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In order to produce the most effective, cohesive, sound and successful high school football
program possible, a dedicated and determined effort must be made to establish and continue
traditions of excellence across all lines of that programs function. A consorted and consistent
plan to build, grow and operate fun, exciting, inclusive and expansive program building, team
bonding and fundraising events and activities must be at the heart of this effort - and it must be
undertaken from a year-round perspective.
In order to establish a year-round Events and Activities calendar an end date for one year and the start date for the next - needs to be set. As competing for the state title should be
our goal - and expectation - each season, it would be advisable to set the date of the year end
wrap up event (Banquet, Awards Ceremony, whatever/however its configured) as the
end/start date. With the Maryland State Football Tournament being scheduled to conclude on
or about the first weekend in December each year - and with the expectation that our team will
be actively involved in said tournament until that time - it should be reasonable to schedule our
season ending celebration on the Saturday before the Super Bowl (usually the first Saturday in
February). This gives eight weeks (or more) to order and receive any and all appropriate
awards and gifts, and allows for all presentations to be prepared - as well as allowing for the
possibility of some sort of Super Bowl-centered team activity (i.e. fundraiser).
Setting the End/Start date of each football season on that first weekend in February also
allows for off-season conditioning programs to officially* begin that following week for all
student-athletes not competing in winter sports. Those programs can run from early February
to mid-May, with the summer athletic conditioning programs then taking over in early June. A
schedule of this sort allows for adequate and proper year-round conditioning training, while
also building in appropriate down time for all student-athletes.
To further enhance program and team building events and activities in this post-season time
period, any number of non-physical
- Food kitchen volunteerism/canned/non-perishable food drives
- Coats for Kids
- Versus basketball games (i.e Football players versus Faculty, or Soccer team, etc.)
- Ping-Pong (or Dodgeball) tournaments
* All football student-athletes (returning players and graduating seniors) not competing in
winter sports will also be encouraged to be active in our winter conditioning program, which will
last from the week following our final game until our season ending team celebration the
following year.

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General Ideas/Possibilities:

Summer Work Crews:

o Forming and hiring out crews of student-athletes for local summer jobs, hopefully as crews
overseen by teachers and or members of the coaching staff. For legal (i.e. insurance/liability)
purposes, this may type of program may need to be run through either the HS Booster Club, or a
local not-for-profit agency. Crews can range from lawn and landscaping gangs to hay bailing
gangs to general construction helper gangs, etc. Student-athletes would be paid and given the
chance to not only develop work histories and experiences, but also support and assisit local
businesses and individuals with their efforts - not to mention making a positive, productive use of
their time, but also getting a positive physical workout on a daily basis for the summer!

Football Camp(s) - mid June (Team camp), late July/early August (Youth camp)
- Team Camp - run by local pro/college coaches & local travel/youth coaches for our high school players
- Youth Camp, sponsored by HS Booster Club = run by HS coaching staff for local youth team(s)

7 on 7 Summer League/Big Man Challenges (mid-June through beginning of August)

- hosted by HS on game and practice fields

Meet the Team Night annual pre-season team inter-squad scrimmage w/picnic make it a whole day
to celebrate all things Football Include the Booster Club, Band, Cheerleaders, hell, even invite the
Junior League team! make it a day long celebration of the close of summer practice, the start of the
school year and season!!

Football Family Game Film Breakfasts every Saturday morning, after your team maintenance lift and
walk through from 8:00-10:00 AM, invite all Varsity players and parents to a local breakfast restaurant to
watch that Friday nights game film as spectators, with very little critical review (save that for team film
study on Monday). Imagine how something like this could grow into a great tradition! (for the team, for the
program, for the community)

Monday Night Football 101: As a means of more closely relating to and networking with parents and
fans in the community, host a Football 101 clinic every Monday Night from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at a local
restaurant, leading right into Monday Night Football A great opportunity to explain basic football
concepts/rules/executions especially the differences between high school rules and approach and the
rules/approaches/executions at the college and pro football levels. Just think, in just two days each week,
youre not only offering quality, family fun, youre also helping a few local businesses!!

Thursday Sports Movie Night show a sports themed movie every Thursday Night in the school
auditorium, with popcorn and concessions, for all students, fall sports teams and their families (working
with Fall Sports game schedules to avoid conflicts where possible), something like 6:00 8:30 PM
(Remember the Titans, Rocky, Rudy, Miracle, The Blind Side, Ali, Invincible, Seabiscuit, Harvard Beats
Yale 27-27, Brians Song, etc.). Another great opportunity to start and build a unique and powerful
tradition for your team, program, school and community!

