It wasn’t that long ago when two-a-day practices were synonymous
with high school football, as coaches used a wide-open month of
August to conduct morning and afternoon practice sessions in order
to prepare for the upcoming fall season.
But for San Benito High School, and several other schools that
fall within the Central Coast Section, double-days are becoming a
thing of the past.
And not necessarily by choice.
HOLLISTER
It wasn’t that long ago when two-a-day practices were synonymous with high school football, as coaches used a wide-open month of August to conduct morning and afternoon practice sessions in order to prepare for the upcoming fall season.
But for San Benito High School, and several other schools that fall within the Central Coast Section, double-days are becoming a thing of the past.
And not necessarily by choice.
“There’s no such thing right now,” San Benito head football coach Chris Cameron said of two-a-day practices.
Due to a scheduling conflict between the San Benito High School District and the CCS, the Haybalers were unable to conduct double days this year after the first day of school and the first official day of padded practices fell on the same day — Monday, Aug. 16.
San Benito was able to conduct non-padded practices last Friday and Saturday, but weren’t allowed to dress in full pads until Monday, when school was in session.
It was a similar story at Live Oak and Sobrato high schools, too, where the Aug. 16 padded-practice date came just one day prior to the first day of school, where as in Gilroy the first day of school was on Wednesday, leaving both the Mustangs and Cougars a brief two-a-day window.
Double-day practices not only provide skill-developing and added training for a physically demanding sport, but they also put a team in a “going-through-the-fire together” perspective, said Nick Borello, head coach at Sobrato.
“We planned a few events this summer to do some team-building,” Borello said. “But the physical and mental pounding and learning to push yourselves that you get with two-a-days is kind of hard to replace.”
As for the Balers, the scheduling conflict allowed zero chance for two-a-day sessions, which may put San Benito in a similar boat with schools in Morgan Hill and Gilroy from a competitive standpoint, but behind the eight-ball from a sheer physical standpoint.
“I don’t think it helps us at all. I look at it as a negative,” Cameron said. “We have a limited amount of practices to get kids physically ready for the game, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
It was a similar situation last year as well, but many teams attended football camps prior to the official start date of fall sports. This year, Cameron said, the CCS implemented a “blackout” period from Aug. 1-12, preventing teams from any activities, football camps included, with the exception of weight-room conditioning.
“Maybe I’ll be fine with it later in the season,” Cameron said. “But I think there’s a possibility of putting kids at risk.”
Cameron extended the summer weight-room session by three weeks in order to help offset the lack of two-a-days this year. But with the team’s first jamboree slated for Aug. 27, the team’s first game scheduled for Sept. 3, the Balers will be limited to just a handful of official padded practices before they see real action on the gridiron.
Said Cameron, “We basically have to hit the ground running.”
The San Benito Haybalers will compete in a jamboree on Aug. 27 at Live Oak High School. Teams expected to be in attendance include Live Oak, Gilroy, Christopher and Independence.
Reporter Scott Adams contributed to this story.
