June 28, 2010

I'm sorry that I didn't make this entry until Monday but once I got home sitting back and doing nothing was all I was willing to do.

Sunday scrimmage went very well.

Individual game results are:

North Tonawanda 1 - 48

Eastbrook - 20

West Central - 26

Mishawaka 1 - 31

North Tonawanda 1 -31

Mishawaka 1 -16

West Central -27

Eastbrook -23

North Tonawanda -12

Lapel/Woodstock -18 (Lapwood)

Mishawaka 2 -24

BenShroder -18

North Tonawanda 2 -16

BenShroder -38

North Tonawanda 2 -21

Lapel/Woodstock -18 (Lapwood)

Mishawaka 3 -24

NorthWest -11

Northwest -11

Mishawaka 3 -4

BenShroder is a combination of Ben Logan High School and Shroder High School from Ohio.

NorthWest is a combination of North Tonawanda, New York and West Central High schools.

Lapwood is a combination of Lapel, Woodstock, Michigan City.

Mishawaka 2 is a combination of Mishawaka and Manchester high schools.

Mishawaka 3 is a combination of Mishawaka and Manchester high schools.

As always new friendships have developed because of the mixing of schools. Friendships between players and coaches that hopefully will continue for many years.

Check out went extremely well. By noon almost everyone was on their way home. Some on chartered bus to New York, some on school buses to Mishawaka, but most in cars. Because of an error on the IWA web page one player waited for a couple of ours for his parents to arrive from Michigan City. The check out time had been posted then it was changed. However the change was not made on the web page. That was my mistake. I apologize to the camper and his parents for the error.

Everyone appeared to have a great time at all three sessions. Hopefully they all took home new skills, or improved skills that will help their team this year. A total of 418 players attended camp. They all indicated that they would return to next years camp. Those dates are:

June 10th to the 13th,

June 17th to the 20th,

and June 24th to the 27th.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone next year.

June 26, 2010

Forty-five minutes before practice the room next door to Coach DuBois and mine has a toilet over flowing. I've called the Conference staff for assistance, still waiting. As I'm waiting here one of the younger kids comes to the office door and tells me that one of his roommates has the key the door, he is locked out and he can't get in the room to get ready for practice. I told him to wait by the door and that he had to get ready for practice soon as well. I just say him and he was dressed for practice. His buddy must have arrived.

It's going to be hot and humid out there this afternoon. The rain is long past and the heat is building. Extra fluids a necessity this practice.

More later...

We just got back in from practice. It was warm but a mild wind helped a ton. It's 4:20 p.m. and we have 40 minutes before dinner. Dinner is outside in front of the Basketball complex. We are eating there tonight because another groups has a special dinner and presentation in the dining hall. The Basketball complex is right across the street from our dorm so it will work out just fine.

When we got back, the room that had the over flowing toilet had been cleaned and was ready for the players. We will try to finalize paper work plans for tomorrow tonight. Maybe we can get some preliminary back and loading done tonight. I've got a copier, two printers, three drawer cabinet of office needs, my computer, dirty clothes, clean clothes, bedding, etc to pack and load. Hopefully, I'll be on the road shortly after one o'clock local time. And if I don't need to stop and take a nap on the way home I could be home by 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

That's it for now more later.......

June 26, 2010

The last day of practices before Scrimmage on Sunday. We had a quite night last night. The kids were settled in their rooms pretty quickly. Today is supposed to be hot and humid. The kids will need plenty of water today.

The line coaches were informed last night that they should have a drill for the last practice tonight. On the last practice, the linemen have linemen olympics. The drills are designed to lighten things up a little and have some fun. Coach DuBois is going to have races carrying the big stand up dummies. Coach Zayatz will have Sumo wrestling. Coach Chase is doing the Bag toss to see how far they can throw a big stand up dummy. Coach Buckmann will have chase races on the tubes. Coach Murray will do races through the chutes. The line has worked hard throughout camp and this allows them to have some fun and laugh at each other as they go through the Linemen Olympics.

We just finished the staff meeting and everyone will be going to the hill for practice at 9:00 a.m. this morning. Three more practices and the scrimmage. Session three is just about done.

More later.....

June 25, 2010

Day two of session three is moving along smoothly. We'll be getting into the meat of practice today and tomorrow. We registered 172 campers yesterday. Once again we filled up Bergwall Hall on Taylor's campus. Not one open room in the dorm.

