Eagles Team Parents
What a great opening week practice we had!!!
The kids were excellent listeners and were excited to play with their new (and returning) team mates.
- Great job to everybody
In this 1st practice we focused on 3 primary skills:
- Offensive Exchanges (CTR x QB & QB x RB)
- Defensive positions
- RB persuit & flag pulling (Sharks & Minos)
Offensive Exchanges (CTR x QB and QB x RB)
All the kids did really well w/ this (after we got the roles and timing down, we really started to click):
CTR x QB Exchange
- CTR stays down low looking for the QB’s hands, and on the snap makes sure to get the ball into the QB’s hands
- QB gets in position behind CTR w/ his hands open (clam-shell technique) ready to take the snap,
but also keeping his head up to see the defense and looking where his RB's position is
QB x RB Exchange
- QB takes the snap and turns to hand off the ball (whether this is to the side or behind, wherever the RB’s route is coming from)
- RB takes the handoff in a running stride and then turns up-field
- We were even able to touch on the fake handoff technique (tucking the ball down as RB goes by)
Great job to everybody
We'll continue working on this at our pre-game practice for our 1st game this weekend
Defensive Positions
Next, we were able to line the kids up into their initial defensive positions, and show them how to move together as a unit to converge on the ball carrier
- You may have heard us call this technique "forming our defensive boxes"
One of the hardest lessons to learn on defense is how to work together on defense
- The kids naturally want to go individually after the ball carriers to get the flag
- As 1st graders the kids are very good at pulling flags and moving quick off the snap to get to the ball carrier
- But at the same time, the ball carriers are quicker, and have a lot more elusive abilities as well
- Going forward, it really will take a team approach to "box" the ball carrier in between multiple defenders, and then swarming together to get to the flag (and not giving the RB any area to run away from the defense)
I think as we went through the practice, the kids became more and more comfortable working together on defense (and I saw a lot of good teamwork and pulling of flags)
Great job to everybody
We'll continue working on this at our pre-game practice for our 1st game this weekend
RB Pursuit and flag pulling
Finally we wrapped up the practice playing the kids' favorite game - Sharks & Minoes
- At 1st, the sharks really seemed to be struggling to get any of the minoes flag's
(I think the minoes made it through 3 consecutive times w/out anyone getting caught)
- But I kept reinforcing the "Shark Pack" mentality, and kept instructing them to key in one 1 minoe at a time
Once the sharks started talking to each other on defense, and working together, they started getting the mino's flags
- And towards the end of the game, I think the sharks were getting 1 -2 mino's flags on every run
With this mentality, I think we are going to play some great defense for this 1st game
Great job to everybody
With all the skills we practiced this week, and adding a couple remaining skills into this weekend’s pre-game practice, we should be ready to go for our 1st game.
Follow-up items:
Signed Forms:
If you didn't get a chance to submit all your signed forms (concussion & league wavier), please bring to the 1st game this weekend
Season Schedule:
The season schedule has been released.
- Attached is a Eagle's specific printable version (please use for your reference)
- If there are changes through the season, we'll let the team know.
Post Game Snack Duty:
We have created a on-line sign-up for the post game drinks & snacks
- Please use the attached link to sign-up
- Password: eagles
- I don't believe we have any allergies on the team, but just to be safe, please keep the snacks peanut free
That’s it for now.
- Please let us know if you have any questions / concerns.
Go Eagles!!!
Sincerely,
Greg Thomas
Ilija Prinzevski
Eagles Coaches