CHEROKEE FOOTBALL 2018 PARENT MEETING As an entire staff, we would like to welcome you to the Cherokee Football Family. This is a program that has sustained success for almost 30 years and we are excited to have you and your families be a part of it! Should you have any questions, feel free to contact Coach Rios at jlrios@spsmail.org. OUR PURPOSE *Develop outstanding young men at home, in school, in the community, and on the football field. *Develop and improve fundamentals. *Prepare for success at Kickapoo High School, both on and off the field. *Have a Positive Experience. OUR COACHING PHILOSOPHY *Coach players like our sons *Coach Hard and Loud *Football is tough. Life is tough. We will be tough. *Eyeball Principle Conversations take place eye-to-eye, not staring at the ground. *Team comes First. No star treatment! *We are in this profession because we care about young people and love football as a teaching tool. We will always treat your son with respect and we expect the same in return. *Each player is a student-athlete; we will always recognize that they are a Student First and a Football Player Second. OUR COACHES 75 YEARS OF COMBINED COACHING EXPERIENCE Head Coach Jeremy Rios Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks / Linebackers - 12 years of coaching experience Associate Head Coach Dantwan Chillers Defensive Coordinator / Receivers / Linebackers - 11 years of coaching experience Assistant Coach Kevin Byrne Offensive Line / Defensive Line - 46 years of coaching experience Assistant Coach Brandon Ridder Running Backs / Defensive Line - 4 years of coaching experience Assistant Coach Scoty Kujath Receivers / Defensive Backs - 3 years of coaching experience
SUMMER CAMP Tuesday July 24 th and Wednesday July 25 th at Cherokee. Registration/Sign up at 8am, camp runs 8:30am 10:30 am. Cost is $20. Checks should be made out to Cherokee Middle School. Mail registration form and fee to Coach Rios. Must have physical and liability waiver on file. See camp registration form for more details. Gear Hand Out Office Hours See schedule: July 23 rd 26 th. Coach Rios will hold office hours from 6pm 8pm on these dates in order to gear out players. Simply bring up your player to Cherokee during those hours. Players will receive: locker, helmet, mouthpiece, shoulder pads, knee, tail, hip, and thigh pads, belt, practice pants and practice jersey. GEAR THAT YOUR PLAYER WILL NEED TO PROVIDE *Rubber cleats don t spend a ton of money *Orthodontist mouth pieces if needed - can be any color *Players should always wear a t-shirt (under shoulder pads) and have athletic shorts available for practice in case of heat modifications. *If you get receiving gloves, they must have NOCSAE or SFIA seals on them. ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY Incoming 7 th Graders Per MSHSAA eligibility requirements, all 7 th graders are initially eligible for the start of their 7 th grade year. Incoming 8 th Graders Per MSHSAA eligibility requirements, 8 th graders must have passed their previous quarter courses with no more than 1 F (4 th quarter of 7 th grade year). REQUIRED PAPERWORK FOR THE FALL 1) Valid MSHSAA Physical (MUST BE DATED AFTER 2/1/2018 THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN CAMP REQUIREMENT) included are: a. Health Inventory b. Physician s Examination and Clearance c. Concussion Materials Sign Off d. Insurance Information / Emergency Contacts 2) Signed Citizenship Card these will be handed out the first day of school 3) Information Packet Agreement 4) $50 pre-participation fee due to the office before the first game
DEAD WEEK & NO CONTACT PERIOD Due to MSHSAA policies, there is not any allowable player coach contact from July 28 th August 12 th. We can answer parent questions, but are not allowed to coach, visit with, or hand out gear to student-athletes during this time. PRACTICE DAYS AND TIMES See schedule. Players should have all gear ready to go before practice! Players need to bring their own rubber cleats, t-shirt to wear under shoulder pads and shorts just in case practice is modified. 1 st day is Monday August 13 th 3-5pm. Make sure rides arrived by 5:15pm. PER MSHSAA, PLAYERS MUST HAVE 14 PRACTICES IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR FIRST GAME. Email or leave a voice mail if your son is sick. If an appointment is on a practice day, please let the coaches know ahead of time. The attached Calendar has the days and times of practice. The weather may impact the times of practice. LOCKER ROOM Respect each other and their property! Lock up your Valuables! All football equipment and personal items picked up by the coaches will cost the owner conditioning. The BOYS are responsible for keeping the Locker Room picked up. GET IN AND GET OUT, ABSOLUTELY NO HORSEPLAY! 6 Goals For Success C.R.U.I.S.E. Commitment to common goals Responsibility you are responsible for your own performance Unselfishness what are YOU doing to make the TEAM better? Improve everyday as a person, student, and player and in that order Self-Discipline Do it right, don t accept less Eliminate Mistakes Learn from it, do not beat yourself ATHLETES HEALTH Drink water. Drink more water and when you think you re through, drink even more. Use ice for minor injuries. Athletic trainer is scheduled to be at school on Tuesdays. The nurse or Coach Rios will set up an appointment.
