Sunday, August 28, 2011

Congrats and Week 1 Players of the Week

Parents and Players,

Congratulations on a well deserved victory this Thursday. I'm am very proud of the way we executed, and the fact that we continued to fight hard for four quarters. We will face a very fast and strong football team this Friday against Pontiac; but the thing that they must understand is that they will face an even stronger and faster team of Red Hawks. Our practice this week must be more fundamentally sound than last week. Flawless execution, and total discipline will undeniably lead us to a victory this Friday. My expectation is that each one of our players comes to practice each and every day with a relentless mentality to challenge one another on every play so we can continue to prove that we are the most dominant football team in the conference/area/state.

Just a reminder that the varsity team will lift at 2:00 tomorrow before practice. The Freshman and J.V. will begin their lifting session at 2:40.

Here are the Players of the Week for week 1. Remember, these guys would not be able to achieve their individual accomplishments without the help of their hard-working teammates.

Special Ops Player of the Week: Jake Spinek
Big Stick of the Week: Lonnie Jaynes
Offensive Scout of the Week: James Ortmann
Defensive Scout of the Week: Grant LaBeau
Defensive Player of the Week: Lonnie Jaynes
Offensive Player of the Week: Lonnie Bolden
Count on Me Player of the Week: Matt Fitzpatrick (Will lead the team out with the flag)

Let's have a great week of practice. All business . . . all week . . . so we can celebrate on Friday night.

Coach Heppner
Go Red Hawks!!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Film help needed for games and scouting

Parents and Wild Bill,

I am in need of some volunteers to help film our football games this year. Last year worked out perfect with the rotation that we had. Brian Blank, whose son Max was on J.V. last year, would come early and film the Freshman games; and Andy Bartnowak, whose son Patrick was a freshman last year, would then stay and film the J.V. games. If we could get a Freshman/J.V. parent film combo going like that again this year, it would be greatly appreciated.

Joe Haddad is still going to film our Varsity games this year, but he will be operating the helmet camera from the back of the end zone instead of being up on the press box. I will still need to have someone help film our games from the press box for the film exchange with our opponents.

Also, I will need someone - preferably a J.V. or Freshman parent - to help Pat Patercsak with scouting this year. Pat is a scouting wizard, but will need someone to film the game while he records the opposing teams offensive and defensive plays/formations and takes digital shots of these plays/formations.

Brian, Andy, and Joe had a great system set up last year. If they, or any of you, would like to volunteer this year to help film, I would truly appreciate it. The film aspect of football is vital to the success of our young men. Please email me before the end of the weekend if you are interest to help. I can coordinate a time for us to meet with Joe and get a plan in place.

Thanks in advance,

Coach Heppner

Monday, August 8, 2011

Tuesday Install and Practice Thoughts

Parents and Players,
Here is the install for Tuesday's practice. The players are to review the following page numbers in preparation for tomorrow's practice.

Varsity, J.V., and Freshman Defense:

Pages: 22, 26, 27, and 28

Freshman Offense: No additional install

Review pages: 54,56, 58, 60, 74, 81, 82, 87, 88, 89, 90

Varsity and J.V. Offense:

Review the following pages: 54,56, 58, 60, 74, 81, 82, 87, 88, 89, 90

Install: 55, 61, 86, 91.

I'm very proud of the effort by all of our young men today. The challenges they face over the next few weeks will only make them stronger as a team. Please encourage them to continue to get their mental reps in their playbook as well. The complete comprehension of each play is their number one battle. The only way we can move forward as a team is to make sure that we can simply react, rather than have to think about the plays we are trying to execute. Please remind the players that they are to bring whatever money they have collect during the initial Entertainment Card sale in to the cafeteria tomorrow by 1:30. Our sales representative will be giving more instructions regarding the rest of the sale at this time as well.

Day number 1 went well. Let's continue to improve the complete way our players prepare, execute, and work for each other during the days to come.

Coach Heppner
Go Red Hawks!!!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Football Reminder's

Parents and Players,

With sign-up quickly approaching, there are a few reminders I need to make sure all of you are aware of. For this Thursday's sign-up, please make sure that your son brings his physical form so we can keep the appropriate records. If your son has yet to get a physical, then it must be turned in to me no later than 12:30 pm on Monday, August 8th. Any player that does not have a physical form turned in will not be able to participate until that exam has been completed. It is also important that each player bring a combination lock and a three-ring binder to the sign-up as well. I want to make sure that each player secures a locker for the season. That being said, it is important that any items they bring to their scheduled sign-up time be locked up in a locker before they leave. We will be passing out playbooks at this time as well. The players do not need anything fancy for their playbook, but a simple three-ring binder with pockets will do. Please be sure to remind your son that they will also need to have a writing utensil with them to all meetings throughout the season.

During the sign-up on August 4th, we will be measuring heights and weights, along with collecting the appropriate contact information. We will also be fitting any player new to the program that has not received a helmet yet. Any player that was unable to purchase a practice jersey by the July 24th deadline, please make sure to bring a check for $20.00 made out to Tri-County Sports. We will have extra's for purchase on Thursday. I can't guarantee that the players will receive the player gear – shorts and t-shirt -that I’ve individually ordered by the 4th, but we will make sure to get all the necessary cloth items to them by the start of practice on Monday the 8th. I will double check with our vendor tomorrow and let all of you no immediately. Each player will be receiving a football shirt and pair of shorts for the 2011 football season.

Just a little more clarification regarding Thursday's sign-up. We will be waiting until the following Thursday - 1st day of pads - to be officially handing out the rest of the player's equipment. One of the reason's being that in the past we've had players show up on the Thursday before 2-A-Days, get all of their equipment, and then disappear. . . And you thought part of my bald issues were caused from a genetic disorder. As you can tell, we are trying to change the image of Troy Athens football, along with the way each player respects the game itself. One of the many lessons we are trying to teach these young men is that you will have to work hard to earn certain privileges in your life. Therefore, we will challenge them physically, but most importantly mentally for the 1st three days of camp, in order for them to feel that they have earned the rite to wear their Troy Athens football equipment. My goal is to create a sense of pride in these young men that each and every time they put on those pads, they - along with their Red Hawk brothers - realize that each one of them has made the appropriate sacrifices for each other to wear that equipment. We will bring each one of the participants in one-by-one during their scheduled time the morning of Thursday, August 11th, to go over their goals and hand out the rest of their equipment. It will be important that they check all the straps and buckles on their pads to ensure everything is ready to go when practice starts that afternoon. The times for the final equipment distribution and goal review will be the same as this Thursday, August 4th.

Lastly, to ensure that we have enough funding to purchase each individual player their promised game polo, we are kicking off our entertainment card fundraiser on Friday, August 5th at 9:30 am. It is imperative that all players attend the 9:30 scheduled meeting time in order for our representatives at Extreme Entertainment to explain the details of the sale. My goal is to raise enough money from this fundraiser to not only purchase each player their game polo's, but to also help pay for our team dinners at all levels. If we all team together and work hard on this, then we can ensure less out-of-pocket money from our football family members.

Thanks again for your time and patience. I can’t wait for the season to begin. See you at the BBQ on Friday.

Coach Heppner
Go Red Hawks!!!