Mascot Pride Crew = alumni, parents, friends, etc, organized into specific crews or Gangs (i.e. The
Chain Gang, The Field Gang, The Film Gang, etc.) to perform specific duties. Give them gang
specific hats, t-shirts, hoodies, etc.)

Annual Beat the Beast game A Pink Out game in support of Cancer Research/ Awareness/
Prevention/Recovery/Memorial. Organize a whole weekend of activities:
o Game on Friday night with pink jerseys and special Halftime (Survivors Recognition, etc.)
o 5k Run/Walk on Saturday, with Dinner/Dance/Auction on Saturday night

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General Ideas/Possibilities (continued):

Special Football Homecoming activities: Powder Puff game, Teacher/student flag football showdown,
etc., with can also be made into Awareness Fundraisers for local food bank, wounded warriors, etc.

General In Game fundraisers:

o Local Business sponsored 50-50 raffle - business donates $100 per game, so the take home
pot of the raffle STARTS at $100. All collected ticket money is then divided 50-50, so the
winner takes home at least $100.
o Expand all home halftimes to the allowed 20 minutes - have a Kick a Field Goal or Throw a
pass into the Bin or even a Dunk Tank Challenge at each game. Sell raffle tickets for
$1.00, pull five names at half, and let them have at it! Can be done before or after
band/cheerleading routines.

As for general end of season activities: Be sure to schedule and conduct post season wrapup/table setting activities and events. From simple, standard exit interviews with each player and
coach (meetings designed to review/grade each student-athlete/coaches performance, attitude,
strengths and weaknesses from this past season, and provide individual, detailed advice and
suggestions for improvement going forward). This process usually includes returning players and
graduating players helping both groups most realistically move forward in their scholastic football
endeavors. Quality high school football programs offer at least some sort of opportunity along these
lines starting with simple player/coach surveys and interviews with staff, moving through more
detailed analysis and suggestions for both returning players, graduating seniors, coaches, support
staff - as well as with parents, school administrators and teachers..

Local Junior Football Partnership Program

One of the most important keys to building, implementing, establishing and maintaining a positive,
strong, vibrant, growing, and successful high school football program lies in establishing and
maintaining a positive, strong, vibrant, growing, and successful partnership with all local youth
football teams, programs and activities - from community run leagues and teams at all
age/weight/skill levels through local football related activities (Punt, Pass & Kick, flag football
tournaments, etc.) sponsored by local groups like the Police Athletic League, Boys and Girls Clubs,
local Parks and Rec departments, etc.
It is incumbent upon the local high school coach and his staff to reach out to the youth leagues,
teams and football activity sponsoring agencies in his community to set up a comprehensive
program, designed to integrate - as much as reasonably possible - the general goals, ideals and
football specifics of his program with those of their programs. Every successful high school program
needs successful feeder programs if it wishes to maximize - and grow! - the overall qualityof all
those programs, together!
Everything from general operating principles (mission statements and the like) through on-field Xs
and Os (i.e. general athletic principles like nutrition, hydration, stretching and conditioning, running,
blocking, tackling technique; offensive, defensive, and special teams design, terminology, technique
and execution) to even fundraising coordination can and should be laid out - and mapped out - to
insure as close, yet as autonomous, a mutually beneficial situation as can be arrived at.

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Local Junior Football Partnership Program (continued)

HS Team sponsored and directed Youth Football Camp(s) - late July/early August - Schedule and operate a Youth Football Camp, sponsored by HS Booster Club and run by HS
coaching staff (with the assistance of the specific youth league team coaches) for local youth
team(s). A week long camp (Tuesday through Friday) day camp would genrate funds for the
sponsoring/operating HS Booster Club while at the same time providing a positive jump start on the
youth season by installing and repping all the basics of that program - i.e. general athletic principles
like nutrition, hydration, stretching and conditioning, running, blocking, tackling technique; offensive,
defensive, and special teams design, terminology, technique and execution. These camps can be
offered and tailored to specific age/weight groups/teams, and could be offered for multiple weeks
(see attached Summer Camp Proposal for specifcs).

HS Team sponsored and directed Youth Football Summer 7 on 7 League using the Summer Camp model, a youth division 7 on 7 Summer League (also sponsored by the
HS Booster Club and overseen by the HS coaching staff) could be scheduled and operated in late
June/early July. All the same partnership benefits offered in the Camp setting would be available
here, as well.

