Excitement builds for high school fall sports with start of football 'two-a-days'
Harper Creek's Cooper Fry knew he needed his rest when he went to bed Sunday night, but he was almost too amped up with his senior season of football officially starting Monday morning.
"It was tough to sleep last night, but I knew I had to get in the bag and get ready for today," Fry said. "I was thinking all night about how this is my senior season, this is it. And we want to just ball out this year."
High school sports throughout the state kicked off the 2022 Michigan High School Athletic Association season on Monday, as the first official practices were held with nearly 95,000 athletes statewide expected to be involved in fall sports.
Girls and boys cross country, football, girls golf, boys soccer, girls swimming & diving, boys tennis and girls volleyball were allowed to begin practice Monday.
Some programs hit the field running early on Monday, like the Harper Creek football team with an 8:30 a.m. start. Many coaches hold volunteer camps and conditioning sessions throughout the summer, but this week is when it gets real.
"We gave them the last 10 days off from any activities whatsoever, to try and build that excitement up and I think, for us, we accomplished that," said Harper Creek football coach Mason Converse. "The boys have been texting me, calling me, wanting to get the season started, champing at the bit to get out here and we've had a great day so far."
The football season officially begins with games on Aug. 25. Prior to that, preseason practices start with the mandatory three days of conditioning practices this week, with helmets, but without pads. Teams are allowed to start hitting with pads, following that requirement.
Other fall sports are on a faster track, now that practices have begun, with tennis and golf allowed to hold contests as early as Aug. 15, volleyball, cross country, soccer and swimming on Aug. 17.
Longtime followers of high school football will remember the classic set up of two-a-days to start the season, with one practice in the morning and another in the evening. Often, in recent years, programs will group those practices in one session, split up by a break. However, the Beavers are going old school this year.
"We are doing the two-a-days like the old days," Converse said. "Trying to avoid the hottest part of the day. But in doing that, we are constantly trying to coach against the idea that it's a long day, which it can be. It can be exhausting for the players and for the coaches and about Wednesday this week, we are all going to feel that.
"Everybody talks about wanting to be great, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to be great. Not everyone is willing to put in the work and two-a-days is a necessary evil to do that. We think that's one of the things that separates us."
Converse said he was happy with participation in the offseason and with the relative conditioning of his team as the first Monday session went along. However, there were still some athletes around the water cooler during breaks, finding it hard to catch their breath.
"Us seniors are excited to be out here, ready for two-a-days," Harper Creek's Brody McKerchie said. "We did have some people that didn't come out to volunteer workouts and some of those kids are paying for it today.
"But I have been looking forward to today. For us seniors, this is our last ride and we wanted to get it going."
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Excitement builds for high school football with start of 'two-a-days'
