Spring (football) is in the air

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Championships aren’t won in the spring. But championship teams are built during the hot month of May.

Wednesday marked the first official day of spring football season, and coaches at Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas high schools are already excited even though the games won’t count for another four months.

Both teams will play in spring games at the end of the month. FPC hosts Bartram Trail 7 p.m. Friday, May 24. Matanzas will play Potters House and Cedar Creek Christian at 6 p.m. Friday, May 24, at SOS Academy, in Jacksonville.

But before any real plays, the teams will spend about three weeks getting prepared for the spring game.

FPC coach Caesar Campana said spring allows him to get his team to focus on the fundamentals without being rushed to get ready for an 11-game schedule.

“You can really emphasize the most important part of the game: blocking and tackling,” Campana said.

Coach Jeff Nettles is in his first spring at Matanzas. It's important to gain experience and football skills, but getting to know his players in his first season is equally as important, he said. The Pirates spend about five minutes each practice in family time — when players talk about things in life other than football.

“We talk about school, other interests they have outside of football, and just life in general,” Nettles said. “It is my favorite period in practice.”

Campana said he and his coaching staff are creating depth at every position. That means teaching offensive players how to play defense, and vice versa. And, for the first time in a few years, FPC will run the same schemes on offense, defense and special teams as last season.

“We have a lot of competition on this team, and we are making each other better at every position,” Campana said, adding that the team is one of the “biggest and strongest” he has coached. “We have talented student-athletes who have a great work ethic. Put that together with a great coaching staff, and you can see why I’m excited about 2013.”

At Matanzas, the goal is to get better every day.

“As a coach, it is extremely rewarding to see where a player starts in spring and then see his development,” Nettles said.

On the field, Nettles hopes to accomplish three things: “If we can grow as a team, learn to execute our plays with fundamentals and develop some toughness, we will have a chance to be successful."