INJURIES: CONCUSSIONS, HEAT, INJURIES, ETC. *We will do everything we can to minimize injuries. We take injuries very seriously. There is a difference between being injured and being hurt. Players and parents should notify us immediately when they believe they are injured. *We are a SHOULDER LEAVERAGE TACKLING team. This style of tackling is designed to remove the head out of direct contact all together. We will reteach all athletes using HAWK TACKLING. GAME DAY PROCEDURES 7 th Grade: Make sure you have all of your gear or you will not play. Report to locker room right after school. If having food delivered, must be delivered to rear entrance of locker room by 3:30pm. You must ride bus to the game. Kickoff is at 5:30pm 8 th Grade: All players will stay on campus and report to cafeteria for study hall. Food must be brought by 4:30pm. All players must ride the bus. The game begins 15 minutes after the conclusion of the 7 th grade game. This time fluctuates. Both: Players leaving game with their parents must sign off on the sign out sheet clipboard provided by the coaching staff. Brothers, sisters, grand parents can t sign the players out. No NOTES or PHONE CALLS! Otherwise, players ride the bus to Cherokee where anyone may pick up. Not signing out will result in conditioning next practice. It is the player s responsibility to make sure they are signed out. If a player is sick on game day, please call and/or E-mail A.S.A.P. Students must be on time to 1 st hour and in school all day to participate. Only Dr. Powers and the site athletic director (Coach Rios) can override this IF 24 HOUR NOTICE IS GIVEN. ISS / OSS / CLIPBOARDS/ ABSENCES / EXCESSIVE TARDIES *1 st Time to ISS No Practice for each day, ineligible for the next game, and running for each day missed. *2 nd Time to ISS Removed from the team *OSS = Removed from the team *If any athlete gets a Clipboard for behavior issues they will have extra conditioning after practice. The second Clipboard for behavior issues will cost the athlete the next game. The third Clipboard will result in the athlete being removed from the team.
*Lunch detentions will be handled according to why the player was sent to lunch detention. (Punishment will fit the misdeed) *If your son is not at practice, Coach Rios needs to know why ahead of time. Multiple unexcused absences (2 or 3) will affect playing time or being told to turn in your gear. *Excessive tardies will be handled internally. Again, student-athlete first. PLAYING TIME Playing time is always a sensitive topic. Players are evaluated at all times. Here are some general guidelines to how playing time is EARNED: *alignment do you know where to start pre-snap? *assignment do you know what your job is post snap? *execution can you use proper technique and great effort to accomplish the job? *competition how well can you execute your assignment compared to position group peers? Players upset with playing time should approach Coach Rios. The door is always open to these conversations. This is an age where players need to take responsibility to initiate these important conversations. Parents should always ask if their player has spoken to Coach Rios yet about a playing time issue. Parents, please DO NOT approach coaches during or after games about playing time. Wait until the next day to reach out if you must. PICTURES Thursday October 11 th, 3:00-4:15pm. Must have game uniform to be in the picture. GAME JERSEYS Wash in cold water and hang dry. REMIND 101 This text messaging system will be used as a direct communication link between coaches and parents/players. Important items such as modified practice times, change in game times, and important reminders of upcoming events will be distributed with this system. See attached page for sign up info. At Cherokee Middle School, we strive to provide an enjoyable, fundamental, safe, and hard working environment for our football program. We care about all players as a person, student, and player. We know that players can and will struggle. If your son does struggle, we can t help if we do not know a struggle or problem is occurring. Please do not wait to contact me! Head Coach Jeremy Rios Phone: 620-717-1200 jlrios@spsmail.org