Winning is good. Athletes expect to win when they step on the field to play.
Getting better each day is a measure of success.
“It’s about being better today than we were yesterday,” said Doug Kerr, Iola High Mustang head football coach. “That is what we’ve been asking our players to do this week.”
Kerr is entering his first season as head coach at IHS. He held his first summer team camp last week.
“We have seen 30 to 35 players consistently in the weight room since June 5. The weight room is open to all sports but we’ve had a good core group show up. We’ve worked on strength and agility coming into this week’s camp.”
Camp began with seniors, juniors and sophomores taking a “blind” bus trip Monday morning. Kerr said the players had no idea where they were going when they boarded the bus.
No cell phones allowed.
First stop — Fort Scott Community College, where Kerr played two years of college football. The Mustangs had a visit from FSCC head coach Curtis Horton then had a 90-minute practice on the Greyhounds’ field turf practice field.
“We installed a base defense during that practice,” Kerr said.
Then it was off to Spring field, Mo. The group ate lunch and went swimming in the Finley River.
“They could go anywhere along the river in the area but they had to go as a group. The guys had a blast swimming in the cold, clear spring water,” Kerr said.
Third stop of the day — Ozark High School in Ozark, Mo. OHS head coach Mark Bliss, who had coached at Conway Springs High in Kansas for years, took the Mustangs on a tour of the facilities.
“We had a walk-through practice then played three 7-on-7 football games. Our kids won two games,” Kerr said. “We had coupons for free pizzas, fed the team and we slept in the Ozark High locker room, which is as nice as a college or pro team’s locker room.”
Tuesday morning was another early call — 5:30 with a two-hour practice on the field turf field at Ozark. Then the team loaded up and traveled to Joplin, Mo.
“We drove through the area hit by the tornado. We went to Joplin High’s stadium and scrimmaged with the Joplin team. Our kids were competing against a big time school and doing well.”
