Mr Football Idea

Shallowater has a Mr Football night every year before the first high school football game.  The exact timing varies some, but it’s always a time for the players from 7th grade thru 12th grade to be introduced along with all the cheerleaders, staff, managers and the high school band.  It’s a good community event with an ice cream social afterwards.  All in all, good stuff.

But I do have one idea.

We introduce each player and let them go out onto the field.  One.  At.  A.  Time.  Some run.  Some jog.  Some walk.  Some goof off….

It’s almost unbearably slow to do this.

How about we run out each grade (7,8,9,10,11,12 – I don’t are if you are varsity, JV, whatever) each as a group, line them up and announce them in order just letting them take a step forward and wave or whatever.

Here’s your 2009 7th grade team.  (Out they run, cheer cheer cheer!)  This year’s 7th grade team is Able (two seconds to wave), Baker (two seconds to wave), Charlie (two seconds to wave)……Zebra (two seconds to wave).  That’s this year’s 7th grade team.  Now here’s this years 8th grade team (Out they run, cheer cheer cheer!). 

You get the idea.  As each grade is finished they can run off to the side, or an idea I like is to just step back five yards to make room for the next grade.  At the end you’ve got them all (7-12) lined up 6 rows deep on the field at once!  It would have the added benefit of highlighting the seniors at the end without taking any extra time.

I don’t mean to moan but is there any reason it should take an hour to introduce these guys?  If they did a practice like this, someone would be doing UP/DOWNS!