First Aid Certification and Senior Project Wrap-up

You need to be ready if a situation arises. You trip and fall, unintentionally come in contact with exposed wiring or step on a rusty nail or literally bite off more than you can chew. When an accident happens, time is not on your side. Besides a well-stocked and functional First Aid Kit, preparation and skills are the most important tools you can have at your disposal.

You will use a first aid kit for situations from a nosebleed to a fracture. Here are some cases in which you need a first aid kit:

• If the victim was bitten by an unprovoked undomesticated animal such as a raccoon or a squirrel, an immediate shot may be necessary to prevent the possibility of a rabies infection.
• The first and possibly most important step when treating minor cuts and scrapes is to thoroughly clean the wound with mild anti-bacterial soap and water.
• Also during a nosebleed do not have the person hold their head backwards

Now to wrap this project up! When I look back I would only change one thing and that would be to make new drills so we didn’t do the same things every day. Other than that I had a great time coaching with Al Ellis

This is Al and I at the team party

Start Time: 7:00 P.M.

End Time: 9:00 P.M.

Total Time: 2 Hours

CPR Certification

Since the football season has ended I have taken a few months off and now I a obtaining my CPR certification. In order to do this I took a course online and it took about 3 hours. My next blog will really be similar to this one since I will obtain also a First Aid certification. Let me explain what CPR is about.

According to recent statistics sudden cardiac arrest is rapidly becoming the leading cause of death in America. The air we breathe in travels to our lungs where oxygen is picked up by our blood and then pumped by the heart to our tissue and organs. When a person experiences cardiac arrest – whether due to heart failure in adults and the elderly or an injury such as near drowning, electrocution or severe trauma in a child – the heart goes from a normal beat to an arrhythmic pattern called ventricular fibrillation, and eventually ceases to beat altogether. This prevents oxygen from circulating throughout the body, rapidly killing cells and tissue. In essence, Cardio (heart) Pulmonary (lung) Resuscitation (revive) serves as an artificial heartbeat and an artificial respirator. CPR may not save the victim even when performed properly, but if started within 4 minutes of cardiac arrest and defibrillation is provided within 10 minutes, a person has a 40% chance of survival.

Although this is just the basic understanding of CPR it has taught me a lot on the subject. I hope I will be able to save someone’s life someday.

Start Time: 5:00 P.M.

End Time: 8:00 P.M.

Total Time: 3 hours

Wheeler Game Review

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged so let me give you an update of what has happened. Two weeks ago we had a bye week and we only had practice. Last week we had a home game against Walton but yet again we lost. Yesterday was our last game of the season and our team was still without a win at 0-7. Our players really wanted a win this week and they worked the hardest they have all year at practice. Yesterday our team finally came up with the first win of the season. The players were so excited because the won fifty to twenty-six. The game started at seven and ended at nine at night. We had to be there an hour early to warm up. There is no better victory than a huge win at the end of the season.

I will just share some quick stats just to show how much we have improved throughout this season.  We had almost five hundred yards of offense in the game against Wheeler. Randy (our quarterback and safety on defense) and Elijah (our corner) both had an interception. Four different players scored touchdowns and Randy just happened to have three touchdowns. On defense, David had eleven tackles and the overall tackles were spread out more evenly. Last game, Randy had twenty-three tackles but only eight this game. So everyone is tackling a little better and we are playing defense as a team.

It was a pleasure coaching these kids through a tough season and I enjoyed coaching them to play through diversity. We will have a team banquet to celebrate a fun season with these players. Also I will plan one getting the certain certifications for the second part of my senior project.

Start Time: 6:00 P.M.

End Time: 9:00 P.M.

Total Time: 3 hours

 

Lassiter Game Review

Our team practiced hard this past week in order to plat against a  tough opponent that went to the play-offs last year. This season has been tough on our boys since we have lost the first four out of eight games. The team has fun and in the end that is all it is really about. This week in practice we worked on holding on to the ball, since we have had many turnovers this season. Also I worked on cross blocks and blocks on the second level. When we arrived at Lassiter we started to go over our special teams about an hour before the game. The players seemed to be well rested and confident before the kick-off of the game.

