FB: Future Bulldogs sharpening skills
for youth football and begin learning terminology to become future high
school football players. (Photo by John Krueger)
GARRISON -- Tradition-rich football towns in Texas - whether they are big or small - begin teaching youngsters as soon as they're able to carry a football. Their skills are refined by the time they hit the gridiron in junior high and they gain more and more experience as they head toward the varsity level.
And although the Second Annual Garrison Bulldog Youth Football Camp this week doesn't have preschoolers taking the field here at Bulldog Stadium, the youngsters are preparing for the upcoming Nacogdoches Youth Football League in hopes of someday becoming a Bulldog.
Garrison Head Football Coach and Athletics Director Craten Phillips and his staff were putting the youngsters through the paces on Tuesday, with the plan on someday that these young men would be leading the Bulldogs to the promise land of the playoffs.
"We have the camp for a number of reasons," said Phillips during the evening session under overcast skies. "We want to get the young kids involved and introduced to the coaches and when them to learn our terminology.
"A lot of them are going to be playing little league football over in Nacogdoches this fall and they'll be using some of the concepts from our high school program so they can begin developing the way we do things here."
Phillips said tradition-rich Garrison has become playoff-caliber ballclub because kids 'buy into the program' and continue to work toward becoming a Bulldog. He said by attending camps like this one, it unifies the community and the youngsters become close-knit unit with the coaching staff and the older players at a very young age.
"I just think it creates a positive environment, where they feel like they're involved and they know us," Phillips explained. "They come by and 'high five' us before the games and they see us at the pep rallies and they know it's a small town and it's a family atmosphere. It just allows them to get involved sooner."
Phillips, who is beginning his fourth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, led his program two games deep into the Class 2A Div. II playoffs a year ago. He knows that the importance of players coming back to the same staff each year means even players that may not have a lot of varsity experience know what is expected from them and they know what to expect.
"It's been really good here in the spring," he continued. "This is a very tradition-rich town so (the football program) is really important. The kids have been pretty consistent as far as participation and working in the off-season. Last year we had a great season (9-3 overall, 4-1 district and an Area finalist) and had a lot of senior leadership. And the experience they had in remembering, when you have the same system and you're able to add things to it each year and not learn something new, is something that's really paying off now."
Garrison's high school enrollment numbers (197.5) mean the Bulldogs are part of one of the largest schools in Class 1A Div. I. The 'Dogs will join Alto, Grapeland, Cushing, Shelbyville and Timpson as part of District 10-1A Div. I, which Craten hopes will mean they will be able to compete despite having only two starters back on offense and defense.
"We don't have a lot of returning starters this year, so [dropping down to Class 1A] kind of comes at a good time," he reasoned. "But we do have a good core of kids that played and got some good experience on the JV as well. We're going to be counting on some young kids this year.
"We're very fundamental around here; we try to keep things as simple as possible. It is 1A football. We're only going to have about 24 on varsity, so we're going to have a lot of two-way players and we're going to keep it simple. But we're going to try to be good at what we do. I think the kids have bought into what we do and I think that showed in the success we had last year."
The Bulldogs high school players will begin two-a-day workouts on Monday with drills from 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. in an effort to beat the heat.
Garrison opens scrimmage action on Saturday, Aug.14, with a 10 a.m. workout at Joaquin. The 'Dogs will then scrimmage Groveton at Bulldog Stadium on Friday, Aug. 20, at 5 p.m. GHS opens Week 0 of the 2010 campaign when the Bulldogs host Hemphill on Aug. 27.