Nice finish to a great season

Very proud of the effort today as 6th grade Orange defeated Germantown Blue 19-13 to finish the season.

For the game, I was very pleased at how the players responded to adversity. We fumbled the opening kickoff and gave up a quick touchdown right after that. However, the players responded strongly and never repeated their mistakes, and got better as the game went on. They also stepped up to the moment in the 4th quarter, picking up a crucial 4th down conversion that enabled us to kneel down to run out the clock.

For the season, I simply can't say enough about this group of kids. We started the season 1-3, and finished the season 3-1 with the only loss during that period being a one-point loss to a very good Lake Country program.

I told the players after the game that they'll always be very special to myself and the other coaches, and that they were one of the best "teams" that I ever coached. I say "teams" in quotation marks because I am not simply speaking in terms of wins and losses, yards gained, points scored, or those kind of things. Rather, this team had great team chemistry and was full of unselfish players that were willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the team. They also seemed to get along very well as a group, and we did not have any bullying, cliques, or inappropriate behavior towards a teammate all season long.

This was a great group of good character kids, and not just good players. It was an honor to coach all of them and I can't wait to see how much progress they make as they get older and continue to improve.

A reminder to all players and parents to attend the banquet, the information should be on the website http://www.hartfordyouthfootball.com/. The banquet is always a very fun night for all players to be recognized and honored, and it gives the kids one last chance to come together as a team before next season.

A great thanks to the players, my assistant coaches and team managers (who were absolutely great this season), the youth football volunteers and most importantly the parents for everything you did to make this season a great success.

Thanks again, and I hope to see all of you at the banquet!

Mike

One more to go

The pizza party tonight was a nice way to end the practice season on a fun note. We appreciate the effort that the players have given us all season, and hopefully we will put forth a strong effort on Saturday against Germantown.

Reminder: the game will be behind the high school, not at town hall. Players should wear their black jerseys but bring their white jerseys in case there is a mix-up. Game starts at noon, warm-ups will start at 11:00 as usual.

See you then.

Practice cancelled

As you all know by now, practice tonight was cancelled due to the high winds, wetness of the field, and the fact that the practice was set to be shortened anyway.

I apologize for the late notice in this decision. In fact, I spoke to several parents earlier in the day and told them that practice was going to still take place. As we discussed at our 6th grade parents meeting early in the year, at 6th grade we often defer to what the higher grades are doing (especially 8th) in deciding whether to cancel practice or not. By the time the decision was made to cancel 6th grade, it was in the afternoon and I had a work commitment that prevented me from calling the parents.

Rob Whitemore was kind enough to send out an e-mail to parents, but for those that did not receive it we waited at the high school to notify parents that were dropping off their kids. In the future I hope that these decisions are more coordinated and uniform...that issue may be brought up at the next board meeting.

In any event, I thank you all for your patience and understanding. The pizza party will take place during normal practice hours on Thursday (the players do NOT need to wear their pads and practice uniforms).

Thank you and please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions. See you Thursday.

Practice this week; Germantown Blue on Saturday

Hello everyone,

We now know that our final game of the season will be against Germantown Blue at the field behind the high school this coming Saturday. Hopefully we will finish the season on a positive note...Germantown has played an extremely difficult schedule this year and will be hungry to finish their season strong. Should be a very good game.

Couple of notes....if you have not yet heard, I am sad to announce the passing of Daniel Goodreau, one of the team managers for 7th grade Orange. Memorial Services are tonight, and for more information you can check the web site, http://www.hartfordyouthfootball.com/.

Second, please note two changes to this week's practice schedule. Tomorrow we will be ending practice at 6:00PM to allow the players time to come home and then cheer on the Varsity in their home playoff game against Madison Memorial. In addition, please keep in mind that Thursday will be a pizza party for the players, my treat. There will be no practice on Thursday, but the players should still show up at the practice fields. We will likely use the shed for the party.

Thanks, and I'll see you tonight.

Heck of an effort

Very strong effort today against Lake Country...it was a shame that somebody had to lose that game. It's an even bigger shame that it was us who lost, 7-6.

