The constants are there.
As they head toward the season openers, high school football coaches and assistants know that the team needs to be ready, the fields must be maintained, all the stadium equipment must be working … and the list goes on.
But it’s the unknowns that keep them up at night. Helmet shortage? Player issues? Family concerns? It’s not the best time for that.
Mount Pisgah Christian’s Ryan Livezey mentioned equipment logistics among his bigger concerns. Cherokee’s Josh Shaw is thankful for a quality touchdown club that relieves some of the pressure. And East Coweta coach John Small said he tries to make sure his players are doing what they are supposed to be doing in the classrooms.
Here are their thoughts about what it takes to get ready for opening week, about 14 days out:
Cherokee coach Josh Shaw: “For starters, we are still waiting on the arrival of some things we’ve ordered from vendors. Helmets, helmet parts, decals and some things of that nature. They were ordered a long time ago. We had picture day, which was hectic, and now we are planning a work day to get the stadium up to speed. And you manage the touchdown club and memberships to get pregame meals figured out for the team and the club. Each game we have a big pavilion where we feed 300 people. On top of that, practice-wise, you’re fighting the heat, which we’ve been practicing in the morning to beat it. We got a couple of wet-bulb indications last week, so we are being careful. That’s a whole another dynamic, starting school today. I am very thankful that our scrimmage game got pushed back, so we play the 11th, instead of this week. Just trying to put the finishing touches on everything and, all the meanwhile, organize practice and get the players ready for the season. Concession stands need stocking, and we need volunteers lined up. Right now we are (trying to secure) commercials for our jumbotron screen. So, things of that nature.”
East Coweta coach John Small: “It’s a laundry list. You have to make sure your kids are doing what they should in the classroom. And off the field, make sure they’re doing their community proud, keeping their noses clean and making sure they’re eating right. Behind the scenes, there’s helmet reconditioning and shoulder-pad fixing and making sure you have enough equipment for the kids. You do check ins with the middle-schoolers, the feeder schools. You make sure everything is up to date – reconditioning headphones and making sure your electronics work and your Hudl subscriptions are paid. Maybe you’re adding staff and having staff leave to take opportunities elsewhere, and you’re making sure everything is good. On the family side, when the season is over, you’re doing a lot of catchups. The roles have changed at home and because you’ve been away for a while. So you get home and get back to the routine of things and date your wife again and then the next thing you know it’s spring ball, summer workouts and then the season again. Like, right now, you make sure its all lined up.”
Mount Pisgah Christian coach Ryan Livezey: “This is going to be my 16th year as a head coach, and I have my system that works for me during this time of year, from a coaches standpoint. We do our summer workout and then have three days of testing and then we have our coaches meeting where I have a bulletin that I go down. But then we have helmet shortages, which has been a struggle. Riddell, the main helmet supplier, estimated their helmets will be short. And the only helmet they have right now is the top-of-the-line, $800 model. So we are going through and reconditioning helmets … and those little things. It’s very easy to miss a step sometimes.”
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