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"Think small and if things aren't working out, think even smaller. Little stuff counts." Bill Yoast |
| WEEKLY UPDATE MAY 8 |
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| Written by Irv |
| Friday, 04 May 2012 14:09 |
 CELEBRATING A TRADITION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE - JENISON FOOTBALL PLAYERS INVOLVED IN ADOPT A PROPERTY AT BAUERWOOD ELEMENTARY
These six young men gave up a Saturday morning of sleep and play to volunteer to help Ron Vilerius and Adopt a Property at Bauerwood Elementary. Our players have
tirelessly given thousands of hours of community service over the past four years. Our efforts and hearts will be focused on our own Jenison community more than ever this
season. We will be dedicating our 2012 season to Hand 2 Hand Ministries. This will be focused solely on our own community. More details to come.
I want to highlight two things in this weekly update. First of all, I am so proud of our young men and what they stand for in our community. Our players have jumped to be involved in a multitude of local community service opportunities. This year, everything we do will be team based, and will aim to serve the community in which we live. If you have a local project that you need help with, please email me a description of the time, location, date and number of people you'll need help from. If it fits within the parameters I've set, we will involve our Leadership Council and put our outstanding young men to work!
The second issue is much more sensitive. I want to address the media's sensationalism of concussions, and how it has affected professional football players. It must be pointed out clearly to everyone that what professional players deal with at the end of their career is extremely challenging, and in many ways sad. They've literally given their bodies to the sport of football - in the process of making a living. The very sad case of Junior Seau this week is being blamed on his concussions. While I cannot speak to the specifics of his situation, what I can tell do is make a comparison to what his body has been through, and what the typical high school player experiences. Doing a little math this weekend, we've estimated that Seau in his 14 year professional football career, plus 4 years of college football at Southern Cal, plus four years of high school football had played in about 325 football games. The is to be accompanied with 22 years of virtually continuous practice, and at least 325 weeks of physical preparation and hitting. Keep in mind, that does not include spring football, practices, scrimmages and summer practices. The typical high school season is 3 weeks of pre-season (2.5 of which are in pads) and 9 weeks of season. Four years of 12 weeks of football, and we are talking about 36 games in comparison. There is a world of difference between the 325 games that Seau played, and the 36 games our young men play. While is it noted NOWHERE that I can find, situations like Seau's have nothing to do with our Jenison players. Our kids are held out a minimum of two weeks when a concussion is suspected - no exceptions. Our trainer Heather Smith also does pre-season testing with the kids, and they must be back to normal results of the testing before we allow them back into practice. Put simply, while kids can get hurt playing football, we will continue to take EVERY precaution to protect them. They will not play while the affects of a concussion are suspected. Serious injury can occur when concussion injuries are repetitive - especially when proper time for healing has not been given. Again, nowhere will you find this reported in our media. I felt it was necessary to address this issue, and point out the differences between the professional game and the game our kids play.
You can be very proud of our players. We are working diligently to make them gentlemen, scholars and athletes in that order. Football is truly a game of team work, and it is a game where one great player cannot succeed without the help of all the rest of his teammates. It is a game where every player's contributions are important and necessary for the team to succeed. I am proud to coach this game, and thankful for the blessings and opportunities it has provided me. It is the influence of this game, its experiences, its coaches and its players that I hope works to shape all the young men I coach. Please view the media's presentations of what happens in the NFL with a different filter than what you see with your own children. Our kids are playing a GAME that teaches them great life-lessons. The men of the NFL are doing a job that is dangerous and demanding.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE FOR MAY 7-12
MONDAY MAY 7 - 630 AM - PASSING GAME WALK THROUGH IN THE PALS GYM; LIFTING AFTER SCHOOL 3-4
TUESDAY MAY 8 - LIFTING AFTER SCHOOL 3-4, BOOSTER CLUB MEETING AT 7PM IN THE TRIPLE CONFERENCE ROOM
WEDS MAY 9 - NO FCA - WE ARE DONE WITH FCA FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
THURSDAY MAY 10 - LIFTING AFTER SCHOOL 3-4
FRIDAY MAY 11 - LIFTING AFTER SCHOOL 3-4
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| Last Updated on Monday, 07 May 2012 09:16 |
