The football team has been working overtime in order to try and improve their performance for the coming year. To save time on the field and to encourage teamwork, the football team now meets every Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch to discuss strategy and leadership.

Meetings on Tuesdays consist of discussions about defensive schemes and positions. Coaches follow the policy that when players know what to expect, more time can be spent on practicing. “If you know what to do before you go on the field, there won’t be any easy questions that waste our time,” junior center Justin Nini said.

Junior defensive back Matthew Bordbari also welcomes the extra time spent practicing. “[With practice] your actions become automatic and your reaction is much faster so when the ball snaps; you’re already in position and at where you need to be.”

Defensive coordinator Mark Weisman leads the Tuesday meetings. A believer in the “practice makes perfect” principle, Weisman ensures that every player is on the same page at each meeting.

Activities include making goals for the next week, going over playbooks, watching video clips and sometimes taking quizzes or tests. “I approach football as a class, like an academic subject with assessments,” Weisman said.

In contrast, the Wednesday meetings focus on developing teamwork and leadership. During the meeting, a leadership council made up of next year’s seniors gather and learn about what it means to be a leader on the team. Nini believes that the meetings will help the seniors transition. “[With the leadership council] the underclassmen have a group to look up to and ask questions, and we’re more like a family instead of individuals,” Nini said.

During the leadership meetings, each member is given a role. “We learn about what we need to do on and off the field to make the team better, and my roles include being punctual, coming to practice and working hard,” Bordbari said.

“We talk about character, integrity...the important aspects of someone who people will follow,” head coach Matt McGinn said. “A big part of football is mental, and you have to do what you say and back up your word in order to have the confidence of a leader.” McGinn explains that the teammates answer questions such as “can I trust you?”, “are you committed to excellence?” and “do you care about others?”

McGinn also places an emphasis on applying the lessons learned in the leadership meetings outside of football. “It’s not just about football, but also on school and everything else you do,” McGinn said. “Unfortunately our society is not focused on teaching integrity or character, and I want to make sure that [the football players] can learn about these qualities and grow up to be good citizens.”

One area of concern is the number of players on the varsity squad. “Normally a school with our population should have 45 to 65 players on varsity; last year we only had 25,” Weisman said. Possible reasons detracting athletes from joining the team include the time commitment and risks of injury. “The season starts when the season ends, we’re always practicing and thinking about football everyday,” Bordbari said.

Bordbari disagrees with the notion that football has a high risk of injury. “If you do things properly you won’t get hurt.” Weisman also adds that his only injuries from football occurred during college football. “Compared to the number of injuries at the college and professional levels of football, high school has a relatively small percentage of serious injuries,” he said.

According to Weisman, there will be roughly 12 senior football players graduating this year. “It could change the team, because we lose a lot of leaders, but I believe [the juniors] can become leaders and lead the team to a good season,” Nini said. Weisman agrees that the seniors graduating can possibly impinge on the team; however, McGinn is not worried. “All high school teams deal with that, so it is normal from year to year,” McGinn said.