In this game we lost thirty to sixteen but, it was tied sixteen all at halftime. On offense in this game we ran and passed the ball efficiently. On the first drive when ran our play Right Spread Gun Budda. On this play our offense is set in a shotgun formation and it is a direct snap to the quarterback. Then he takes the ball right off tackle. Our offensive line gets great push and we get on the second level therefore making the linebackers unable to tackle Randy, our quarterback. With Randy’s speed he outruns everyone on the field and scores our first touchdown. Randy threw very well completing five of seven passes for forty-three yards. On defense David, our defensive end/linebacker made key tackles on third downs and I am pleased with his determination to play hard. In conclusion these games are just building blocks for high school football. In high school these kids will win games and that’s a fact.

 Start Time: 7:00 P.M.

End Time: 9:30 P.M.

Total: 2.5 Hours

 

 

 

 

Woodstock Game Review

On Saturday October 5th, our team went to play Woodstock for our fourth game of the season. Starting off with a 0-3 record is not that fun, but as a coaching staff we are striving for the kids to stay positive. Last night the kids played a great game. The score of last nights game was 30-32 and we lost. We got to Woodstock high at Seven P.M. to warm up. Our game started at 7:30 because the 6th grade game went into overtime.We did some positive and negative things.

On the offensive side of the ball, our running game proved to be powerful. However, the 2 fumbles we had we costly because they were on our side of the field, giving Woodstock short fields to score. On offense we predicted that when we shifted into our main formation, that their defense would stay in their 5-4 defense and they did. Our formation is Right Spread ZIT (Z-back in tight). Our team runs the triple option and on most of our plays we get excellent blocking but we are blocking the read of the option. Our quarterback Randy continues to surprise me with his speed, agility, and his field vision. He brings confidence to our team, which is exactly what our team needs. I expect this kid to be a breakout athlete in high school and he has a bright future ahead of him.

Although I am not a defensive coach through the film I can see that our d-line gets their hands on the offensive lineman and they do not let them reach the second level which are our linebackers. Our secondary is not fire stepping into tackles. I advised our defensive coaches to work on our open field tackling. I am happy with how our defense played as a whole. It was a though lose but I feel as we progress during this learning process that we will come up with a win.

Start Time: 7:00

End Time: 9:30

Total: 2.5 hours

Sequoyah Game Review

Going into this game on September twenty-first our coaching staff expected a tough game but not a total beat down like last night. We arrived thirty minutes before the game. Before the game we went over the basics of what we need to do to win. On kickoff team we planned on kicking it deep. On receiving team we stressed the importance of ball control. We would just run our basic offense and  we would test our new 22 Steele defense. Our game was 7:30 to 9:30. One of my jobs as a coach is to review the game film.

Now losing forty-six to zero is never something to be joyful about but I do feel we did some positive things. Our quarterback Randy was one block away from scoring on several drives. I will work with the line to get those final blocks. On Raptor one of our tackle trap plays, we had a huge hole but the hand-off exchange was not clean. Our receivers were running their corner routes way to deep and Randy continues to only look to his right while passing. Our offense was slow and we looked a little rusty. We need to run more reps a practice.

On defense, if we were in our base defense and the kids had more experience, we would have gotten the ball back a few times. IWe also missed a lot of tackles. My instructions to the ends were not correct during practice and it allowed the belly dive to both sides to be open. However, we attempted to adjust during the game and we still did not get the pinching that we needed. We will go back to our 5-3 and stay consistent with our training. Our defense lines will focus on covering the inside gaps. 

Start Time: 7:00 P.M.

End Time: 9:30 P.M.

Total Hours: 2.5

Coach Al Ellis

Today’s date is September 22nd and this is my first blog about my project facilitator Alfred Ellis. Al was born and raised in central Michigan. In high school he played a multitude of sports including football, basketball, and golf. He told me stories of the golden days where he used to be one of the teams leaders. Al moved to Woodstock a couple years after high school and started a family.

Al started a career of technology while enjoying coaching little league basketball and football. He coached all of his kids in multiple sports. His youngest son E.J. Ellis and I used to play basketball and football together. I stopped playing basketball so now we are both starting on the high school football team. Coach Al coaching me in basketball 4th through 6th grade. He coached both E.J. and I in our 8th grade year of football. Coach Al has always been a personal mentor to me because he has always been honest and he is never afraid to speak his mind.

Many of the coaching techniques that I will be perfecting this football season were learned from him. Since Al has always been there to correct my mistakes during past years of rigorous practice sessions he is a loyal person. He is extremely dedicated to this football team and it is my pleasure and honor to stand along side him as a coach. This season Al will be our offensive coordinator and I will coach the offensive line. With his twenty-six years of coaching experience there is no doubt in my mind that Al Ellis is the right person to be my project facilitator. 

 

 Coach Al and I discuss blocking schemes at practice.