North Tonawanda's charter bus from New York rolled in an hour before check in. The Mishawaka Cavemen's bus made it to campus shortly before the 11:00 a.m. check in. West Central, Eastbrook, Ben Logan (Ohio), Shroder (Ohio), Lapel, Manchester, Michigan City, Wabash and Woodstock (Illinois) players all started to line up for check in.

Coach Copeland, Coach Prescott, Coach Bridge, Coach DuBois and Coach Kiechle returned for their third camp this summer. A day and half break between sessions wasn't very much and we are all a little tired. Practices are crisp and sharp already. We have always had great kids, great coaches and outstanding facilities here at Taylor. The Taylor staff tries their best to accommodate our needs and requests. We in turn do our best to makes sure that the players are behaved and respectful where ever they are on campus. The players are only at three areas on campus and that is the dorm, the practice field and the dinning hall.

That's all for now; more later......

June 24, 2010

We worked until Mid-night last night getting ready for Session three registration this morning. We have 181 athletes working their way to Taylor Campus this morning. North Tonawanda, New York is on a bus headed this way. Communication last night said that they were stopping at Cracker Barrel for breakfast in Gas City before heading to campus.

The team attendance lists, position lists, t-shirt list, key lists, and coaches pamphlets were completed last night. Most of which will be changed because some kids won't make it here and new kids that we don't know anything about show up.

A storm moved through the area last night. Hopefully the fields will be ready for us. It doesn't appear that any storms are in the picture for today or tomorrow. It has been on of the wettest camps we've ever had. In spite of the weather we had only a few practices modified. However we did experience our first scrimmage shortening due to weather. We were only able to get one game done instead of the usual two.

More later as time permits....

June 22, 2010

The second session of option camp ended yesterday with a shortened scrimmage due to heavy storms moving in. Initially the scrimmage was delayed for about 45 minutes due to lightening. After the delay the scrimmage was reduced to one game of four twelve minute quarters (with a running clock as always). It rained off and on through out the scrimmage so trying to keep score on the paper sheets was impossible. The scrimmage is the culmination of the camp and is what everyone is working toward. There was spirited play on three different fields.

The younger teams showed tremendous improvement from Friday to Monday. It is amazing how in four short days the change in the skill of the players. We have been doing this for 18 years and we still marvel at the change that takes place.

One day of rest and we return to Taylor campus for Session Three. We have 184 campers reporting Thursday morning for check in.

More later.....

June 19, 2010 12:00 a.m.

I just finished printing out four year camper certificates. We had eight athletes, four from Twin Lakes and four from New Prairie, that have been here at Taylor University campus four years as campers. That's dedication.

Saturday is in the books. We've had a few discipline issues today. Things that were dealt with as swiftly as possible. Some were minor some were major. They have been taken care of so there is no need for further discussion.

Every drill station today kept all 176 athletes working to develop their individual skills. Every practice shows improvement of their skills. Some spirited play between teams was good to see tonight. This sets things up for some great scrimmages on Monday.

Three practice on Sunday will put a final touch team play for Monday's scrimmage.

More later..............

June 19, 2010

We checked in 176 campers yesterday. It was a very busy day. After check in we had a staff meeting for introductions and an overview of what and how we are going to conduct camp. The organization of teams and practices takes a lot of time and the first couple of practices are a little kayo-tic.

The evening practice was shortened due to weather. A huge storm blew through Upland (the whole state really). We stayed until the very last second. We could feel the weather moving in. Coach Prescott finally decided that it was time to "get out of Dodge" so 176 kids and 25 coaches raced to the dorm. We got here before it hit. And man did it hit.

The pizza's the kids and coaches ordered after the afternoon practice were delivered early which was good since we got in to the dorm early. Since I was in charge of the camp store Friday evening, I had to order the 36 pizza's that the camp needed. Everything went smoothly at the camp store after practice. Some of the kids that had not put money in the camp bank at check in put money in after the evening practice. They learned that it was easier to have their money there, then have to go to their room, get money and return to buy gaterade and pay for the pizza.

The sun is shinning brightly right now and we will have a staff meeting shortly. Breakfast is all but done. Coach Bridge mans the door to give the cafeteria staff some sense of order as the 220 plus Option campers enter. The fields should be soft (muddy) for practice, a lot easier on the legs.

Coach Prescott and I worked on Session 3 until about 12:30 last night. We've got more to do and will work on that tonight. Hopefully we can finish up a most of what we need to do tonight so that Sunday night we will little to do. Then next Wednesday we will put a final polish on Session 3 and start the process over. We are supposed to meet with the Taylor Conference staff organizers next Thursday before we have check in to get Camp 2011 set up. That will our 19th consecutive camp here at Taylor.

