Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/941664
FEBRUARY 14-20, 2018 UCW 29 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM e 2017 football season ended earlier this month with the playing of Super Bowl LII. But for high school coaches in North Carolina, the 2018 season will be getting underway soon thanks to changes last spring in N.C. High School Athletic Association rules. At its meeting last May, the NCHSAA Board of Directors removed the last obstacles to offseason foot- ball practice, allowing coaches to work with their full squads during the months football isn't in season. ere are a few limits for safety rea- sons. If the coaches decide to practice with players wearing helmets and shoulder pads, they must have an athletic trainer or first responder present. No body-to-body contact is allowed in offseason workouts. Coaches have different ideas on how to schedule their offseason practice sessions. Cape Fear coach Jake omas said his team won't begin offseason work- outs until after the spring sports dead period, which is the first two weeks official practice begins for spring sports teams: Feb. 14-March 7. "We're going to go into more of a conditioning phase and do workouts after school with the guys who are not playing a spring sport,'' he said. "I want most of my guys to be playing a sport in the spring.'' Once spring break draws closer, omas said, the Colts will be doing work with specific offen- sive and defensive units. One of the benefits of the offseason sessions, since it won't be possible to have the whole team out because of spring sports, is the chance for indi- vidual work. "You can start working on fundamen- tals and putting the foundation in,'' omas said. E.E. Smith coach Deron Donald also plans to wait until the dead period is over before starting workouts. "We'll go two or three days a week,'' he said. "No helmet. None of that. Real light, work- ing on technical things.'' Donald liked the idea of using the expanded workout sessions to focus on teaching the basics of the Smith system. "Learning is very important,'' he said. "We'll be doing a lot of teaching. Once we start in May, then we'll come up with hel- mets and shoulder pads.'' Terry Sanford coach Bruce McClelland said his early workouts will focus on indi- vidual work since so many of his players will be involved with spring sports. "e ones that don't play baseball (and track) we'll go slowly with,'' he said. "Toward the end of May, we will do our team or spring training thing.'' McClelland also sees the off- season workouts as a chance to give players new or inexpe- rienced with the Terry Sanford system a jump start. "Some of the kids that haven't ever played football we'll try to get acclimated to what we do,'' he said. "We want to keep them in shape for the summer grind like we did last year.'' Seventy-First coach Duran McLaurin is tak- ing a different approach from some of his fellow coaches. e Falcons are already doing some limited work outside, in addition to traditional offseason weightlifting. "is is going to be a pilot year,'' McLaurin said, referring to how coaches will learn how best to use the new offseason workout rules for their football program. "e more work you get in, the better you can be.'' McLaurin agreed with the other coaches that he wants his football players to be either playing for a spring sports team at Seventy-First or on the field with him and his coaches for offseason workouts. "None of our guys will be sitting around this spring,'' he said. Amelia Cureton Douglas Byrd • Soccer • Junior Cureton has a 4.0 grade point average. She is a member of the Academy of Finance, National Honor Society and ROTC color guard and drill. She also serves as a mentor in the Student-to-Student program. Patrick Baker Hoyt Gray's Creek • Swimming/ soccer/tennis • Senior Hoyt has an unweighted grade point average of 3.54. He plans to attend a four-year university with a scholarship to play soc- cer. He went on a mis- sion trip with his church to Tennessee last sum- mer, volunteering his time to help build homes for the less fortunate. Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop congratulates these amazing scholar athletes of the week and invites them to the Rocket Fizz Store at 1916 Skibo Rd. to receive a FREE gift recognizing their achievement! www.rocketfizz.com Local football coaches adjust to new rules by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Bruce McClelland, Terry Sanford football coach Duran McLaurin, Seventy-First football coach MONDAY 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 FRIDAY 6-8pm Basketball coverage Feb 16th to air on WCLN 105.7 FM @ 7PM Patriot Conference Boys Championship Game & WILL BE PRESENTING CUMBERLAND COUNTY BASKETBALL IN 2018 Athlete of the Month: will resume next week.