Team Policies & Procedures
Team Policies & ProceduresWe believe in developing players who want to do everything necessary to succeed. We believe in holding the players accountable and we will eliminate players who are not following our team policies and procedures. Any player that violates our team rules will be placed on the distraction list for a period of time to be determined by Coach Parker and the leadership council.
Requirements for Playing Football:
What can players expect from coaches?
Injuries - Unfortunately, injuries are part of football. It is important that you understand the following about injuries:
Lockers
Equipment
Missing Practice- If you miss practice, you cannot make up that opportunity to get better. The only way you can miss practice is to call ahead and asked to be excused.
Distraction List
What is the Distraction List? – The most successful teams eliminate distractions. Any player causing a distraction will be put on the “distraction list”. This is the group that stays after practice or workouts to do extra cleaning and conditioning.
What determines playing time?
There is no guarantee of playing time at any level in our program. We will guarantee you the chance to compete in practice for playing time in games, but we will not guarantee you playing time in JV or Varsity games. Playing time is determined based on the following three characteristics:
Who plays in Varsity games, JV, or both?
All 10th, 11th, and 12th grade players will be on the sidelines on Friday night Varsity games. For JV games, if you are a Junior or Sophomore (or Freshman if there is no Freshman game) and do not start for the Varsity, you will compete in JV games. This is to gain experience and should be seen as an opportunity to get better. We want to take pride in having a successful JV program.
How do you earn a Varsity Letter?
10th, 11th, 12th graders who end the season in good standing will earn a Varsity Letter at the Annual End-of-the-Year Banquet in December. We do not base letters on stats or playing time. Everyone is important to our team and if you have abided by the team policies and have remained on the team throughout the season, you will earn a letter.
- Do Right – you know the difference between right and wrong
- Be on Time – promptness shows commitment
- Be Dependable – Dependability over Ability
- Give your best effort – all we want is your best
- Outwork anyone who wants the same thing you want
- Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated
- Put in a full day – invest your time, don’t spend it
- Report all issues (injuries, problems, etc.) – we can only fix problems we know about
- Do not engage in any behavior that would reflect poorly on our team.
- Take pride in our football program
Requirements for Playing Football:
- Be academically eligible – all players must pass 3 out of 4 classes in the spring semester and be “on track” to graduate. If both of these criteria are not met, you must go to summer school and recover the credits before August 1st.
- Have a current physical – All players must have a physical within the last year. Physicals will be offered in the spring and we strongly encourage players to get physicals at this time. No one will be issued equipment in the summer without a physical that will not expire during the season.
- Participate in Team Functions – practices, workouts, fundraisers, meetings, etc.
- Follow the Team Policies – All players must follow all rules of the program or they will be removed from the program.
What can players expect from coaches?
- Be honest – honest doesn’t always mean nice, but we should be fair and truthful
- Help players achieve their goals
- Help them become better football players – our job is to make you better
- To help them now and after graduation in any way
- To treat them with respect-respect is not given, but earned
- To make decisions based on what is best for the team
- To provide discipline and structure
- To make our school the best place in the state to go to school and play football
Injuries - Unfortunately, injuries are part of football. It is important that you understand the following about injuries:
- Know the difference between PAIN and INJURY. You will always have pain in a football season, you need to be able to know if it may be an injury
- Relay ALL information on any ailments to the coaching staff. We cannot fix problems that we do not know about. Please let us know what is going on and we can communicate what to do next.
- Assume you will always dress out for practice unless you are told otherwise by Coach Parker or the trainer. Even if we are limiting your participation, we still want you to dress out and look ready to participate.
- If you have a serious injury and are out for a substantial amount of time, you still must attend practice each day.
Lockers
- You will be issued a locker each year, and that will be your locker for the entire football season.
- You should keep your locker locked at all times. If you did not lock your locker, we have a hard time helping you if something gets stolen. Do not take the approach of “no one is going to steal anything from me”.
- If you have any locker problem, let the coaching staff know.
- It is the responsibility of the players to keep the locker room clean. If the locker room is not clean, we will punish the entire team.
Equipment
- You will be issued full equipment. It is your responsibility to keep up with this equipment and turn it in at the end of the season. If you lose anything, you will be placed on the distraction list and be charged for the equipment.
- Do NOT come to practice without being fully equipped. Safety is our primary concern and you should always have all equipment on at practice. Failure to do so will place you on the distraction list.
Missing Practice- If you miss practice, you cannot make up that opportunity to get better. The only way you can miss practice is to call ahead and asked to be excused.
- If you miss practice excused – you get 1 day on the distraction list (simply to make up time missed and show your teammates you missed them)
- If you miss practice unexcused – you get 2 days on the distraction list and if it happens repeatedly you will be removed from the program.
Distraction List
What is the Distraction List? – The most successful teams eliminate distractions. Any player causing a distraction will be put on the “distraction list”. This is the group that stays after practice or workouts to do extra cleaning and conditioning.
What determines playing time?
There is no guarantee of playing time at any level in our program. We will guarantee you the chance to compete in practice for playing time in games, but we will not guarantee you playing time in JV or Varsity games. Playing time is determined based on the following three characteristics:
- Attitude
- Effort
- Ability
Who plays in Varsity games, JV, or both?
All 10th, 11th, and 12th grade players will be on the sidelines on Friday night Varsity games. For JV games, if you are a Junior or Sophomore (or Freshman if there is no Freshman game) and do not start for the Varsity, you will compete in JV games. This is to gain experience and should be seen as an opportunity to get better. We want to take pride in having a successful JV program.
How do you earn a Varsity Letter?
10th, 11th, 12th graders who end the season in good standing will earn a Varsity Letter at the Annual End-of-the-Year Banquet in December. We do not base letters on stats or playing time. Everyone is important to our team and if you have abided by the team policies and have remained on the team throughout the season, you will earn a letter.