More later...

June 18, 2010

I closed up Command Central, got in bed ready for good nights sleep. I was in bed before midnight. Then I realized that I hadn't made up the camp store list for check in tomorrow. Coach Burns would have been in at a lose without the alphabetical list. There would have been some scrambling.

The IOC and IWA purchased a new copy machine. I ordered it on Monday when I returned home from session one. The delivered it on Wednesday. I left a little early to have it set up for our work session tonight. I spent an hour getting it out of the box and going thru the set up process. As I'm trying to set things up I discover that the document feeder won't go on as the directions say. I think the sent the wrong document feeder. I called out to California where I ordered it and we set up to have some one come out in the morning to set it up. We hope???

All the lists are ready and I think everything is ready for the 183 campers that will converge on Taylor campus in the morning. Well it's 1:34 local time so I've got to get to bed.

More tomorrow .....

June 17, 2010

I'm loading up to make the trip back to Taylor. We're meeting back at campus about 6:00 p.m. to make final preparation for Friday mornings check-in at 11:00. Check in with 200 campers will be hectic but it will be completed by about 12:30. Staff meeting at 1:30 and first practice about 2:30.

Organizing 200 athletes and 30 coaches is difficult but after 18 years it gets done down with some degree of ease.

More later......

June 17, 2010

After morning and evening weights on Wednesday, I met with the kids going to camp. I reminded them to bring tennis shoes and mouth pieces to camp. I also encouraged them to offer rides to the younger kids. I made a point if telling them to be careful on the drive to and from the Taylor Campus. I reminded them also about the time difference. The eleven o'clock check in is ten o'clock our time. Coach Miracle commented to the evening group that they should keep in mind that they represent Lowell Football and should act accordingly.

The kids asked if the Florida teams was going to be there. I told them that there were two from Florida coming to camp, Eastbay and Cypress Lake. The younger kids were warned that this camp was a working camp and that they should be prepared for tiring workouts.

More later....

June 14, 2010

After resting upon returning home, I thought that I'd put an update on about the scrimmage. The scrimmage went very well. The four teams were:

OakRoy-Purple composed of teams from Oakwood High School, in Illinois and LeRoy High School from Illinois.

Academy-White composed of players from Culver Academy

Community-Orange composed of teams from Culver Community High School and Huron Heights High School from Toronto Canada.

Eagles-Blue composed of teams from Culver Academy, Scecina High School, North Manchester, and Tri-County High School.

The scrimmage results are:

Oak-Roy played Academy in the first game. The score was OakRoy 12 and Academy 27.

Eagles played Community at the same time. The score was Eagles 7 and Community 50.

The second round had the Eagles playing OakRoy. The score was OakRoy 32 and Eagles 7.

The Final scrimmage was Academy verse Community. The score was Academy 16 and Community 22.

The most important result was the improvement that all teams made from Friday until Mondays scrimmage. The team that made the biggest improvement over the four days was the Eagles. The Eagles was made up of most younger players. They showed the biggest change during the camp.

The Indiana Option Camp Staff would like to thank all the young men who spent a grueling four days of individual drills, group drills and team scrimmages. This session went extremely smoothly and was over before we knew it. There were absolutely no problems through out camp. It is a credit to the players and coaches for the quality camp that we just finished. We look forward to sessions tw0 with 186 campers and Session three with 200 campers.

There will be more later....

June 13, 2010 10:00 p.m.

The Sunday practices are now in the books. We had a shortened evening practice because of lightning. We only lost about eight minutes of team time so it wasn't to bad. But when the lightning strike was seen traveling across the clouds Coach Prescott decided it wasn't safe so he called practice. The kids and staff rushed off the field to the dorm.

Our next concern is the scrimmage on Monday morning. Forecast indicates chance of rain. We'll have to see what happens. The scrimmage is scheduled for 8:55 to 10:25. After the scrimmage there will be a meeting on the hill. Then the players will receive their evaluations before they go to the dorm to prepare their room for check out.

As soon as they clean up their room, shower, and pack the campers will have one of the coaches check their room to make sure everything is in order. As soon as they have the all clear from the coach, the coach will hand them a ticket if they give him the key that they were issued. Once they have the ticket they can proceed to the first floor commons and hand the ticket to Coach Copeland. Coach Copeland will give them their key deposit back. Once each coach has checked his assigned rooms and collected the keys he will bring them down to the first floor commons and turn the keys into Coach Kiechle who will check them off the list.

