How opening day of high school football camps provides hope, ‘excitement of the unknown’
Eric Kasperowicz began his day with a little more pep in his step.
The third-year Mars coach took to the field with his team at Mars Athletic Complex Monday knowing it was the first official day of the high school football season. Kasperowicz likened the feeling to the first day of school.
“It’s always the excitement of the unknown,” Kasperowicz said. “The excitement of the new season. You wake up in the morning, the sun comes out and the birds are chirping. It’s a brand new season.”
Per PIAA rules, players must get acclimated to the heat — wearing a helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts — for five practices before diving into full padded practices in a week.
Teams can schedule a preseason scrimmage Aug. 16 or 17, and the regular season begins Aug. 23.
Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz, whose Rockets split their time into a pair of practice sessions in the evening, shared Kasperowicz’s eagerness in the hot and sticky weather.
“It’s exciting and it’s also nerve-wracking for me,” Wendereusz said. “It’s a new (sort of) fresh. As much as we want to say summer workouts matter ... this is when it starts.”
The week gives coaches a general idea which players are in shape and which aren’t. In the muggy, sauna-like conditions, it shows who’s been preparing. The Planets have been holding workouts since June 1, aiming to be as prepared as possible.
Along with seeing which kids can be physical with a pad in front of them, Wendereusz feels heat acclimation provides the opportunity for players to apply what they’ve learned during summer workouts.
“Our kids, they did what we asked them to do today,” Wendereusz said. “That’s all you can do is — when that first day comes — know what you’re supposed to know, do what you’re supposed to do, hustle when you’re supposed to hustle.”
Kasperowicz said the team wasn’t happy with the way last season ended — a 47-24 loss to Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. The Quips went on to finish the season undefeated with a commanding 60-14 state title win over Dallas.
“When you look back on it and take a broad scope of the situation — to be 10-3 and lose to the eventual state champions — it ended up being a pretty successful season,” Kasperowicz said. “I think the program moved forward. That’s probably the ultimate goal is just continue to move the program forward and try to make that next step this season.
“We point to that.”
Wendereusz, on the other hand, after a 1-8 campaign prefers a clean slate. That’s not to say he wants to forget about what came from such an effort.
“If you’re not learning when you’re losing, you’re losing — because you’re not picking up what needs to be picked up,” Wendereusz said. “I don’t want them to be thinking about last year. I want them to be looking forward.
“As coaches, we have to instill and teach and preach to them, ‘Turn the page.’ Let’s go. Let’s have that attitude and that determination to get it done.”
