schemes, drills, the full thing. Their position was that they were having a hard enough time getting the coaches to coach instead of yell that allowing the coaches to develop offensive/defensive schemes was just too much to let them do. So, hand them the Bible, they implement subject to age & skills, and now the incoming freshmen have seen and heard the offense and defense. Something new here and everyone, including the lower level guys are excited about it. The lower level coaches are happy right now because they feel like they are actually contributing to our HS level, they have taught the players something that has value. It's funny you say that because I'm pretty much in the same position. I'm a new HC here and when I met with the youth director, that's what he suggested. So what I have is a boiled down version of what we do and a few options for them to do. The main thing I tell them has been said in this thread already: fundamentals. We want terminology too but I won't over control what they are doing unless they want it all which so far they have. I'll take it because like you said they just might be out there yelling and not really coaching.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Apr 23, 2015 20:38:18 GMT -6
Healy. I've priced some other places and a few items may be a bit cheaper elsewhere but their service is excellent. I met with a rep one day, had an artwork proof the next and had the decals themselves within 5 days.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Apr 4, 2015 15:19:48 GMT -6
I am a new head coach and will find myself in this situation by choice. I will coach QB's offensively, but defensively, I will not have a positions (we do not 2 platoon). My staff is young and relatively inexperienced, but we are spending a ton of time this off season investing in learning what I am putting in on both sides of the ball. My goal is to have them very well prepared to be able to coach what we expect individually. When it comes to defensive periods during practice, I will float to all positions throughout the periods, though we will really have only 15 minutes of indy and 15 of tackling each day so there's the only time I have to fill. The rest will be group periods with specific focuses where I will be looking at the whole of the period. I haven't done it yet, but I feel as though it will be the best thing for our kids and staff. I have 10+ assistant coaches so it makes it easier for me to do. I know I will always be coaching someone. I did this last year on basically the same staff as a walk-around defensive coordinator. I specifically coached DB's, but trusted my DB coach to get done what I needed if I wanted to go work with another position.
I know many of you are saying you don't want to distance yourself, but I feel it will be beneficial to our team. I am looking forward to it. As far as advice to the OP, if you can do it, just do it and make sure you're always coaching and helping someone.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Mar 27, 2015 12:20:22 GMT -6
Our program has 5 stipends to hand out for assistant coaches. This is at a 3A school with approximately a 715 enrollment. We will have anywhere from 60-70 kids in the program 9-12. I have the ability to split the stipends as needed. Currently, I should have 9-10 paid assistants next year and likely 2-3 additional volunteers.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 28, 2015 9:37:13 GMT -6
In Indiana we do not have spring ball. Once your season is completed, it will be June (when you school is out for the summer) before you can put helmets on again. We have newer regulations in the summer that only allow for 12 days of helmets/shoulder pads during June/July. Only 5 of those days can be competitions (7 on 7, team camps, etc). So 7 of those days available to you are simply on your own type of things. There has also been talk of this getting restricted even further. If your school starts before August, you cannot practice until August begins. For example, our first student day is July 27 this year. That whole first week of school we cannot practice, but just condition.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 22, 2015 8:54:41 GMT -6
I agree with groundchuck.
One thing that we do is we "train" to beat those type of teams on our schedule all year. So it's a verbal thing that we put in their heads all year long. When we are doing something particularly tough or difficult in training, we might say "This is tough, but not as tough as X OPPONENT." Or "It will take even more than this to beat OPPONENT Y." Everyone has those few teams each year that are always at the top of their game. We train physically and mentally with the goal in mind to be able to beat those teams at all times. It's just something we always talk about so the idea is that it's drilled into their heads.
The week of the game? Business as usual. Because of how we treat it all year, the kids understand the impact of the game that week. We'll talk about having extra focus and everything. But we don't really do anything too different. You want the kids knowing it's just business and I think that helps them be more prepared knowing and feeling it's just another week.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Feb 16, 2015 9:31:24 GMT -6
Our assistant coach supplement is $3400. We have four of them. Luckily we can divide them up to get in more coaches and that's not a terrible thing because it's still a decent supplement.
HC makes 7300. Plus a summer coaching stipend which equates to 2300. So nearly 10k total. Definitely not bad for the area. No other funds come in.
The place I was before your assistant stipend was $5100. There were 3 of those,then 3 $3000 ones. The HC stipend was based at 10k plus had summer stipend and weights stipend to make it a total of 13k. That is incredibly high for this area and really for the whole state.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 23, 2015 7:43:47 GMT -6
After getting some more information about the situation, I was told the previous staff had promised the family something that would be prominently displayed in the locker room, like a stat board. So I believe I should hold to that. After doing some research, it looks like I can do that for under $1000 depending on what exactly we choose. Then we can put the rest of the money towards an end zone camera (I know they cost more than the remaining $1k but it's a start and through other fundraising we could get it, especially if we build our own).