Game Night Inclusion - set up a system which allows your local feeder programs to get reduced
admission prices for their group (coaches, parents, players and cheerleaders), and have a special
section of the stands set up as reserved for them as a group. Ask each team to wear its jerseys,
and ask them to sit together - as a team, with their coaches - for at least the first half of every home
game. Schedule a few extra activities for them over the course of the season - from inviting them
onto the field to be recognized as a team - to maybe even arranging for them to play a truncated
scrimmage game during a halftime (this works especially well with the youngest age groups!)
Each home game, ask a few of the junior league coaches to sit in the press box with your coaches
during youre the game. This will not only give them a strong sense of inclusion, but will also assist
them in understanding - and appreciating - the increased demands and expectations of high school
football (as compared to junior league football)

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Junior Football practice night(s) - toward the end of their season, invite your 7 and 8 grade
youth league teams and coaches to hold a practice or two at your high school game facility.
Have your Varsity football team dressed in team sweat pants (or team shorts) and home jerseys,
ready to assist and help your coaches and the youth coaches throughout practice by demonstrating
proper form and function when it comes to proper alignment, assignment, technique and execution.
You meet the junior league players, coaches and parents at the front of the high school, and lead
them to the entrance to your field house. (You could even have the Booster Club set up the
concession stand and sell refreshments and both teams Spirit Wear). You start the night by
ushering the junior team into the field house, on the JV side, and give them a breakdown of what
their initial JV experience at the high school will be like, introduce them to the JV coaches, and have
them tour the locker room and coaches offices. As you explain the evolution of high school football
players from JV to Varsity, you walk them over to the Varsity side (which is populated by the Varsity
team in varying stages of GameDay activity). You then give a brief, simulated GameNight
speech, and have them align at the locker room door to take the field as they will on Friday nights to
come You arrange to have the cheerleaders - and, hell, even the damned marching band! - on
hand so they can run through the Team Banner and onto the lighted field while the school fight song
plays, (maybe even adding generic crowd noise over the stadium speakers!) and then you lead
them through their practice with your Varsity players assisting Trust me, after just one time, this
will become a cherished and treasured tradition for both the local youth program and your high
school program, too!!

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Additional Fundraising Ideas:

Summer Beef-n-Beer * can be combined with Annual Summer Football Camp Golf Tourney, or run as a separate event.
Can include a silent auction (with sports memorabilia, etc.)

Annual Team sponsored 50/50 Raffle - early August through halftime at Game #1 Each player is given a book of 10 raffle tickets, and asked to sell each ticket for a $5 donation
(all proceeds from this raffle go directly and solely to the Booster Club). Can use donated prizes
(i.e. big screen TV from WalMart or Big Lots, video gaming system, etc.) or can simply use cash
prizes ($250 for first place, $100 for second place, $50 for third place, for example). Each player
and cheerleader is asked to sell their book of 10 tickets, but all players are encouraged to sell as
many tickets as they can! The player/cheerleader who sells the most raffle tickets will win team
mechandise (i.e. team T-shirt, hoodie, hat and wool cap, for example). As with any team fundraiser,
the more participation we get from EVERYONE will help us be as successful as we can be imagine, 50 players and 15 cheerleaders selling only 10 raffle tickets apiece would bring in $3,250 subtract the prize money (if you go that route) leaves $2,850 Add coaches, booster club
members, as well at sales during the intra-squad and inter-squad scrimmages and through the first
half of the first game of the season It could add up!

Annual Big Game Blocks 50/50 *can be done for both the NFL Big Game as well as for the CFP Big Game as well. Start selling
$25 or $50 blocks for the NFL Big Game 50/50 in early August, and continue through out the
entire season - AND at all post season activities (even possibly at home winter interscholastic
sporting events!). Filling just one page at $25 per block would produce a board that offered $325
payouts per quarter (in 50/50 mode - $2500 total, $625 per quarter - with $325 to winner and $300
to the Booster Club thats $1,200 per page!). Could do maybe $5, $10 and/or $20 blocks for
the college football playoff final, as well

Annual Big Game Preview Party Host a Big Game party from Noon to 5:00 PM on Big Game Sunday at a local banquet hall or
restaurant (possibly in partnership with local rental center for big screen TVs, Lazy Boys, couches,
etc.), with catered food and drink, as well as fundraising activities like a Madden Bowl playoff
(charging for entry), Football toss, Field Goal kicking competition, etc. Perfect place to fill up any
needed Big Game Block pages Ending the party at 5:00 PM allows everyone to get to their
traditional Big Game parties on time. (Could eventually turn this entire event into a Big Game
Viewing Party, with folks simply staying to watch the Big Game there - and making this event their
default Big Game Party!!)

Annual Golf Tournament Can be run as the wrap-up activity to the Annual team football camp (with college coaches, etc.)

Annual Football Carnival Host a summer time carnival on school grounds - can include all the traditional rides and activites of
a community carnival, with added football specific events (football toss, field goal kicking, obstacle
course - with sleds and tires, etc - dunking booth for coaches, etc.)

Traditional fundraisers Car washes, bake sales, Texas Hold Em Tourneys (along with Casino Nights, etc.)