9/8/13 - The Start of Giltner Week!

Hawks and friends of the Hawks,

A lot has happened since I last blogged.  I'll do my best to consolidate my thoughts but still get some things that need to be covered.


Shelton Game Comments:  It was good to get a game under our belts.  The outcome was not was everyone was hoping for.  First and foremost, Shelton has a very good team with lots of numbers.  They were a team that made it very deep into the playoffs last year and likely will again.  Even though the score was not a good indicator of this, the Hawks showed improvements in many areas from a year ago.  When the offense was able to execute, it can be very explosive very quickly.  The defense was in the correct positions (especially after half) but we were just not able to make tackles.  Last year after game #1 our offense was not "fluid" at all and defensively we just could not even get close enough to tackle.  Improvement is there and that shows a lot of promise of good things to come during the season.

Some concerns that I saw from this game include execution and not just for the first 1-2 seconds of each play but maintaining effort/execution for the duration of the play.  Don't quit until the whistle blows.

Staying Healthy:  For the betterment of our program, its important that every player does everything that they can to stay healthy.  After the Shelton game, we had some guys that took a beating playing both ways for an entire game.  Hopefully they took the coaches advice and either went to physical therapy in Aurora Saturday morning at 7 AM or stretched and iced as much as possible over the weekend.  We need each player as close to 100% for each practice during the week.  My hope is to have all bodies "on deck" for every practice.

We have a PT guy (Jordan) that comes to Hampton on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and will evaluate our athletes free of charge.  Also student athletes can receive free evaluations by going to the Memorial Health Physical Therapy offices in Aurora West of the hospital.  If you get to Aurora by 7 AM M-F, they will get you in, get you treatment and get you out so you can still get to school on time.  Please take advantage of these free sources.  They have been very good to us and kept many of our athletes able to go when otherwise they probably wouldn't be able to.

PLEAE INFORM THE COACHES OF ANY INJURIES THAT YOU MAY HAVE SO THEY CAN HELP YOU PROCEED WITH TREATMENT!

Links to pages:  I'm placed a new "widget" on the blog.  On the right had side, I've listed three links to places that likely would interest members/viewers on the blog.  If there are other links that you would like to see added to this list, please let me know and I"ll add them.

Stay tuned for more but out of time for now.

Coach Miller

DRINK WATER, DRINK WATER, DRINK WATER

As we start this week of practice, please make sure that you as an athlete are drinking lots of water.  Practice temps will be HOT.  There will be plenty of water breaks during practice but in order to avoid dehydration, student-athletes need to do more then just drink water during practice, they need to be drinking water throughout the day and at night.  They may cause more frequent trips to the bathroom but I think most would prefer an extra trip or two to the bathroom then a trip to the hospital.

Avoid energy drinks!  Most energy drinks actually deplete your system the necessary water needed to stay healthy and active.  Even sports drinks used in excess can get harmful.  Having some gatorade after a workout is ok, but once your heart rate returns to normal (resting) levels, water is the recommended fluid intake.

Week #2: Football Preseason

It is already the 2nd week of practice for the team and there have been some positives that are being seen by the coaching staff.  The team seems to be a lot more comfortable this year with our offense.  After revamping our entire offense last season, many of the upperclassmen have a good handle on it and are working with the young group to bring them a long.  Also, team unity seems to be growing as this group spends more and more time together.  Those will be some key components to our success this year.

Some areas that still need some work include:  defense (tackling and alignment), conditioning, special teams, and leadership.

Upcoming events:  We are still a couple weeks away from our first game but we will have a short practice/parent meeting this Friday towards the end of our schedules practice.  I anticipate utilizing the game field at about 5:30pm to run through some of our plays versus a defense and get some film on the players for their benefit to be able to watch online and self-evaluate.  ALL parents are welcome to come and watch.  I believe that some of the parents would like to discuss team meals and other functions that happen throughout our season.

If at any point during the season you have questions please contact me at jmiller@hamptonhawks.us or my office phone number is 402-725-3566.

Go Hawks!

Football Team Messaging Group for Parents

Here is the subscribing information for parents of all Hampton Football Players.  Subscribe to receiving information concerning upcoming events, practice changes, road trip information, etc.

Thanks in advance for your support.