Let the Training Begin!!!

Parents and Players,

I hope that all of you had a blessed holiday season, and a great New Year. It's that time of year again for us to prepare these young men for the 2011 football season. We started our training today with an incredibly low number of participants. Our training will be Monday through Thursday, with our preliminary training starting at 2:45, followed by our training in the weight room at 3:30. My expectation is that our players work hard and efficiently to maximize their training in a reasonable time. You can expect them to be finished by 4:00 - 4:15 at the latest. All in-sport athletes can train with me twice a week - Monday and Wednesday morning - at 6:15. Our departed senior leaders Jake Duzey and Christian Conley were able to come in during these times last year and still prove to be extremely effective in their sport.

Also, I would like to schedule a meeting with our football mothers involved in much of our planning from last year - along with any of the new football mothers who would like to help- for next week. Please email me with the times and days that are the most convenient, so I can plan accordingly.

I have also put many of our young men on progress reports for the remainder of the school year. Every Friday morning, each player is to come to my office, grab a progress report, and then have it filled out by all of their teachers throughout the day. At the end of the day, they will bring the report back to me so I can make a copy and keep it on file. They will bring the original copy home to you for your records as well. Many of the young men on progress reports are good students; they just need a friendly reminder that the bald guys - along with their parents – are more concerned with their success in education. If this is something that would interest you, feel free to contact me and I'll make sure we incorporate this into our daily Friday routine.

Although I'm battling a 101 temperature the last two days - no I won't be in school tomorrow either until I'm well - I'm still incredibly focused and determined that the 2011 season will be a positive one for all Athens football fans alike. We cannot let the off-season expectations that our seniors from last year have established for us go by the wayside. As always, I'm looking forward to all of us strengthening the belief that we will be the most dominant football team in the state incredibly soon.

Talk to you soon,

Coach Heppner