So now my question is, if you have or are going to have boards displayed in your weight room or locker room, what company do you use? Thanks.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 19, 2015 18:42:11 GMT -6
Coaches,
We have been fortunate enough to have been left a donation from a passing member of the community who had been very involved and interested in this program his whole life. It is in the neighborhood of $2000. This happened under a previous staff and was just notified of it. Since it is a memorial gift of sorts, I felt we should use it towards something that would be recognizable be a fixture for our program, not simply something we'd use or give away. I thought about doing something for our locker room, as it is very plain with nothing spectacular around to see. I was thinking something like a record board for all-time stats. Maybe a depth chart type of board. Maybe goal boards.
But I wanted to bring this to the board because you guys always come up with some great stuff that it could be used for. Not going to lie I was thinking end zone cam (at least partially towards it), but it would be nice to dedicate it to this guy and that wouldn't necessarily be as justifiable.
Thanks for any and all responses.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Jan 19, 2015 9:57:16 GMT -6
We started a group this offseason. I chose the players based on what I had seen from them since I have been around them. I chose 4 from each grade (to be seniors, juniors and sophomores). I wanted it to frustrate some talented kids that I knew would want to be a part of it but aren't really model citizens. So far, it's already worked and I've had some great discussions with kids about what it takes to meet that criteria and they are working towards it. In the group itself, we are having excellent meetings and discussion. I am using Jeff Janssen's Team Captain's Manual and it is an outstanding book. We are following it as a guide and using the readings but our discussion usually veers from it, which is okay because it promotes their ability to think and talk. It's early but these kids are doing a great job of working with their teammates on helping them be better and be leaders.
And just because a kid isn't in the group, doesn't mean they can't lead. I talk about this constantly and work to get others to try their hand. I think the biggest thing is that you have to give them the opportunity to lead once you have introduced your expectations. We do this whenever we can, but of course when we have after school weights. The kids keep each other going and moving and working hard because they know what they are expected to do. I'm definitely impressed with the results so far.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 26, 2014 21:34:21 GMT -6
We are hopeful to have over 60 on our team next year. We are a mid size school of around 700 and feel we need to utilize our players both ways, though we try to limit the number starting as much as possible. What we plan to do is much like someone else mentioned. In inside run, 7 on 7 and team periods, we are going to have our JV (we do not have freshman teams in our league but this includes freshman players) unit doing their own group periods. That should leave us with 30 and 30. It should increase the reps for the young kids and it will put more responsibility on some of our coaches.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Dec 19, 2014 7:49:42 GMT -6
Are there coaches out there that really have to take care of their school's field? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using proboards YES, unfortunately. If we don't at least keep it on track, you can't play your first game at home because the field is dead. Not kidding.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Oct 28, 2014 13:26:24 GMT -6
I definitely believe there are situations that justify this happening. I have seen this happen on several occasions in the state of Kentucky. There are just some teams who cannot compete because of various reasons. I'm talking years of 0-10, 1-9. It's really hard to keep things together like that. The teams that have dropped out end up scheduling each other (though you are talking some serious road trips). It has allowed them to win some games and develop some momentum as a program that there is no way they would have obtained otherwise. I know a lot of you are saying no playoffs is a deal breaker, but to those kids and those programs that have never been successful, just winning really is enough for them. I can see it as I've been on both sides of the coin (successful and historically not successful programs). It's not something many programs should do but there are definitely those that can consider it and may benefit from it.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Oct 22, 2014 11:42:46 GMT -6
Pros and cons? Pros are it gets kids out and interested. It (can) teach them proper fundamentals of the game. Cons? "Old school" coaches who just have kids beat each other and yell constantly and do not teach (I realize this is not all or many but I'd bet most leagues have at least one).
I agree that youth football doesn't need to begin tackling until 5th or 6th grade. I do also believe there should be flag available for youth younger than that. Where to start? I don't think there's a good place, but 3rd or 4th would be okay for me. The problem is in a smaller community that if you don't start football early enough, you lose good athletes to soccer. I'm not saying it's a widespread thing or a huge issue, but it can make a difference. What if 2 or 3 kids from each class play soccer instead because they got started earlier on soccer and they happen to be the best athletes in the school? It's unfortunate that it can work like that and I'm not saying it always does but it something to consider when discussing youth football.
As a high school coach and former youth and middle school coach, I believe the role of the younger levels is to help the kids develop fundamentals and a passion for the game. Should those levels run our stuff? Some of it yes, more so at the middle school level. But what you HAVE to have is creating a passion for the game and getting kids interested and staying out for football instead of bailing for soccer or another sport or even the couch. To me, that is the role of the youth level.
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Post by fcboiler87 on Oct 7, 2014 19:59:51 GMT -6
We have two weeks as well. I've had a week before at different schools so this is more break but it is what it is. We are different from the other posters so far though in that we have to keep our practice time at the usual time because most of our coaches are lay coaches. We'd only have 3 coaches if we held practice in the morning. It does stink from my perspective in that you're kinda waiting around all day for it whereas if you held in the morning you have the rest of the day but there's just no other way for us to do it. Two days into it, practice has been just fine like usual. The kids are fine and aren't out of synch or anything.
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