IMPORTANT INFO! Mandatory Parents & Players Meeting and Equipment Hand Out
- Dominic V. Ferraro
- Jul 3, 2015
- 4 min read
Hello Quad City Thunder (QCT) Parents and Players!
We are exactly ONE MONTH away from our first practice and there is much to be done in preparation for our BEST SEASON EVER! Please take a few minutes to read this e-mail (and maybe even print it out and stick it to your fridge?) and explore the resources listed below. If you make it all the way through this post, there is a BONUS waiting for you near the end! As you may have heard, our program is undergoing tremendous (positive!) changes this year. Our Board is all new, most of our coaches are new, and we've adopted and are now implementing USA Football's Heads Up Football Program. These changes will require patience, dedication, open minds, and love for the kids and the game of football. We are truly making it a better, safer game! The theme this year is FUN and FUNDAMENTALS!
We have a mandatory parents and players meeting and equipment hand out scheduled for Saturday, July 25th from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. This meeting will start at the Westfield Area High School auditorium and will end at the practice field on East Third Street in Westfield. This is an important meeting! We will give a presentation on USA Football and explain the new Heads Up Football program, we will introduce the coaching staff to everyone, the coaches will go over our coaching philosophies and expectations, the practice and game schedules will be handed out and explained, and questions will be asked and answered by everyone. Once we are done with all of that, we will all caravan over to the practice field storage building and will hand out equipment to the players. I understand that the end of July is a busy time for everyone, but please make every effort to be able to attend this very important meeting! If you are UNABLE to attend, please respond directly to this e-mail as soon as possible. Thank you!
We are excited to have a great family of coaches for the 2015 Season! All of your coaches are dedicated to giving the kiddos an awesome and fun football experience. Every coach is in the process of undergoing a background screening by a USA Football endorsed background check provider. Each coach will be fully certified by USA Football before the first practice. That certification requires that they complete an in-depth online training course as well as an in-person coaching clinic put on by the QCT Player Safety Coach (PSC), which is scheduled for July 19th. Anyone wishing to assist with coaching (even for a single practice!) is required to obtain the certification and pass the background check. If YOU are interested in coaching (we ALWAYS need more coaches!), please contact me right away so I can get you the necessary information. Here is a list of your coaching staff for the 2015 Season:
Peewee Team (PW)
Dominic Ferraro (Head Coach and QCT PSC)
Tom Huff (Assistant Coach)
Robin Schunke (Assistant Coach)
Ann Marotz (Assistant Coach)
Dean Burby (Assistant Coach)
Junior Peewee Team (JPW)
William Schull (Head Coach)
Kelley Rehm (Assistant Coach)
Larry Mitchell (Assistant Coach)
Derek Decker (Assistant Coach)
Cheerleading
Shannon Mitchell
Gigi Snow
Alright! Let's talk about practices! Here is some initial information that you need to know for both the PeeWee (PW) and Junior PeeWee (JPW) teams:
We are moving our practices back to the practice field on East Third Street in Westfield.
From August 3rd to August 27th, we will be practicing four days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be no practice on Monday, August 31st because it is the day before school starts and the kiddos will need a good night's sleep!
Starting on Tuesday, September 1st, and running through the end of the season, we will be practicing three days per week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The only exception is that there will be no practice on Labor Day (September 7th).
USA Football provides us with amazing online resources, including a practice planning tool. The Head Coaches will utilize this tool to create detailed practice plans and all coaches will get a copy. Good planning and time management will equal maximum learning and maximum FUN for the players!
How can you keep track of the schedule? Check out our Google Calendar by clicking this link (also available on our website):
https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=qctwestfield%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago
What about the game schedule? The league has not yet given us a complete game schedule. We do know WHEN the games are, but not where or who the opponents are. The link to the calendar (see above) will be updated as soon as we receive more details.
BONUS #1: All QCT parents and players are able to obtain a FREE membership with USA Football! You will LOVE their website! Click here to activate your FREE membership:
http://usafootball.com/players
BONUS #2: Check out FOOTBALL 101, a great series of videos for parents and players:
http://usafootball.com/blogs/football-parents/post/10385/football-101%3A-providing-a-foundation-for-parents-and-players
Ok, ok, ok! Information overload, right? Sorry! The last chunk of information I will leave you with today is this list of other important links and suggested resources:
QCT website: www.quadcitythunder.com (SPECIAL NOTE: Our website has more info/details on the desktop version compared to the mobile version!)
QCT Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/qcthunder
League website: http://www.mid-stateyouthfootball.org/Index.html
Pioneer Plan information: http://www.westfield.k12.wi.us/pioneerplan.cfm
USA Football website: www.usafootball.com
USA Football YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/usafootballTV/videos
QCT Newsletter sign up form: http://www.quadcitythunder.com/#!join_us/c21nl
Thank you for your time and energy...I know this was a long post with a lot of information and required action! In order for this to be a successful season, and in order for the QCT to thrive, we must have open and detailed communication and all be on the same page.
Your QCT Family is excited to see you at the high school auditorium on Saturday, July 25 at 1 p.m.!
Remember: FUN & FUNDAMENTALS!
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