2009 A Team

To all "A" team players:
   A formal welcome is in order for those of you who are joining the team for the first time.  It is our guarantee that you will be treated with respect and that you will learn the tradition of Olyphant Lions football very quickly.  We also want to welcome those moving up from the "B" team.  Congratulations on an outstanding year last year.  To the leaders returning to the squad from last year; welcome back.  Always keep that that conference championship loss in the back of your mind, and use it as motivation.  We, as coaches, are looking forward to working with each of you individually.

Speaking from a coach’s standpoint now, we would like to say a few things.  When developing a game plan we work with both the athlete’s strengths, and weaknesses.  It takes sometime to determine those, so what we ask of you is dedication 100% percent of the time.  Dedication is a broad term, but ultimately it means that you give us 100% in every phase of Lions football. 

Offensively, I encourage you to ask questions if something is unclear or if you are unsure of an assignment.  Players I have coached in the past know that it takes 11 men fulfilling individual assignments in order for the team to operate successfully as a whole.  I will make sure that every player knows his assignment on every play.  It is on you to let the coaches know if you are unclear on something.  There will be nothing that you will encounter in your future football careers that wasn’t taught or explained to you on this level.  Many of the plays you will run, you will see on the high school and college level, which is why we ask for utmost attention.  Trust me when I tell you; It is going to be a lot of fun!

A few things to help you prepare for the season:

---We provide all the equipment EXCEPT; cleats, a practice jersey, practice pants, and a mouthpiece.  This is up to you.  A color mouthpiece is required by league rule.  Practice jersey’s can be found cheap at Dick’s.  Our recommendation is a blue one, but anything to cover your pads is fine.  Make sure it can fit over your pads and it is on the looser side.  Practice pants should be a bit tight as well.  Any football cleats will do, but we find the better cleats are the ones with the plastic detachable/replaceable spikes.

---The first day of practice is July 20^th at 5:30. Players should just wear workout clothes, but please try to have your cleats that day.

---It is also encouraged that players come into practice in some form of football shape.  If it is at all possible try some light running a week or two in advance.  Nothing against it, as I do love the sport, but baseball shape does not equal football shape.  We encourage this because even though we will work to get you in shape, it will only be that much easier for you!

Check back for more updates as we have coaches meetings the next three months