Parent
Packet
Bradley Central Football
I would like to start off by saying that I appreciate the opportunity to coach your son. I feel very fortunate to be the head coach at a school that has such an HONORED TRADITION and RELENTLESS PRIDE in football since 1916. I understand my job as the head football coach is to win as many football games as possible, but it is how we prepare to win football games on Friday nights that is most important. I believe through the game of football that the players will learn many life lessons such as WORK ETHIC, TEAM-WORK, UNSELFISHNESS, CHARACTER, PRIDE and OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. Through blood, sweat, and tears these players will form a bond with teammates and coaches that will last a lifetime. Once you become a “BEAR”, you join the “BEAR FAMILY” for life.
I have coaches on my staff that are very knowledgeable in the game of football, but more importantly they are men of character and will treat your son the same way they would treat their own. The coaching staff will LOVE and DISCIPLINE them. Football is an emotional game and our coaching staff will coach with emotion. Family is very important to me as a person, and the players on this team and the ones that I have coached before are part of my FAMILY. We believe and will stress the importance of being a FAMILY with the football team.
ACADEMICS are important and will come before football. We (coaches and guidance counselors) will track each one of our player’s grades. If your son needs any tutoring, we have teachers that will help before or after school as well as teammates or coaches that will help as well. We do ask that players try and schedule tutoring around football practice and workouts. A bit of advice is to take the ACT as often and early as possible instead of waiting until your junior or senior year. One of our coaches, Coach Stevison, will be teaching an ACT Prep class this year at school, and we are encouraging our football players to take this course to increase their score.
Our goal at BRADLEY is to WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! To WIN a CHAMPIONSHIP, my philosophy is that players, coaches, administration, teachers, and parents all have to be COMMITTED. I will ask that each player invest a lot of time at becoming a better football player. At the same time, I encourage our players to play other sports, and that will not hurt their playing time in football. If a player is not in another sport, I do ask that they attend Pre-Season Workouts. Like many sports, we will train year round, except for mandatory DEAD PERIODS.
I will cover other topics and go into detail later in packet, but one thing I must cover is the TEAM is bigger than any one PLAYER or COACH. This program was here before and will be here long after all of us move on. The TEAM will come first. Our job as coaches is to develop players and do what is best for BRADLEY’S PROGRAM. I have TWO TEAM rules. 1) DO THE RIGHT THING 2) Always respond to a coach by saying, “YES SIR / NO SIR”. We will give every kid the opportunity to play no matter a family’s financial situation. We do ask that every player helps in fundraising and that every parent gets involved in our Booster Club. We share our football gate money with non-revenue sports at our school so we need to raise outside funds to operate the football program.
Thanks
Damon Floyd
Head Football Coach
Bradley Central High School
Office – 423-476-0602
E-Mail – dflod@bradleyschools.org
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Football Equipment
It is very costly to equip each player on our team. We will always buy the best equipment to make sure every player is safely equipped. These prices can vary with the sizes and quantity that we are buying at a particular time. The past couple of years we are fortunate that our roster has grown to over 100 players, but that requires more equipment and maintenance. Helmets cannot be used after 10 years and must be replaced. Once we issue equipment, that player is responsible for his equipment and cloth. If player is unable to turn in all equipment and cloth at the end of the season, then that player will be charged.
HELMET - $250 - $300
SHOULDER PADS - $250 - $300
MOUTHPIECE - $1.00
Practice Jersey - $20 - $25
Home Game Jersey - $100
Away Game Jersey - $100
Game Pants - $50-60
Practice Pants – $0 (Old Game Pants)
Girdles (include Hip, Butt, Thigh Pads) - $70
Knee Pads - $7.00
Cleats - $75.00 - $100
Mesh Bag (used for equipment and Wash Uniforms) - $5.00
Reconditioning Equipment - $8,000 – $10,000(year to year is different depending on previous year)
That’s OVER $1,000 A PLAYER!!!
**ALL EQUIPMENT AND UNIFORMS NEED TO BE TURNED IN IMMEDIATLEY AFTER GAMES TO BE WASHED**
PLAYING TIME
I will try and be respectful when discussing this issue. I understand parents do not always agree with coach’s decisions, but IT IS THE COACHES DECISION. I will discuss what your son needs to do to become a better football player, but I will not discuss or compare other players with a parent. As long as I am the head coach, myself and the coaches on this team will give the players the opportunity to earn playing time. My philosophy as a coach is we will play whoever gives the TEAM the best chance to WIN the game. Every player has opportunities to prove themselves during practice. I also want to be clear that it is not guaranteed that everyone gets to play in a game or scrimmage. High school is not like little league where everyone is required to play a certain amount of time. I would love to play everyone in every game, but the focus will be what it takes to win the game and improve the program for the future.
