Although official practices don't begin until August 16, one Farmington High School team got a head start on the 2010 season with a trip to the University of South Dakota football camp held July 15-18 in Vermillion, S.D.
Forty-eight Tiger hopefuls and a full coaching staff took the long bus ride westward for the three-day event. Each player paid an individual fee for the instruction with transportation funded by the team's annual Gold Card sales drive.
"We had seven practices here before making the trip," coach Mark Froehling said. "We had to be ready because we had a scrimmage the first night."
Froehling has taken his teams to the South Dakota camp for the past 10 summers and feels it provides several advantages to both players and coaches as they count down the days to the start of the new season.
The veteran Tiger coach said the camp experience provides three invaluable opportunities: giving the players a chance to get to know each other better before the season begins; experimenting with new offensive and defensive strategies; and evaluating the skills and abilities of individual players.
"Each year a new team is developed," Froehling said. "The players need to get to know one another, care for one another and respect one another in order to develop the concept of TEAM...I would say that we learned some positive things in all three areas this year."
At the camp Tiger players received instruction from University of South Dakota coaches and players, scrimmaged other teams. and took part in a variety of individual and team competitions.
"I thought we demonstrated positive improvement throughout the camp," Froehling said. "We are a better team now than we were going in. I thought we began to develop a good, competitive demeanor.
"I would consider us a young team that still has a lot to learn but one that made big strides at the camp. It was an important step in our growth process as a team."
The Football Tigers open their 2010 season Friday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. with a non-conference game against Hudson, Wis. at Tiger Stadium.