However, after the game I told the players that I thought they gave everything that they had. Though we came up on the losing end of this one, it was definitely not for a lack of effort. The kids gave us their hearts and played a very physical and tough game. We had a good week of preparation, and a good effort in pregame warmups.

Defensively we knew we would have to be disciplined against the Lake Country offense, and we were. The only points we allowed came after a blocked punt put us in a difficult position.

Offensively, we hurt ourselves badly with penalties. Too often we put ourselves in first-and-15 or first-and-20 situations, and couldn't dig ourselves out. We also had some tough penalties go against us in key situations (such as a 4th quarter quarterback sneak that would have resulted in a first down). Some of the penalties were simply mental mistakes...some of the penalties were confusion about personnel groups....and some penalties were just part of playing the game.

I need to do a better job of having the players prepared for their personnel groups...we had a lot of moving parts today and sometimes there was confusion over who was supposed to be in and who wasn't. It's something that happens at the youth level, especially with all the information we give the kids...but we know that down the road they will get it and be better football players for it.

This will be the final week of practice, with our final game on Saturday. I told the players that if we sharpen up mentally and give the same kind of physical effort that we gave today, next week's score will take care of itself.

For the last week of practice, things will be a little bit different than they normally are. I am going to try to make an effort to meet with each player individually and discuss how the season went. We will talk about the player's positive attributes as well as the things that they can work on going into next season.

Finally, Thursday's practice will be a pizza party courtesy of coach Mike. If they behave themselves, of course.

Thanks, and we'll see you for practice on Monday.

9/21 practice

Last night's pregame practice consisted of the usual formula - offense, defense and special teams - but we also did another "chalk talk" session in the shed. These sessions over the past few weeks have helped the players visualize what we are trying to accomplish on any given play, and I feel that it has been very helpful overall.

Saturday's game is at home against Lake Country at noon, warmups at 11AM.

Also, next week there may be a few changes to the practice schedule. On Tuesday, 10/26, practice will end early at 6PM due to the hartford varsity playoff game. Also, it is getting dark earlier and earlier, and we are ending practice closer to 6:30PM overall.

See you Saturday!

9/18 and 9/19 practices

Back to work this week with the final two games approaching. Last night's offensive practice was spent refining all of the plays, as we are essentially done installing the offense.

Tonight we will start with a "chalk talk" segment in the shed, and follow that up with our usual defensive practice. The players have been begging for "sharks and minnows," and if they behave themselves and work hard, perhaps I will reward them.

Lake Country next - at home

It looks like our next game will be at home against Lake Country Red - IE, the youth program for the Hartland Arrowhead area.

Lake Country always has a very good program and it will be a good battle for our team. Fortunately we get to play them at home, and we have this week to prepare.

Game will be at noon. We'll see you for Monday's practice.

Milwaukee Custer

A great effort by the players today led to a 12-0 victory over Milwaukee Custer.

The theme of the game, as the coaches told the players in pregame, was "time to step up." There were many players missing in today's game due to injury, illness, or otherwise, and there were a number of players who were placed in positions that they would not normally be used to. So we told the players that they had to be ready, at any moment, to have their number called because that is what the reality of the situation called for.

Two moments showed perfectly that the players met the challenge. First, when up 6-0 in the fourth quarter and trying to burn the clock, we faced a fourth and one and converted with some power running. Later that drive, on 4th and 9, we called a run play to the right side (which some players were not used to playing, but had to due to injury/illness) and got a great push from our offensive line, and after our running back broke a tackle we not only converted the fourth down we ended up scoring on the play.

Still was not a perfect game - things could have been a lot different if not for a few Custer penalties - but the players deserve a ton of credit for their effort. They "stepped up" when called upon, won the mental battle, and ended up on the winning side.

Back to work on Monday as usual, acting like our record is 0-0 as we always say. Look forward to seeing you then, and hopefully some of our players feel better and get healthy so that we can finish the season strong.