BOOSTER CLUB
Many people that serve in our booster club are parents of current players, and we understand most of the work will fall to them. However, we have several alumni who serve in the booster club and do a great job, so membership is open to all. Bradley Central High School has many successful alumni that annually support our tradition rich football program, but many in our community have, for one reason or another, lost touch with the football program. Since most parents in our community are alumni of Bradley High School, the Booster Club provides a great opportunity to reach out to these alumni and ask them to again support the Bear Nation. Outside funds are essential to run this program because the money we make from football games is shared with the rest of our athletic department (as occurs at most schools). We do not ask players to pay to play. I want every student to have the chance to play football so I refuse to allow someone’s financial situation to keep them from playing. As shown before it is very expensive to equip each player. Football is a physical sport and equipment must get replaced often. The beginning of each year I make sure that we prioritize SAFETY FIRST by ensuring that players have quality Helmets and Shoulder pads that fit. We want a first class program and there are many other things that must be covered other than equipment that the player is wearing. Please give your email address to Tiffany Swafford, because we will send a mass email out to inform parents about meeting dates and times. During these meetings we will discuss fundraisers and jobs for people to assist.
Travel expense
Field Maintenance (Game & Practice)
Pre & post game meals
Practice field equipment (sleds, balls, cones, kicking tees)
Video Equipment
Banquets (District, Team Plaques)
Office supplies (Computers, Paper, Ink, Markers)
Coaching Clinics
Coaches Headsets
Website
Editing software
Cleaning supplies (Detergent, Toilet paper, Soap, Mops, Brooms)
Facility Maintenance & Improvements
We will have fundraisers that will assist in covering in these costs
Sponsor Packages – BEAR CLAW, GOLD, BLACK
Golf Tournament
Program Ads
Field Signs
***Please help as we invest in our student-athletes!!!
PHYSICALS
Every athlete must have a current physical to participate in any sport. Forms can be printed from the website tssaa.org. We will have a time each year for student-athletes to receive a physical at Bradley high school. The physical will cover the athlete for one year and cover all sports.
INSURANCE
We have a supplemental insurance through the school, which will help in covering copays and deductibles that primary insurance does not. However this does not cover all of the expense. Your insurance will be the primary insurance. Injury Report Form must filled out and filed within 30 days.
TEAM WEBSITE
BRADLEYFOOTBALL.COM
We will try and post all schedules and upcoming events on website. This will be the easiest way to keep up with information regarding the team. We will also use the website to promote our program in a positive matter.
MEDIA
In this day and age we must educate our players on proper media etiquette. Media includes TV, Newspapers, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or any other social output. When using any type of social media, players must represent their team and school in a positive manner. We will always show respect to our opponents. Obviously this matter is too much to cover in a short paragraph. Remember to use good judgment and be respectful since you are representing your family, school, and team at ALL TIMES.
DEAD PERIOD
Dead Period: No coaching, observing, or contact between coaches and players in the sport is allowed. There is no practice, no open facilities, and no weight training/conditioning.
End of Season until Completion of 3 weeks (21 consecutive days) – Dead period
Summer Dead Period – Try and schedule summer vacations during this time every year, so no practice or conditioning will be missed. It is always the last week of June and first week of July every year.
COLLEGE RECRUITING
Let me start by saying I do not get players scholarships, but colleges give out scholarships to players that they feel can help their program. I will assist in any way possible to help the process. First, you must be eligible academically. 1) You must have a certain core GPA and high enough ACT / SAT score. 2) You must have the ability to play at the next level. Most schools want to see players at one day camps. A one day camp is where the player goes to that schools campus and will get height, weight and 40 times etc… The coaches will get to evaluate the player in person. New technology has helped with the efficiency of recruiting. We use HUDL as a team. HUDL is an internet based software where we as coaches perform our breakdown of opponents’ game film, but it also where players can go and make their own highlights from game film. If colleges request film on players I can email them highlights and game film in a matter of minutes.
COMMITMENT
We understand that we are asking you and your son to make a great commitment to be part of the BEAR family. He will be asked to devote a lot of time and effort year round. We have very high expectations and team goals here at BRADLEY and we feel we must work extremely hard on and off the field. Attendance / Participation is very important. This level of commitment we expect teaches your son to be dedicated to his FAMILY, CAREER, and GOALS as adult as well.
LETTERMAN JACKET
This is a great way to honor our players and is great memorabilia for a lifetime. We feel every player on the team is valuable, but these jackets need to be EARNED. Our booster club will purchase jackets for players that reach the criteria.
CRITERIA
Play significant amount of snaps on Friday nights
Has been on the TEAM Freshman through Junior year and has had high attendance during the season and during off-season conditioning
FACILITIES
Our Facilities include the locker-room, game, and practice field. Inside of our locker-room we have a film room which has 50 seats, and this is where we watch game film of our opponents as well as our own game and practice film as a team. Also in our locker-room we have showers and restrooms that we share with our wrestling team as well as some PE classes. Since our locker-room is used by others, I stress that each player should have their own lock and use it. As a school we have one weight room that is shared by all sports and PE classes, and I ask that our players take PRIDE in facilities and take part in keeping all areas clean. Our team will be responsible for keeping the locker room clean, we will divide players into groups and they will be responsible for a week at a time. If certain players are not helping, then I expect players to tell me and I will handle this with each individual. We have an equipment room with a washer and dryer so we will wash all practice and game uniforms.
