Preps Plus
Monday, July 28, 2008
Midnight madness, Mineral style
As area schools begin football practices this week, one school, Louisa County, didn’t waste any time getting on the field. This year, the VHSL allowed teams to begin practicing today. So, Louisa County coach Mark Fischer scheduled practice for 12:01 a.m. Yes, you read that right.
Unusual, but this isn’t the first time the Lions have taken the field in the wee hours of the morning. Louisa did the same thing in 2006—the year it went on its state title run. That year, Louisa finished as the state-runner up, falling to Amherst in the championship game. The Lions hope to recapture that magic this season.
“The kids were asking about it, and why we didn’t do it last year,“ Fischer said. “So, I said, ‘what the heck, let’s start afresh.‘ I told the kids to be here at 9, and some of them showed up at 7. It’s just something to kick this thing off right.“
About 150 spectators gathered to watch the open practice under the lights, which went until about 1:30 a.m. The practice was complete with an announcer and giveaways.
Fischer was pleased with the numbers for the opening tryout—about 55 athletes showed up, and more are anticipated later in the week. The team, sporting new white helmets and black T-shirts with the words ‘One will’ on them, spent the night at the school and returned to the field at 9 a.m. for the second practice of the day.
The Lions are coming off of a 3-7 season, but strung together wins at the end of the year, winning three of their final four games.
Also scheduled to begin practice today was Western Albemarle. Charlottesville and Madison County open tryouts on Thursday, while other area schools will start practice on Aug. 1 and 4.
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