Football-Week 2
From Coach:
Dear Parents - Players and Community,
Just finished up week #1 of official practices. We and most of the rest of the state are dealing with a helmet shortage.
Our new helmets are supposed to be delivered this week. Players have been very patient with this process. COVID and the short turnaround from the last season have played a role in this situation. Districts and vendors are working on this problem daily.
Fundraising - no one's favorite word. We are selling a variety of tumblers. I have heard that some people don't like the cost of the items...but I want to throw my two cents in. It doesn't matter what the fundraising product is...gold cards or cookie dough...etc, etc....they all sell for $25 or more. Just chalk it up to inflation I suppose. The purpose is to trade out products for financial support, basically getting a free tumbler with donation. If you would like to support financially in another way...please communicate with Karmen von Arx our Football Booster Club President.
Admin@friendsofgrantfootball.com
Thank you to all the parents who attended the Parent meeting yesterday...it was good seeing everyone. If you have any questions please let me know.
We have a very challenging Jamboree schedule. The Varsity players will be participating in the Jamboree this Friday evening at approximately 6:30 p.m. vs. Jefferson (always a tough and talented team) and Camas High School out of Washington (2 x State Champions recently) following the Jefferson contest. All games will be played at Ida B. Wells HS and no admission will be charged. Itinerary times will be communicated to players this week - arrival - departure, etc.
Saturday we will have the JV Jamboree at Jefferson High School starting at approximately 10 a.m. No information has been communicated at this time.
One item for future reference....August is not a good time to be taking family vacations if your son/daughter is playing football or a fall sport. I understand that for some people that is the only time that their schedule will allow that time. However...playing high school football is a short period of time in a player's life. It does not help the team/program to have any player missing important time, if you want to be as successful as you can be. :)
And yes....we practice on Labor Day...always have...normal practice time.
Practice Schedule this week (schedule can be changed due to District mandates / Air Quality or Extreme Heat):
Monday: 4-6:15 (Full Pads)
Tuesday: 4-6:15 (Full Pads)
Wednesday: 4-6:15 (Shells = helmet and shoulder pads)
Thursday: 4-6:15 (Shells) (Coaches meeting after)
Friday: Jamboree - Itinerary out early this week (Varsity) / JV Practice: TBA
Saturday: JV Jamboree at Jefferson HS - itinerary out early this week
The following Monday: Practice will start at 4 p.m.....but may go to 7:15ish
(Silverton game week). JV Game Schedule not out yet.
Thank you for all you do for your kids!
Coach Beck
Number 1 needed ASAP! 1-2 filmers for Varsity HUDL. We have the equipment, just need someone to commit to a training and be able to do the Friday night games.
If there is 2 filmers they can be switched each game. Best for a non varsity parent to step up and help. Will Pay $50 per game.
PIL Golf Tourney
Please consider supporting the PIL Golf tourney. The funds are much needed especially to our youth programs and high schools. It’s a lot of fun and great way to get out with friends.
From the Club
Our non profit, Friends of Grant Football was started as a way to bring our inner city program the same advantages of other area high schools, with the help of our District. It can be overwhelming for a program of our size to keep up in the most expensive sport ever created!! Especially having a large population of underprivileged kids that play football and men’s basketball than any sport at Grant. Our District bends over backwards working to help teams, but they have a lot of need around the city. Grant is in the unique position that we have families that can and do help and our players witness this service to our community . We have the benefit of having a highly diverse team experience and we are showing that it can be done very successfully.
Coaches
In order to run a safe program, great coaches are needed. And that means for every position. Our players have such a low injury rate because we average 1 coach to every 7 players. Every player has constant feedback and teaches on correct hitting procedure through extensive heads up training. Our district is at the forefront in getting kids in early to start the process of playing football safely, starting at the youth level, but they can only afford so many coaches at the high school level. For those players starting later we have THE BEST coaches around. Coaching staff and training is a large part of our budget.
Buses
Bus’s fees are paid out of the football school fund. Because we need a bus for every game this adds up. So the club helps pay for other things because of this expense
Technology
Football has over $10,000 put into headsets, Hudl equipment, iPads, cameras, and we are purchasing a new tablet that can be used on the field to send plays out more quickly to players. All this needs to be upgraded as the years go by and things start breaking.
We also have $10,000 in live stream equipment and computers to help in getting business sponsorships for the team so that we can promote them and provide the service for families that can’t come.
https://www.friendsofgrantfootball.com/give
Food
Because we travel for every game with no home field
this takes away the down time that the players would normally have time to get food. High school boys are not the best at planning ahead and if we want to give them the best shot, they need gas in the tank. We as a club have provided this but the expense has become something that we can no longer manage so we are asking parents to pay what they would for the 9-12games they will have at $50 per Varsity player. We also would love it if families that can, will pay something forward for the players that can’t afford it. We have a lot of families hurting also from Covid. We will continue doing lite meals as long as we have the money in, to do it.
Please pay at https://www.friendsofgrantfootball.com/give
Pictures
John Davenport is a professional photographer that does all the school photos. This is the link that will have the team photos soon. Check back every once in a while to see them. https://www.foreyesphotos.com/f741708162
He will do a couple games for the club but we would love to have him at a few more and to do a couple JV games to get action shots.
Ugh! Fundraising
We really don’t want to have to ask families for money. We have a great sponsorship program in place to support businesses in our community. How you could help without giving money yourself is to forward us a business for us to contact that you personally know or think would help.
Business name:
Contact name:
Contact info:
Referred by:
Send to admin@friendsofgrantfootball.com