Observation of Stephenson High’s Football Practice
Observation of Stephenson High’s Football Practice
Observer: Eric K. Johnson
Date of observation: Tuesday July 20, 2010
Time of observation: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Summary from Observation:
Today’s practice took place on a hot and humid day with temperatures reaching 94 degrees (although it felt more like 100 degrees). Players were constantly getting water and Gatorade because of the heat. There were fair skies. The players were outfitted with their jerseys, shorts, and helmets (no pads). All of the players on the team’s roster were present. Today’s football practice lasted just under two hours.
The head coach spoke to the team before beginning practice. He basically outlined some of today’s goals and gave the players a little pep talk before breaking for practice. The practice began with a 20 minute warm-up session which included some stretches such and drills such as the sideways and backwards runs. After the warm-ups, players really worked with their position coaches. This led into some conditioning drills. The Quarterback Coach was working with the three quarterbacks on individual drills. He told the starter not to look down when he dropped back to pass the football. The Special Teams’ coach had his players working on kick and punt returns. I also noticed the Kicker doing some field goal work where he was attempting kicks between 30 and 40 yards. On the defensive side, I observed the Safetys working on interception drills and the assistant coaches were throwing passes to the Defensive Backs. Overall, I noticed the coaches breaking down the positions to the players during the individual drills and evaluating their talent to address the players’ strengths and weaknesses as well as determine what next steps needed to be enacted to get each player to improve in his position. As for the coaches they were consistently instilling a hard work ethic and I noticed a lot of structure and discipline throughout the entire practice. At the conclusion of the football practice (apx. 5:40), the players began to cool down with some jogging and stretching. At the conclusion of practice, the team huddled up, the coach gave some parting words, and the players and coaches retreated to the locker room.
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