Senior leadership key to offseason improvement

Dion Clisso/PrepsKC

By Dion Clisso PrepsKC Managing Editor
Posted: June 30, 2010 - 10:12 AM



Senior leadership is something every coach hopes to have. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. One way seniors can lead is to be present and working hard in the summer.

It’s one thing to hit the weight room and get your work in, but an effective senior leader is one who is there right beside the underclassmen, showing them the way things need to be done for a team to win. That leadership is even more needed when a large senior class has left and freshmen and sophomores are learning the ropes.

Piper is coming off a season that ended in the first round of the playoffs but had several big wins along the way but seniors such as all everything player Jasper Simmons are gone. This year’s seniors are leading right now in the summer.

“This year we are really working on getting more repetition because we got a lot of young guys,” Pirates senior Dorian Hooks said after 7-on-7 at Bonner Springs. “You want to get them used to being out here in varsity competition. We need them getting used to running and getting lots of reps and plays. We just came out here to compete and have fun.”

Hooks has been through these summer workouts for four years and knows that what you do in June and July will have direct results when the season starts.

“The best thing I say is, the season starts in the summer,” Hooks said. “It’s good when you get out here and you start working. Football starts in the summer. Once you get all of your reps going, when the season comes you are flowing right into it. It becomes natural.

“Some young guys they’re kind of nervous because it’s their first time. Once you get out here and meet people it’s kind of competitive so you just kind of go with the flow.”

The desire to help younger players is strong on all teams. Bonner Springs Luke Porras said one of the biggest parts of his senior years is not failing the younger players so the team can succeed.

“We have a lot of freshmen coming up and a few of them may be starting,” Porras said. “You have to build relationships even though it’s my senior year I just have to keep building relationships and not quit on them.

“They are a part of the team. It’s an 11-man squad and you can’t win without them.”

Dion Clisso is the Managing Editor of PrepsKC. To reach him send e-mail to dion@prepskc.com.