HAZING/BULLYING
This will NOT be accepted. There is no initiation into our program. As I have said before we are a FAMILY. All players are important to this team and everyone will be treated with respect. If there is any inappropriate behavior going on I expect players to let me know immediately.
INJURIES
If a player gets injured, he needs to let myself and our trainer know. All Injuires will be treated according to severity of injury. While injured a conditioning/rehabilitation will be developed by our trainer. Our main objective will to get the player healthy and back on the field. CONCUSSIONS – Please see our link on Bradleyfootball.com under
WEIGHT ROOM
My philosophy as the Head Coach is to spend as much time in the weight room as possible. Football is a physical sport and in order to compete at the highest level our players need to be as strong as possible. We will focus our lifting program on training the core through explosive lifts that require multi-joint movements such as power-cleans and snatches. We will always stress proper technique and until technique is mastered then your son will not lift heavy weight. Proper technique is essential to prevent injuries and to enable your son to get stronger. Incoming freshman will not be allowed to lift heavy weight until the spring semester of their freshman year, when more one on one time with a coach can insure proper technique. Through the weight room players will become stronger, more explosive and faster. I was fortunate enough to learn from some of the best strength coaches in the nation and our staff continues every off season to learn as much as possible from clinics and visits to different universities and professional teams. I break up the each year into 2 different seasons 1) In-Season 2) Off-Season. During the season we will lift 2-3 times a week performing 3-6 exercises with low reps to maintain strength, and work out soreness from games and practice. Off -Season our players will take off for the mandatory dead period and then start our weight training with relearning proper technique. Starting in January we will begin a 14 week program based on percentages of maximum weight lifted on certain lifts. During this 14 week period players will try to gain as much strength as possible. The past 3 years we have had a team weight lifting competition, which we have won the past 2 years. We have also had the strongest pound for pound player 2 of last 3 years. After the 14 week program, we will have our spring practice. Summer workouts begin when school lets out, and we will offer workouts from 6:00 to 8:30 during the month of June. We will spend an hour lifting weights and one hour of Position Specific Drills, Speed Training (Form and Resistance Running), and Conditioning. Next will be Dead Period, and once that ends we will begin our In-Season lifting while installing our Offense, Defense, and Special Team schemes. Passing Leagues will also start right after summer dead period and provide an opportunity for our skill players to hone their craft before the season begins.
WHY
Improve as a Football Player
Get as Strong and Explosive as possible (Speed, Flexibility, Power, Endurance)
Off-Season – Gain Strength, Speed Training
Pre-Season – Maintain Strength Gains, Speed Training, Conditioning
In-Season – Maintain Strength, Conditioning
Mental Toughness
Prevent Injuries
Develop Team Unity (Find out WHO we can DEPEND on)
Develop Confidence (Teams who train hard know when Season Starts that they DESERVE to be the BEST)
HOW ATTITUDE, ACCOUNTABILITY, RELENTLESS EFFORT, TOUGHNESS, PERFORMANCE
We Get What We Emphasize – Enthusiasm Breeds Energy, Energy Breeds Effort, Effort Breeds Excellence
Technique – Make them do it right
Be Disciplined – Be Early or Pay
Work Hard – Make them Pay
Create an Intense Environment
Incentives – Gatorades (NOT TAKING DAYS OFF)
Competition – Winner or Loser
Focus on Ground Based Multi Joint Movements to train the Core– Squat, Cleans, Snatches
*** If a player is injured, tell a coach and we will modify workout***
SPRING PRACTICE
During the spring, we have the opportunity to practice 10 days with pads and scrimmage 2 different teams. In the past, we have practiced in the month of May, but the schedule could change from year to year. TSSAA allows 15 days to get in 10 practice days. We have tried to spread them out and if we have bad weather we will wait and practice another day. If a player participates in a spring sport, then that sport comes first. Playing other sports will not hurt a player’s chances in football. If an athlete is not in a spring sport, then I expect him to participate in spring practice.
HEAT INDEX
The TSSAA Board of Control passed a proposal that requires a heat policy for all its member schools. The requirements of the policy include adjustments which must be made for activities depending on the heat index at the location where the activities take place. The TSSAA Heat policy is the minimum standard that member schools must follow. The TSSAA Heat policy will prohibit schools from practicing or competing when the heat index at the location of the activity is in excess of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. There is also am acclimation period. The acclimation period is a required 3 days in helmet and shoulder pads before a player can participate in full pads.
CHART - http://www.tssaa.org/Handbook/heatpolicy.pdf