COFFEETOWN HS SPORTS

Coffeetown Varsity football coach Cliff Swansea had his team undergo unusual preparation with Hurricane Idalia looming.

Most teams use a wet ball drill to get a quarterback and center’s exchange down in saturated conditions.

But Swansea wanted something a little more extreme for his troops.

So he threw them into the deep end.

Literally.

“Yes, we did have the boys practice at the Copper County civic center pool,” Swansea told me earlier this week.

“Full pads, helmets, cleats, all of it. I wanted our boys to embody the Navy SEALs in our preparation. This is a dry sport. But when nature tries to defeat you, you practice to defeat nature.”

Coffeetown football pool practice approach doesn’t cut down on contact

Just because Coffeetown football took to the pool doesn’t mean it was sharks and minnows.

The team still worked on full-contact drills after swimming over to the kids’ pool from the deep end.

“The key is saturation. Saturated socks. Saturated shoes. Soaked hip pads, all of it,” Swansea said.

“We don’t know much about Idalia, do love that brand of onion, but not sure what the storm will deliver. Our standard remains the same no matter what the skies want to try and say about it.”

Coffeetown takes on Splitwood in game two after dropping its first game to Copper Central, 10-6.

Players have a lot to prove

If these practices sound alarming to you, the players claim that they could take on even more.

Last week’s loss was harder to stomach than a two-hour practices wearing 30-pound, soaked shoulder pads in a swimming pool.

“That game was just not how we play Coffeetown football,” said junior offensive guard Pip Hamley.

“No, I can’t swim. But I will continue working on my footwork under the mushroom fountain until I know that the storm would bow down to me, if I ever got the chance to battle it.”

Swansea has his boys believing even after a loss.

Let’s see where this butterfly effect goes from here.