The coaches will then get their rooms ready and bring their keys down to Coach Kiechle. Once all of the keys have been returned the Coach Copeland, Coach Prescott, Coach Bridge, Coach DuBois and Coach Kiechle can then prepare to leave as well.

Thursday evening the five of us will return and to set up and continue preparing for Session Two. I say continue, because tonight we have finalized Session Two position list, camp team colors and names. We've also been working on Session two's practice plans and sequence. Coach Copeland and Coach Kiechle did some preliminary work for Session Three.

Have a good evening and I'll have more later.

June 12, 2010

The evening practice has been storm shortened. We saw the storm approaching and started practice 30 minutes earlier. Then we also modified the practice sequence. After stretching and warming up we went directly to individual instead of demo. We shortened individual and went to team time. We felt that getting some team time in was important, so we went to team. After the first 24 minute segment we tried to start a second segment. But with a tornado warning out and the siren going off Coach Prescott sent the kids into the dorm.

A little bit longer time in the dorm to night but the kids have been good.

More later .....

June 12, 2010 4:20 p.m.

Just finished Practice number 4. Dinner at 5:15.

It rained off and on during the morning practice. The afternoon was hot and humid. The kids felt the humidity and some were sluggish at times. But they made it through and are sitting in air conditioned comfort right now.

The evening practice begins at 7:00 tonight. We will be adding a new play to the three that have already been installed. We will add veer to triple pass, mid-line, mid-line belly and triple option. Things are running smoothly but we still need t0 pick up the tempo.

More later.....

June 12, 2010

Last night our camp store man, David Burns had a commitment that required some one to cover the pizza delivery and Gatorade sales after the evening practice. I covered that so that Coach Burns to take care of his commitment.

At 6:30 this morning, Coach Prescott and Kordell walked the hall way with the morning wake up "Whistle". Breakfast at 7:00, Staff meeting at 8:00, Camp chalk talk on the hill at 9:00 and stretch at 9:08. Day Two begins.

The Taylor dinning hall is under reconstruction so meals this year are in the side banquet halls. Different location but the same great food. The conference staff has been super taking care of the needs of the Option staff and the campers needs.

More later.....

June 10, 2010

It's 11:46 Region time. We've finished making team list, position lists and practice plans. They've been duplicated and ready to distribute to the coaches. Registration is at 11:00 a.m. We have 71 campers in the books for session one.

Several phone calls to and from various coaches has helped fill in missing data. New campers have been added and some that are not going to be here have been removed.

Coach Copeland and I have updated the first session list with room assignments and balance due for Check in tomorrow morning. I compiled a camp store list for Coach David Burns, who will open the camp bank. The kids deposit money into the camp bank and then only have to tell the camp store what he wants to buy and that amount will be deducted from his account. The campers buy Gatorade, candy bars, pizza and IOC shorts if they want. The camp store allows the kids to purchase items and not have to have cash on hand. At the end of camp the unused funds are returned to the campers at checkout.

I'm last in Command central so I'm going to say good night.

See you in the morning.

Coach Harvey

July 10, 2010

I arrived at Taylor University at 9:30 (region time). I've got my room set up and the Indiana Option Camp Command Central set up as well.

We had our first camper show up to register - - - - a day early. They had miss read the brochure and were here at 11:00 a.m. on the 10th to register. Now that's an eager player.

We'll have a meeting with the Taylor conference staff and get everything organized. If there is enough time Coach Copeland and I will hit Walnut Creek Golf Course. We meet for dinner at 6:00 with the rest of the camp organizers.

More Later.

June 8, 2010

I started packing up for Camp 2010 today. It rained all day so staying inside and preparing to leave seemed like the thing to do.

We met Saturday and assigned close to 400 athletes to teams for the three sessions of camp. Session one will have about 60 athletes. We anticipate that more registrations will arrive this week. The actual numbers won't be known until after check in of the day of each session.

We always have some no shows and sometimes have new people show up the day of registration. As always we look forward to coming to camp and renewing friendships with coaches that we have seen since last year. This year will be especially enjoyable because North Tonawanda, New York returns to camp after a three year hiatus. Their school schedule made it impossible for them to attend until this year. Hopefully, our schedules will coincide so that they can return again next year. We also have two teams coming up from Florida. Eastbay High School and Cypress Lake High School will be here second session.

I'll be making entries during each of the three sessions as time permits.