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It’s only another day to practice with a helmet, but Ballard football coach Adrian Morton loves how players respond to early calls of running and heart work.
We challenged them this morning with an air conditioning system, said Morton, who gathered at the Bruins at 8 a.m. to get their runs before they started moving on to personal, place-based group work.
Then (they) did an even better job of moving from conditioning to practice. The effort (and) energy was great. it feels a little more real because we got helmets.
On Tuesday mornings, the practice was welcomed on many fronts as Ballard, along with other football teams in the state, set out to prepare for the coming fall, year to year 2020, which is difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some teams began giving equipment last week as July 10 approached a date that only allows training with a helmet, but most coaches decided to wait Monday to begin these activities to honor dead time and allow players to return from family vacation refreshed to practice.
Many Ballards players make fun of them when they return to the field.
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I really miss football, said senior receiver / defending defender Chaunte Marrero, Jr., who decided to take advantage of the extra school year offered because of the pandemic. I took advantage of it, and I’ll be back. Not only for sports, but also to improve grades. The period was shortened last year due to COVID (and) contact tracing. It feels good knowing that the fans are back and basically everything is back to normal.
With the release of the equipment, the focus is once again on crushing the football season, and there’s still plenty of land to cover now and between August 20, when Ballard opens his 2021 campaign at home against Hopkinsville.
Even with the rehearsals that took place earlier in the summer, Morton faces quite a task as he and the Bruins coaches work to replace about 26 seniors from last year’s team. But he likes what he’s seen so far from the field’s early race.
Our young guys competed, Morton said. I welcome friends in the offensive (and) defensive line ahead. I think it’s good to be with our skill both offensively and defensively. (We need to) continue to coach those guys (to be) sharper in our route concepts and coverage. But our energy is really positive around the team.
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More than a year after the pandemic broke out, Morton said the most comforting part of the coming season is on schedule. Last year, the uncertainty surrounding the Bruins season was hard to bear, and its culmination in the cancellation of the last three matches only added salt to the collective wound. But knowing a season full of non-pandemic victims brings comfort to Morton and Ballard, which the team hasn’t enjoyed in a while.
For the first time in two years, we know when (and) who played, Morton said. It is already set in stone, so it creates clarity for our men and excitement. At the end of the day, these kids just want to play ball.
The highlight is in the vicinity of all my teammates, Marrero added. I missed it. During COVID, you had salaries that had to be in certain station groups and you couldn’t really be on the team as much. That’s what I miss the most, and I missed the competition. That is the best part of the practice.
Contact Jonathan Saxon at [email protected] or 502-715-1393 and follow him on Twitter at@TheSleepyScribe.
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