Beavers kickoff summer practice sessions...

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

Beavers trying to 'get ahead of everybody else

Posted: Monday, Jun 14, 2004 - 11:16:47 pm EDT

By TOM BONE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

 

BLUEFIELD - The helmets and shoulder pads are already out in Mercer County.

 

At Bluefield High School, students hoping to start this August for the Bluefield Beavers will be running plays on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and doing lots of conditioning on other weekdays.

 

The second year of "spring ball" has begun. The State Secondary School Activities Commission has permitted teams to work out with their coaches during a three-week period which started Monday.

 

Students may work out in shoulder pads and helmets, but may not engage in full-contact football.

 

Coach Fred Simon said, "It's a good time to spend a lot of work on fundamentals. So we'll work a lot on our stances ... and eventually we'll get into some plays.

 

"You get to go out there and handle the football, and that's something we haven't gotten to do, and I think it's great to be able to do that."

 

Handing out headgear and assigning jersey numbers in June rather than early August, he said, "has helped us organizational-wise."

 

Voluntary sessions will continue in the weight room, the gym and practice fields, even after the window closes for the organized workouts.

 

Simon said, "We have weight-lifting and fitness-type stuff going on all summer long, and we hope that they can get up here and work out and get themselves ready, because we feel like it helps them. ... If you want to be competitive, you shouldn't have to say too much. The guys that really want to do well, they're here."

 

Wide receiver Cecil Smith, who will be a junior, said about the August pre-season, "It'll be here before you know it. Hard work pays off."

 

Simon emphasized that he understands the boys' absences due to family vacations and other legitimate reasons.

 

Simon advocated that the state commission, "to make a little improvement," could schedule the spring football practice "while school is in session, like the last couple of weeks in May. That way you don't have to worry about so-and-so going to Boys' State ... or vacation, which they need to do that also."

 

Ryan Albert, who will also be a junior next fall, talked about the advantages of the new weeks of practice.

 

"It just helps us get ahead of everybody else ... before the first week in August, so we can have it out of the way, and move on to different stuff, and start focusing on Graham for the first week, and then Princeton for the second week," Albert said.

 

T.J. Morris said, "We have a lot to prepare for. ... I think it's a good thing. It gives us more opportunities. We get more in. We get more done."

 

Smith said, "If you come out and get started earlier, you'll have a better chance in the season." He said he will concentrate this summer on "speed and strength, and just my ability and flexibility, being a wide receiver."

 

John Thompson, a BHS alumnus and assistant coach, said of the practices, "It's like a family atmosphere. To me, it's a joy being around here every day."

 

http://bdtonline.com/articles/2004/06/15/sports/02monblfd.txt

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

Note Cecil Smith, who is listed at a wide receiver in the article. He wasn't on the roster I have from last year and I don't ever recall hearing the name. Maybe he's one of the new additions to the Beavers that I've heard about, but been unable to confirm...