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Welcome to the home of the 2008
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GREAT Editorial by Dave Truax from Turlock Youth Football
Dave Truax Editorial
Warning and Blessings… The world of Youth Football
Being the “board’s web-guy” has some advantages, one of which is that I get to post whatever I want. This year, for the first time, I’m going to take advantage of that by writing some editorials throughout this season – this being my first one.
Youth Football
Youth football is a special experience; it very well may be one of the biggest opportunities for blessing in your lives as players, parents, and coaches. I speak of this as a parent who watched 2 of my sons move through the entire program, my last one leaving last year on the Varsity Vikings.
Yesterday, I went out to the TYF practice fields at Turlock High and Pittman, and literally had some watery eyes as the memories flooded back into my head of how much our family was blessed by that experience. Allow me to share some of my thoughts.
You are already winning
By virtue of being part of the program (or ANY program), you are ALREADY winning. This world and this culture has become a feeding ground for the minds and souls of our children. As if the daily images/sounds of filth, mayhem, disrespect, and all manner decay raining down on kids wasn’t enough – it’s getting tougher to fight it. Gas is out of control, and so many of us are dealing with the current economy, that just doing the “right thing” can be difficult at best. Whether you’re sitting by some uncomfortable unopened mail (bills), or generally just feeling beat, KNOW THIS… You are doing something that is good, you are succeeding.
You are ensuring that for several hours a day your kids are breathing fresh air, exercising, learning discipline, teamwork, and being part of something POSITIVE. Some parents didn’t make the choice that YOU DID, to be fair, some had no choice, but many just didn’t want the hassle of driving to evening practices. Those of us who do prioritize our kids, know the great secret – its not that you HAVE to take your kids to football, it’s that you GET to…
The Blessings
If you’re new to Turlock Youth Football, you are going to have a lifetime experience coming soon (IF YOU LOOK FOR IT). On the first game day you will be in the stands, rise for the national anthem and then they will call every players name in order, and they sprint from the field goals to the sideline jumping into a joyful cloud of their teammates. Hearing your child’s name called over a loudspeaker, while seeing them run in full pads and game-gear, can literally give you chills – it did every time for me.
Seeing their little chests puff-out on Fridays when they wear their jersey to school is great – it’s something they EARNED. Running laps in the heat and all that goes into a practice is punishing to the body till they get in shape – wearing a jersey says to the world “I am part of something bigger than myself; I’m wearing it because I earned it”.
Celebrating when winning is great - nothing like it. But for me, many of the biggest blessings were in the losses… Life is not fair; we all know that, our parents and schools used to tell us that. Our current culture tries to ingrain in our kids, that they are “entitled to respect without deeds”, College or their first job will dispel with that nonsense. When they lose – and they will, you will have a thousand opportunities to deal with them when they are hurt (and guard is down). They will lose, or have huge disappointments for a variety of reasons. Maybe they fumble, maybe they get cheap-shotted, maybe they get a bad call from the refs, maybe someone cheats, maybe they didn’t play at all… the OPPORTUNITIES to mentor them constructively through adversity are endless. Looking back over 5 years as a parent, this is where I could have done better and it’s probably the biggest challenge you will have as parents – being good role models in defeat.
Playing Time
This area is the toughest, and trust me – it can make or break you child’s experience in sports. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the sidelines at the end of a game, and seen a happy, confident, and prideful player run to his parents and the first words he hears is “How come they didn’t play you?” The instantaneous transformation from happiness to devastation is heartbreaking – and a parent can’t ever take it back either.
As the web guy for TYF, I have to keep track of 8 separate teams – being on that many sidelines I have seen enough parents turn a positive to a negative over the playing-time issues that I’ve lost count. Get this ingrained in your mind, write it on your hand, do whatever you have to, but accept that your player may not get the playing time you think they deserve. In all my years, I have NEVER seen a negative comment from a parent about playing time in front of a player HELP a situation – it only hurts them.
One of my sons was an All-Star Pee Wee, played both sides of the ball, had a great year – guess what, he sat his JV year much of the time. Looking back, he didn’t play for a bunch of reasons – lots of players in his position, he was smaller, some of the other players were better, and yes sometimes the coaches could have done better in a few games. But never was he intentionally left out due to unkindness.
If they practice hard, work hard and BE READY DURING THE GAMES, their playing time WILL go up. Being ready during the game means keeping their helmet on, not slouching on the bench or playing tag. Teach them to shadow the coach, speak up, and anytime they are on the field (kickoff, punt returns) run and block as hard as they can. Trust me, as the season goes on, people get hurt, star-players throw hissy-fits, and all manner of things happen that will have the coaches looking for a ready player to “Go get in their”. Finally, Coaches are human beings - screaming from the stands the “play my son” will not have the desired effect. The movie “Rudy” is awesome to watch as a family if you want to deal with hurt feelings over playing time (we watched it lots...) BTW - Both my boys bodies grew into their TYF knowledge in High school and now they are really awesome.
