Practice gets under way for Tigers

By Staff
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The initial day of fall football practice Monday afternoon was a success according to Hartselle varsity head coach Bob Godsey.
"We had a good productive first day," he said. "We were able to get a lot done, which was nice to see."
The members of the Hartselle varsity and junior varsity football teams practiced for several hours in the afternoon starting at approximately 3:30 p.m. The teams spent the first hour going through stretches, drills, and individual position work, then met later in the practice to focus on specific plays.
"We've actually put in nearly our entire playbook already," Godsey said.
The players braved the elements early in the practice, where temperatures reached as high as 98 degrees in the August heat. Godsey said that keeping the team hydrated was a high priority for the coaching staff.
"We had water available for anytime they needed to drink it," he said. "Also, we forced everyone to take a water break every 10 minutes or so. Sometimes, the guys would say they weren't thirsty but we made them take a drink anyway.
"It's important to keep them drinking, rather than wait until you're thirsty. We also encourage them to drink a lot of water at home, just to stay hydrated all the time."
The Monday practice was shorts-and-helmets only and Godsey said the Tuesday and Wednesday practices will be the same, with the team starting full pads on Thursday and continuing Friday and Saturday.
Right now, the team is focusing on drills and fundamentals, but Godsey hopes to start full 11-on-11 scrimmages by Saturday's practice. He said the team will probably not focus on getting ready for its opening opponent of Austin until the week of the jamboree game (Aug. 24).
"Right now, we're really just working toward improving ourselves and the things we can do to be a better team," he said. "Obviously we coaches have been busy throughout the summer working on gameplans for our opponents, but we're not really going to focus on any individual opponent until the week of the jamboree, when we'll look at Austin a little.
"All we want to really do right now is spend this time on ourselves and focus on the things we can do to improve."