My first day of my mentorship was today, and I spent the initial moments introducing myself and meeting a few of the coaches that I hadn’t previously met or worked with. It being Labor Day, the coaches wanted the players to be able to spend time with their families that afternoon and evening in their last padded practice before they leave for Hawaii Wednesday morning, so they held a practices quickly after I arrived. Throughout the practices, I walked around and observed how the practices were generally ran. From the stretches and warmups to the various drills during the thirteen period practice, I observed how the practice was smoothly designed and every period was building towards the next period in implementing the gameplan for this week’s opponent. The team began the practice and immediately spent a period on correcting the various errors that occurred in their Week One game at the University of Cincinnati. They missed multiple field goal attempts that could have stretched their initial lead and had many boneheaded penalties, so they spent a few minutes attempting field goals against a live defense to ensure that there are few to no flaws in their future special teams plays. The rest of the practice was mostly spent in position groups going over the week’s gameplan against Hawaii before they came together and ran 11-on-11 drills to conclude the day’s practice. As the practice went along and even as it concluded, I was in observation of all of the equipment managers and how they helped prepare the various drills for the day’s practice. I learned that the people that are helping “behind the scenes” that often go unnoticed by the average fan help a lot in contributing to the team’s success. They ensure that all drills are set up and ready to go so the coaches and players can get through the drills with minimal delay between the different periods. I ended my day by communicating with the Director of Football Operations on when my next day of observation will be and what I will be able to do and learn. My next day will be this Friday, September 9 as I help the Skyhawks staff prepare for and host their local high school’s football game which will be played on the Skyhawks home field.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2016
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