Practice Information
GENERAL
INFORMATION FOR PRACTICE AND GAMES
- Please make sure that your child’s coach is
aware of any allergies, asthma or any other medical problem that
might impair your child’s ability to practice full out. If your
child requires puffers or an epi-pen than they should be at every
practice/game with someone qualified to administer them.
By league rules, players are forbidden to practice unless they
are fully registered. This includes having a signed registration
form, and a photocopy of the players Birth Certificate.
All practices are full equipment practices unless otherwise
noted.
Practices begin sharply at 6:30pm and end at 8:30 pm., rain or
shine. Lightning, however, would obviously result in a cancelled
practice.
All players should bring something to drink to both practices
and games. Water is the cheapest and best form of hydration. Sports
drinks are best taken after practice not during. Players sweat in
their equipment, even on cool days, and dehydration is a real
possibility.
Players should never share water bottles.
Players should eat something after school and before practice
but a heavy meal may not be a good idea. Fruits are very good ,
Chocolate or snacks with large amounts of processed sugar are not
appropriate.
No jewellery of any kind is to be worn
during a practice or a game. It is potentially dangerous to the
player and those playing with him/her.
All players should wear shoes with rubber cleats. Soccer
shoes work well. Running shoes put a player at a major disadvantage.
The purpose of practice at this level is
to develop the primary football skills of tackling, blocking,
running, throwing and kicking. It is also necessary to instill in
the players an understanding of the plays we will use and how they
develop. Each player must know and execute his/her job on every
play. Another job is to develop football fitness.
More will be said on this later. As a result our practices will be
skill and knowledge development practices, not scrimmages.
Scrimmages may be fun but they only reinforce bad habits if players
haven’t made the main skills second nature.
Rain and snow, unless extreme, would not
cancel a game. Even then, it is the head official who makes that
decision. As a result it is important to show up for the game even
if you believe the game will be postponed. If bad conditions clear
up, the game will go ahead and your child would miss it. If enough
players were away we would forfeit the game. Eighteen players must
be present for the game to go on. Please remember that if
your child misses a game someone else has to play his/her position.
While we try to have players trained for more than one position it
is not good for the team or the substituted player to be forced to
play an unfamiliar position.
We are not suggesting that an ill player come to play and we
fully realize that other matters come up, in families, which are
more important then football. If a player must miss a game or
practice than that’s the way it is. It would be most helpful,
however, if you could inform your child’s coach at the earliest
possible time, if your child must be away.
Players who are likely to miss games due to participation in
other sports or activities should let their coach know as soon as
possible in the season. In such a case certain positions, i.e.
quarterback will not be available to this player. We can not risk
losing our starting quarterback half way through the season because
hockey takes precedence over football.
We use all CFL rules except for the fact that we have four
downs.
Exposure to the game, even on TV is very useful in helping
your child understand the sport. Paying particular attention to the
athlete playing your child’s position and having the benefit of a
knowledgeable adult presence to answer questions and point out
pertinent information is very helpful.
All Saturday games start at 9:00am.All night games start at 6:30pm
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL PLAYERS BE AT THE GAME FIELD 1 HOUR
BEFORE START TIME FOR WARM-UP AND FINAL GAME PREPARATIONS.
IT IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT THAT ANY PLAYER WHO MUST MISS A
GAME INFORM THEIR COACH
