Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Athletics topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Coach and athletics director outline multi-year football rebuild focused on youth feeder programs
Summary
Athletics staff presented a plan to revive the football program through youth outreach, feeder programs (flag and fifth/sixth grade contact/tackle), summer camps and increased parent volunteer support; trustees and community members offered ideas for posters, calendars and coaching help.
Athletics Director Darren Phillips and football coach Franklin Trent presented a football development plan aimed at increasing participation through youth outreach and feeder programs. Coach Trent said the program will "look at the rosters of the kids that play this year in grades 7 through 11" and emphasized the need for early youth engagement: "the only way that I feel like we really can bring football back is we have to get more kids playing, at earlier ages."
Trent described tactics including roster reviews, small-group outreach to current players, partnerships with local youth programs (flag football and clinics), and off-season conditioning (weight room, 7-on-7) and suggested parent commitment letters or similar expectations to ensure participation through the season. He also described recreating traditions (player dress on game days) to cultivate community pride and retention.
Board members and community participants volunteered to help with publicity and coaching and suggested reviving poster campaigns, calendars and cross-age mentoring (varsity players working with younger students). A parent and former player offered to share playbooks and run youth clinics.
Next steps: athletics staff will continue outreach to families, coordinate summer clinics and report back to the board on program recruitment progress.
