By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The temperatures indicate summer, but the feeling was slightly different.
Plenty of enthusiasm and excitement filled the open air as the first day of football practice commenced for Rivera, Hanna, Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Los Fresnos, Port Isabel, and St. Joseph (who started just after midnight) on Monday.
“I think the attitude was great,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “The first day, the guys are always ready to go.”
Lopez, Pace and Porter will begin practice Aug. 10 after participating in spring practices.
Players and coaches began work for the 2015 season, getting on the field for the first time in helmets and cleats. According to UIL rules, players are restricted to only helmets until Friday, the first day allowed for contact and thus full equipment.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial also was anxious to get started Monday.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this like everybody else,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “It’s a ‘we will’ type of attitude that exists here, they’re itching to get going.”
After conditioning in the morning, Hanna practiced in the afternoon after a message from the Golden Eagles’ coach.
“We just put them out here and let them have fun,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said of the team’s enthusiasm during the first day. “It’s just the carryover from last year … it seems like we never left. The kids are here and they’re getting excited.
“It’s in the air, it’s the best time of the year.”
Chavez was proud of the effort his team gave Monday morning and concentrated on getting them back into football shape.
“The reason we’re not clicking is because of conditioning and that’s what we’re working on right now,” he said. “The main thing is to get better (every day) and better conditioned.”
Chavez said the Raiders would use the non-contact portion of the week to get work on conditioning. He had upwards of 50 players that had trained every day during the summer at the high school. Chavez hoped the rest of the team would get up to speed as quickly as possible as the team headed to the weight room after its work out in the morning.
Hanna used the first day to see where they were at on both offense and defense. Medrano said the first week was a review to see where the team stood on both sides of the ball and would determine what they needed to work on during preseason practices.
Needless to say, Medrano was looking forward to the season after what he deemed a successful offseason by what his players accomplished.
“It’s good, it’s good stuff,” he said. “I’m excited. I think they’ve put in the time to be successful, now it’s up to them.”
There were plenty of positive vibes coming from the Chargers practice as well. After they started off the practice with special teams work, the offense and defense split up to get to work.
With music blaring from the press box, Brownsville Veterans was loose and eager to get a jump on the new season. The Chargers are excited to get back to the playoffs after falling just short the past two seasons.
“These kids have a desire to get to the postseason, but they have bigger goals than that,” Cantu said. “Everyone on this team is willing to do what the team needs them to do to be successful, it’s all about the team.”
If the coaches were happy to get back on the practice field, the players were ecstatic. The athletes were running fast and hard, going through drills at full speed and hustling from one thing to the next. It was good to have football back in their lives.
“It feels really good,” Hanna quarterback Andy Lopez said. “It’s my last year and it’s a lot of guys’ last year, so we’re going to go all out.
“It just feels good to be out here again.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.