I grew up in a coaching family and was taught from an early age that all winning football teams possess and display three basic attributes: (1) solid fundamentals, (2) exceptional effort and (3) heart / mental toughness! Over the years I have also learned that good Head Coaches are first and foremost "Teachers", in addition to being "Motivators" and "Leaders" of young men. As a youth football coach, I believe that it is my responsibility to "teach" these young players how to properly and safely play the great game of football through solid fundamentals and selfless team work. Football is the ultimate TEAM SPORT and in many cases can be dominated by players that are not necessarily the biggest, fastest or most gifted athletes, but rather can be dominated by those that do possess a strong will to win, a willingness to work hard in practice and those that play every down with heart! That is what makes the game of football so great in my opinion! In essence, football is a metaphor for life, and I try to instill in all of our players that they can overcome any obstacle in football and in life with hard work, mental toughness and heart!
As a coach, in addition to teaching the fundamentals of the game from the ground up, it is also my responsibility to "teach" these young boys HOW to properly practice. We talk regularly with the team about the fact that "practice does not make perfect", "perfect practice makes perfect"! In other words, just showing up and going through the motions of practice will not lead to success in football or life!
We run a structured program built around the detailed teaching of football fundamentals, the teaching of teamwork, the teaching of good sportsmanship, and the teaching of self-confidence and mental toughness through proper preparation, but we also make sure that the boys to have a LOT OF FUN along the way! During our voluntary spring practice session we play a lot of games to get the boys back in the swing of football and on our last day of spring practice we held "Camp Day" in which the coaches took off work so that we could have an extended morning practice that was followed by an afternoon cook out, swimming party, touch football game and unlimited snow cones for the boys!!! We also had multiple team parties for the parents and kids that included a team party at Sports Fusion in the early spring, a family pool party and cookout during the summer, and tailgate parties before and after most of our football games! We also capped off our regular season with a family / team trip to watch the Rams vs Packers game that was followed by our team playing a 40 minute game in the Edward Jones Dome following the Rams vs Packers game! It was a very special day that our boys will never forget, and even included each of them getting the chance to high-five the entire Packers team including Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver, Clay Mathews, etc as they left the field! Following our win over our opponent, our coaching staff overhead three of four of the boys say that it was the "greatest day of their lives", which made all of the hard work and preparation of the entire season worth it!
We will be returning a talented team for 2013 and will likely be moving up a division so that we can play even better competition. We WILL have a few roster spots OPEN for next year however that we will be looking to fill, so if your son has a strong desire to play on a team like ours and ideally has some past football experience (or the size, athleticism, desire and heart to catch on quickly), please do not hesitate to contact me any time at 314-503-7721 so that we can get to know each other further!
GO BEARS!
Coach Boren