Gooo Vipers!

Cole wanted to play football again this year... not flag, but Tackle! He was very specific that he wanted to wear pads, helmet, and the whole shebang! I said alright, if you are sure this is what you wanna do!  It was done.  We signed him up, paid the registration fee and waited til we were contacted as to what team he would be on and when practices started.
In June there was a 'draft' and all the kids came out, did some running, passing, and a few other things for the coaches to see. From there we were contacted as to what team we would be on and such.
We are on the Vipers. We started with about 25-30 kids, but I think have since dropped to 18-20 now. Coach Reggie will be leading the Vipers this year along with Coach Freddy and more parent volunteers!  Practices started the end of July. They had, what the coaches called, 'hell week'. It was pretty much 2.5 hours per day of conditioning for a week. Cole didn't seem to mind the heat much, but I knew he was wiped out come bed time!Glad they could wear him out! ;) Since then, they have practiced almost 5 days a week. He has been rotating several positions, so I'm not sure where he will be playing. He has been playing on both offense and defense though.
Yesterday was a Round Robin Tournament where they were able to see the other teams and each team got a chance to run 10 plays against the opposing team. They did this with 4 teams! It was a HOT 6 hours at the  fields. Beside having to move to another field every 30-40 minutes and set camp up elsewhere, it was a great afternoon. Lots of drinks and snacks for everyone. We had never seen anything like that before so Grant and I thought it was very interesting! (Thanks to Noelle, Sylvia didn't have to come and bear the heat! She got to play with her boyfriend and 'big sis'.) I enjoyed watching them play and of course I was getting lots of action shots! Since D had to work that night he wasn't able to make it so I got video as well.
Cole's first game is this Saturday at Pacana, here in Maricopa! Most games will be there but a few are out of town and we will have to drive to either Casa Grande or Apache Junction.
Cole hasn't ever played tackle football so he does have some learning to do. Overall, he is doing a great job and trying his best! He does have a tendency to forget he needs to be 'aggressive' out there, but that will come! He tackles and blocks well, but I think he thinks he may hurt someone. He will figure it out very soon, I bet.  It may take a time or two of really getting laid out... but he is loving it! I have a feeling this is just the beginning of our football days!
GO VIPERS!!!

                                                                                            Certification Day- verified age, weigh in, got jersey number