At the end of the season, they will leave more mature, healthy, tougher, confident than when they started – that’s why we are here. Football is just a means to an end for us.
Dave Truax
TYF Parent-Alumni
Next two weeks up until Round Robin ....busy
This has started off to be a good week of practice for the organization. Rookie parents seem to be having a great time, Coach Trester is doing a bang up job keeping the kids active and parents involved. It's a different atmosphere this year with the little guys.
Pee-Wee is abundant with players and they are working hard down at the south end of the practice field. No shortage of talent there with 50+ on the roster.
J.V. is hustling, with Coach Guy and his staff going over hitting technique and getting the cobwebs knocked out of the helmets and shoulder pads.
Varsity is back at it on the North end, working on hitting drills and installing some of the offense and evaluating players.
We have alot going on this week peoples. Yesterday we handed out the sign-up/sales forms for the Modesto Nuts fundraiser game to take place on the 20th of August. Remember to sell as many $7 tickets as you can, collect the monies and keep a list of who you sold them to and how many tickets they ordered. Turn in your forms prior to OR on Monday Aug. 18th and you will get your tickets that you sold on Tuesday for distribution.
We will be getting back our game jersey's with your names on the back hopefully this Thursday (tomorrow). They will be given out after practice and/or on Friday depending on when they come in. Remember your jersey is unique in number so if you loose it, you will be charged and there will be a logistical issue with getting it taken care of.
Practice will be Mon-Fri until the first game then cut back to four days a week with a 1 hour practice on one of those days.
Booster items will be in as well this week and t-shirts and hats will be for sale. We also have helmet decals for $5 each. Great way to show your pride and place them on the window of your car.
Pictures- Pictures will be at Davis Park on College Ave. Saturday August 23rd. Schedule is as follows.
Rookies- 9 am
PeeWee- 9:30 am
JV- 10 am
Varsity- 10:30 am
Make sure you wear your game attire and bring your helmet.
Practice Pants- The new practice pants will be in this week as well for the rookies and pee-wee's that need them. Once you get them, please do not wear your game pants to practice any longer.
Round Robin- Remember the Round Robin will be held in Livingston on Aug. 23rd. Times will be distributed prior to that i.e. next week and directions as well. We will be wearing our game uniforms for the event.
Season Information for 2008
Well things are on their way. There are a few events to keep in mind.
Conditioning Week- You MUST put in 10 hours of conditioning prior to putting on pads and involving yourself in any contact. We will continue to be at Beard School M-F 5:30 - 7:30 for conditioning week and into the season. First week of October we will move over to Davis Park under the lights.
Equipment Hand Out- Equipment hand out will be this Saturday at Davis High School in the parking lot next to the tennis courts on Rumble Rd. You will NOT receive your equipment if you have outstanding paperwork/monies still oweing. The times are as follows.
Varsity- 9-10 am
JV- 10-11 am
Pee-Wee 11-12 noon
Rookies 12-1 pm
Please arrive around 15 minutes early and wait for the squad ahead of you to finish. We will have a changing area so players can try on their equipment. Please do so...
Modesto Nuts Fundraiser- The Modesto Nuts fundraiser for Football and Cheer has been moved to Aug.20th. This too will be co-sponsored by the Oakland Raiders. There will be representatives there as well as the Raiderett's. Forms will be distributed to each player and tickets will be $7 each. Once the player sells the tickts via the order sheet, the sheets will be collected with the money and tickets will be distributed to the player to give to their customers.
Round Robin- Remember the Round Robin will be held in Livingston on Aug. 23rd. Schedules for this will be distributed to the player with weigh in times as well as schedule and field locations.
Physicals for only $10 by Dr. Fisher
MODESTO BRONCOS
FOOTBALL & CHEER
Sports Physicals
Location: Saenz Chiropractic Office
Dr. Paul W. Fisher
112 El Vista Avenue
Modesto, CA 95354
(@ Yosemite Blvd.)
Cost: Only $10 for players & cheerleaders.
Call today for an appointment at 526-1284.
Mandatory Players/Parents/Coaches meeting June14th
June 14, 2008 - 09:00 AM
There will be a MANDATORY Players, Parents, Coaches meeting at Davis Park in the Pavillion starting at 9 a.m. This is an opportunity to unite and talk about topics for the upcoming season, expecatations and answer any questions you may have about the 2008 Football season. Fireworks tickets will be distributed that day and all players will be required to receive 10 tickets worth $10 each. Turn in dates will be announced but will be approximately two weeks after distribution.
Contact Information for Questions and Answers
If you are in need of any questions about the upcoming season, practices, locations, times etc. please email Modestobroncos@yahoo.com. We will be glad to answer any questions you may have about the upcoming season.
Thank You
New Website starting in 2008 for Modesto Broncos
This season the Modesto Broncos will develope a new website. Look for news , information, pictures etc.
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