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EDWARDSVILLE – The football program at Edwardsville High School has been, year in and year out, been a model of excellence throughout the St. Louis area, thanks to its attention to detail and consistency in how it does things each year.
But learning how things are done in the program has to begin somewhere, and an introduction to how the Tigers do things was the emphasis of a football camp held at Tiger Stadium that got started Wednesday morning, with EHS coach Matt Martin, his staff and the football coaches at Liberty and Lincoln Middle Schools showing participants from grades 6-9 how things are down in the EHS program.
“What we're doing in the camp is introducing what we do here,” Martin said. “We show the participants what we do in practices and the drills we do; we want to introduce them to the way we practice and the terminology we use.
“It gives them a taste of how we do things here and teach them how to practice the way we practice. We're also refining the skills they have learned and introduce them to the schemes we use on offense and defense.”
Football, like many other sports, can teach participants many lessons not only about the game, but about life itself; it can teach players much about discipline, hard work and being a part of a team. “I love football,” Martin said. “It's a unique game to America and I'm really excited about the game and want to share that love and passion for the game with the kids who are taking part in the camp.”
The camp not only introduced participants to what the Tigers do in their program and how it's done but also to the basic drills used in the program and how the coaching staff teach those drills.
“It helps build the confidence of the kids in the camp,” Martin said. “We also introduced the segments (offense and defense) to how things are done and to the basic skills and terminology we use.
“Our junior high coaches do the same thing with the kids in their programs; what's really great is to see the kids grow both as players and people.”
