Time To Train The Tiger Coaches ... Pop Warner Football! ... Our Community Service

Its time to train the coaches.  Football is coming and our young Pop Warner athletes will be hitting the fields in the next couple of weeks.  Some come with trepidation, can they really do it?  Others come with great anticipation ... they've been waiting for the first day of practice since they walked off the field of their last game last season.  They will soon be blended in to a wonderful team of Douglas Tigers.

 We spend a lot of time getting our coaches ready for the season.  The success of the season is directly attributable to the coaching staff.  Success in our program is not measured in wins, rather in the FUN every athlete had.  Did they learn a love of the game?  Did they get real knowledge of the game?  Did every athlete go to his/her next level? 

It is important that the coaches don't treat their athletes the way they were treated when they played - things have changed.  We don't watch atomic blasts in person while smoking cigarettes anymore ... we don't grab facemasks either.  Athletes today are empowered to perform, not threatened.  They are inspired to excellence, not motivated. 

 To achieve those results every child must be coached, taught.  Every athlete must know he is special.  Wins ... they are a by-product of good coaching.  We have taken a team all the way to the Pop Warner Superbowl in Florida with a team member that was autistic.  He got his minimum plays, and was featured in USA Today that year.  The team did well because they played as a team and were value driven, not win-driven.

 What will happen this year?  We must achieve our goals as stated above.  Beyond that ... who knows.  I will be giving the coaches clinics over the next few weeks to get their minds in the right mode.  We are blessed with having many fine coaches that absolutely get the right way to do things, and it shows in their athletes and on the field.  When our Tigers hit the field it is something to behold.  

 Our tremendous involvement with Pop Warner is our community service - we are working to improve our community by helping our youth learn values and how to be contributing members of society.  I recommend you get involved with the youth of your community - it is rewarding in many ways, most of which can't be measured.