A new season of Campolindo football is officially underway and the varsity team is preparing for it with a revamped roster. The team puts their efforts on display every Friday night for all the fans who attend the games. Behind the touchdown celebrations and the crowd’s roar lies resilience, dedication, and maximum effort. While fans enjoy watching the team, the grind spent throughout the week to assemble the final product may never cross their mind.
The endeavor and energy spent throughout the week are unlike other sports. Football is a journey from the first whistle to the last game of the season. And it doesn’t end there. Players have to prepare for the next year of football before they know it. Every play on the field represents countless hours of conditioning, strategizing, and honing skills that go unseen by the everyday fan.
Football is not just a fall sport. Like many sports, football practices start during the summer to prepare for the long, sweaty season. The team holds practices, team activities, and fake games against each other. However, all of this comes without equipment. There is a rule in California from a bill passed in 2021 stating that “A tackle football team shall not hold a full-contact practice during the off-season.” Due to this California law, the players on all three football teams cannot practice full contact throughout the summer. Senior Blaise Clancy, who plays linebacker and running back, described the summer practices saying, “It’s not really real football.” While there is preparation leading up to the season, the first practice is on the first day of school. That day the players put on the pads and get to work.
Nevertheless, football practice is always on whether it is being in the weight room, studying plays, or watching film. Film is an important part of the build-up to a game. You learn more about the way you play as a team and how your opponent plays. The team holds team meetings during lunch and watches the other team’s film. They also watch film after school, sometimes over the weekend. The day after or the weekend after a game the players would watch their own film to reflect on their performance from Friday.
When watching film, players can identify their strengths and weaknesses and improve on anything they feel is needed. The opposing teams have to share their film with the team they are facing allowing teams to see what they are like. Senior offensive lineman Elliot Frick says, “I think it’s crucial. I think that as far as ‘the better player goes,’ it comes down to who watched more film.” Film provides an understanding of opponents’ strategies, formations, and preferences, giving the team a small advantage when preparing for upcoming matchups.
Football is a full-week sport, so one of the sport’s biggest challenges is not on the field but off the field. School is an important part of their week so like any sport they have the challenge of figuring that out with their sports team. It is the athlete’s task to balance school and sports throughout the season. The student-athletes don’t have too much time after practice. They have to plan so they are not stressing over homework after practice.
Practices for the varsity team are every day, along with game days on Friday. Throughout the practices, the team does offense and defensive sets. They start by warming up with their stretches and then move on to simple drills like the 5-man, the sled, and the gauntlet. Then, they run a scout offense they believe the opposing team will be running so the defense can prepare. Afterward, they run a scout defense and have the starting offense run their scheme against the adversary team’s defense. They do this Monday through Wednesday and then go up to the field and practice their special teams on Thursdays. Kicking, punting, and returning kicks can easily determine the outcome of a game. You must prepare for everything thrown at you during the game for both sides of the ball and special teams.
Practices are very different from the games. The four practices throughout the week are all preparation for the game. The passion is not as high and the players do not have the adrenaline of the games. This is not just in football. In every sport, players usually feel a higher level of intensity during games. Max Robeson, a Senior linebacker, describes the difference between practice and games by saying, “In practice, you are allowed to mess up and go back and perfect what you messed up- but a game is unforgiving.” Practices are to minimize those mistakes so they are nonexistent on gameday. Elliot Frick believes that “You play in the game how you practice.” The better the players do in practice, the more prepared they will be for a game. The four practices throughout the week become an opportunity for the players to be as prepared as possible for the game.
All of this is the work put in throughout the week and even before the season starts, but the day of the game is different. Every player treats gameday differently. The Varsity players do not play until 7:00 PM so before home games the players have enough time to prepare however they want. The captains for the week speak at the podium, and Coach Macy speaks while everyone is getting fired up. For away games, it’s different. For home games, players have a lot more time and can do many things before being at the locker room at about 5. The gameday preparation depends on every player. Every away game depends on the opponent, so the time players must be on the bus varies. They usually have an hour before getting on the bus so they have to prepare faster. While players feel well prepared, they sometimes feel more ready for some games than others. The feeling of playing at someone else’s stadium is very different and Max Robeson describes it as a “…foreign feeling and you’re uncomfortable but eventually, you’ll settle.”
The Varsity Team plays at 7:00 PM on Fridays. They put in all of this work for one day every week. The games determine how much effort was spent in preparation for the game. It is of great importance to have fans attend the games. Elliot Frick says, “We like to see that there are people there cheering for us and supporting us. It gives us hope if we are down a couple of points. It gives us a reason to play.” Whether the games are home or away fans, attending the game creates a better atmosphere for the Cougars. Make sure to go to their games and support the team.