10/12 practice

Last night's defensive practice was pretty physical and brought out a lot of enthusiasm and aggressiveness from the players. I was happy to see that as we prepare for Saturday's game against Milwaukee Custer.

No practice tonight, pregame practice Thursday...see you then.

10/11 practice

Back to work today, trying to build momentum going into the game against Milwaukee Custer. We began the practice by doing another "chalk talk" session...some good questions and interesting points from the players led to a very helpful discussion. I think these sessions the past couple of weeks have helped clarify what we are trying to accomplish, and helps the players visualize their assignments a little bit better.

Tomorrow will be a tough, physical, defensive practice. Tonight was a little bit more brain work and review...tomorrow will be more brawn and heart.

A reminder that practices will likely start ending earlier and earlier given the lack of daylight.

See you tomorrow.

Milwaukee Eastside

A good effort this morning as we defeated Milwaukee Eastside 32-0.

I liked the way several players stepped up, as we had numerous players miss this week's game and some players were out of position. However, the players resonded to the challenge with our all-around strongest performance of the season.

Milwaukee Eastside deserves a lot of credit - they had a difficult time getting enough players to suit up and their players played hard and never gave up. They had a nice kick return, and a long touchdown run for them was called back due to penalty. So it was nice to see both squads play hard regardless of the score.

The message to the players after the game: just like you cannot get too down when things don't go well, you cannot get too high when you win.

Hopefully we can keep this momentum going into next week. Practice Monday from 4:45-6:45 (although parents may want to start arriving earlier for pickup as it is getting dark earlier and earlier).

See you then.

Pregame practice, Saturday game

Nice pregame practice this evening as we brushed up on everything that we needed to before taking on Milwaukee Eastside at Town Hall.

A REMINDER TO PARENTS: THE GAME IS AT 10:30AM, NOT NOON.

At the beginning of the season I told all parents to go by the AAYFL.ORG website as it contains the official schedule. However, the AAYFL website has NOT been updated, and therefore parents should ignore it for this week. The game will be at 10:30AM, players to arrive by 9:30AM with their black home jerseys.

Thanks, and we'll see you Saturday.

Important note to parents: Milwaukee Eastside

ATTENTION PARENTS:

Our game at Milwaukee Eastside on Saturday 10/9 is going to be at 10:30AM, not at noon as originally scheduled. The website may/may not reflect this, including the AAYFL website. However, the league HAS switched the game to 10:30AM at Town Hall. We're asking the players to be there at 9:30AM wearing their black home jerseys.

Any questions please feel free to let me know. Thank you.

10/4 practice

Last night we started practice by doing a little "chalk talk" in the shed. The coaches wanted the players to see the big picture in terms of what we are trying to accomplish on certain plays. It also gave us a great opportunity for the players to get interactive and ask a lot of questions, which they did.

With more than a couple of players dinged up, it also let us take a break from a more physical practice to sharpen up what we've learned. Nothing new will be added this week.

Tonight's practice will focus on defense and will be more physical than yesterday. See you then.

Tosa East and practice next week

Another tough one this week as we lost to Tosa East 23-0. However, as I told the players after the game, there was no shame in their performance....Tosa East has an excellent football team and the difference in this game was a few big plays that Tosa made that we couldn't match. On the whole, I thought the effort was strong and we just need to clean up a few things to get back on track.

We were caught a little bit off-guard by Tosa's passing game, including a touchdown pass on the first play of the game and a halfback pass shortly afterwards. Those plays caught us napping a little bit, and we have to be more disciplined in our pass defense. But we will not face too many teams that are able to throw (and kick!) like Tosa was, and if we sharpen our game up going into next week everything should be fine.

Next week's practices will be from 4:45PM-6:45PM due to the sunlight gradually changing. The coaches realize that many parents have work commitments and simply will not be able to get their son to practice by 4:45PM, and we will be understanding of that. However, if at all possible, we'd like to start practice at 4:45 for the rest of the season. Please start coming earlier to pick up your son, since it is getting dark earlier and earlier.

Hoping for a strong week of practice to carry over into the weekend. See you Monday.