Eagle 1
08-02-2012, 10:13 PM
I'm all for safety, but this is getting ridiculous. I read this today and I feel the same way coach Shipley does. While the honest coaches will abide by the rules, there will be several who won't. Personally, I hope we find a way around this (legally of course) and still get in some good practices.
What is the world coming to? We might as well start playing flag football.
Anyway, read for yourself and post your opinions.
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When football practice begins Monday, the sessions will be far different from what most former players, include those who graduated as recently as this past May, recall. “Two-a-days” as practices were long referred to, are on the endangered species list thanks to a University Interscholastic League ruling back in October.
According to the UIL’s new guidelines, two-a-days cannot occur during the first four days of practice unless the second workout is strictly a walk through — no contact, no conditioning. Once teams are eligible to conduct two practices in one day, such a schedule cannot occur on consecutive days. In other words, the new two-a-days can only be held every other day.
With the growing number of heat related ailments, and even deaths, that have occurred during preseason practices in recent years, the new guidelines imposed by the UIL have player safety in mind. While local coaches are in favor of keeping players healthy at all costs, the loss of valuable preseason practice time is troublesome.
“I’m not a big fan of the new change but I also appreciate the fact that they’re trying to protect kids,” said Brownwood head football coach and athletic director Bob Shipley. “We’re going to make the best of it. It will be whatever we make it out to be. If it’s about protecting kids, I’m all in.
“I imagine that there have been some coaches that have gone overboard with practices in the past. That’s typically why you see changes like this. Someone was possibly endangering kids and the UIL felt like they had to get involved.”
Bangs head football coach and athletic director Chuck Lipsey echoed similar sentiments.
“I understand what they’re trying to do with the safety of the kids, nobody wants to see them pass out or have a heat stroke,” Lipsey said, “but I don’t see a problem with the way it was. I think the concern of coaches is you don’t know where it’s going to stop. Each year it keeps changing and the next thing you know we won’t have two-a-days, and we don’t want that. The complaint of most coaches is being a little behind and missing some teaching time, but the most important thing is the safety of the kids.”
Early head football coach and athletic director Brad Bowden was out of town when contacted regarding his thoughts on the new practices and had not responded as of press time.
While both Shipley and Lipsey stated their intent to follow the UIL’s new guidelines, there is a worry that some coaches will attempt to find ways around the changes.
“I heard some coaches at (Texas High School Coaches Association) coaching school who are interpreting the rules differently and they aren’t really having a walk through, they’re just not practicing as hard,” Shipley said. “That’s the part that bothers me. I think there’s no way to misinterpret the rules. It’s plain and simple, only walking. So right off the bat there are guys getting an advantage by bending the rules. I don’t like it, but all I can control is what we do with the Lions so that’s what I’ll worry about.”
Another concern is how to squeeze in all the repetitions that normally took place in preseason practices into fewer workouts — which could lead to teams being behind schedule on development when the season openers arrive.
“That could be the case,” Lipsey said. “We’re going to have to organize practice a little different now, which is the downfall of all of it. It’s not going to affect us a whole lot, it knocks out our night practices where we worked on special teams and our two-minute offense, but everybody else is in the same boat. We’re going to go by the UIL guidelines. Right now as we’re sitting down as a staff and trying to make it all work.”
http://www.brownwoodtx.com/sports/high_school/article_3d6d3632-dc55-11e1-9fa0-001a4bcf887a.html
What is the world coming to? We might as well start playing flag football.
Anyway, read for yourself and post your opinions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
When football practice begins Monday, the sessions will be far different from what most former players, include those who graduated as recently as this past May, recall. “Two-a-days” as practices were long referred to, are on the endangered species list thanks to a University Interscholastic League ruling back in October.
According to the UIL’s new guidelines, two-a-days cannot occur during the first four days of practice unless the second workout is strictly a walk through — no contact, no conditioning. Once teams are eligible to conduct two practices in one day, such a schedule cannot occur on consecutive days. In other words, the new two-a-days can only be held every other day.
With the growing number of heat related ailments, and even deaths, that have occurred during preseason practices in recent years, the new guidelines imposed by the UIL have player safety in mind. While local coaches are in favor of keeping players healthy at all costs, the loss of valuable preseason practice time is troublesome.
“I’m not a big fan of the new change but I also appreciate the fact that they’re trying to protect kids,” said Brownwood head football coach and athletic director Bob Shipley. “We’re going to make the best of it. It will be whatever we make it out to be. If it’s about protecting kids, I’m all in.
“I imagine that there have been some coaches that have gone overboard with practices in the past. That’s typically why you see changes like this. Someone was possibly endangering kids and the UIL felt like they had to get involved.”
Bangs head football coach and athletic director Chuck Lipsey echoed similar sentiments.
“I understand what they’re trying to do with the safety of the kids, nobody wants to see them pass out or have a heat stroke,” Lipsey said, “but I don’t see a problem with the way it was. I think the concern of coaches is you don’t know where it’s going to stop. Each year it keeps changing and the next thing you know we won’t have two-a-days, and we don’t want that. The complaint of most coaches is being a little behind and missing some teaching time, but the most important thing is the safety of the kids.”
Early head football coach and athletic director Brad Bowden was out of town when contacted regarding his thoughts on the new practices and had not responded as of press time.
While both Shipley and Lipsey stated their intent to follow the UIL’s new guidelines, there is a worry that some coaches will attempt to find ways around the changes.
“I heard some coaches at (Texas High School Coaches Association) coaching school who are interpreting the rules differently and they aren’t really having a walk through, they’re just not practicing as hard,” Shipley said. “That’s the part that bothers me. I think there’s no way to misinterpret the rules. It’s plain and simple, only walking. So right off the bat there are guys getting an advantage by bending the rules. I don’t like it, but all I can control is what we do with the Lions so that’s what I’ll worry about.”
Another concern is how to squeeze in all the repetitions that normally took place in preseason practices into fewer workouts — which could lead to teams being behind schedule on development when the season openers arrive.
“That could be the case,” Lipsey said. “We’re going to have to organize practice a little different now, which is the downfall of all of it. It’s not going to affect us a whole lot, it knocks out our night practices where we worked on special teams and our two-minute offense, but everybody else is in the same boat. We’re going to go by the UIL guidelines. Right now as we’re sitting down as a staff and trying to make it all work.”
http://www.brownwoodtx.com/sports/high_school/article_3d6d3632-dc55-11e1-9fa0-001a4bcf887a.html