Chesapeake High School Football Preview

The Chesapeake Sports Club hosted a great event inviting all the Chesapeake High School football coaches to speak on what their teams have in store for us this season:

Coach Wayne Lance (Atlantic Shores Christian)

Returning 10 starters on offense and 7 starters on defense, along with the energy of playing home games on Friday nights at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex this season, Atlantic Shores Christian football has a lot to be excited about going into this season.

These guys have a bright future ahead of them. They really do. A lot of them are getting looked at by colleges, but more than that they are great young men. They provide our school with great leadership, and they provide the coaches with very few headaches, which is a blessing to have. I'm very excited about our season. We have great games scheduled against quality opponents, and we're really looking forward to doing great things this year.

I don't need to be reminded very often why I do what I do. I love the kids I get to coach. I love what I do. I'm called to do this. But it was even more energizing watching a guy I used to coach (Rashad Jennings, NY Giants) do what he loves to do, and that's work with young kids. He understands he has an ability to go and play football, and he's using that ability and run a camp for youth, a camp that's free. And that's why I do what I do. I can affect kids' lives, and they can go on to pass that forward.

Coach Wayne also spoke on being invited to participate in Jennings' youth football camp this summer and about when the coaches played 7-on-7 along with some of the campers: I was fortunate to be in the huddle with several current and former NFL pros, but then they all looked to me and said 'Coach, what's the play?'... And then they told me I was the quarterback! OK... As I watched the first pass into the outstretched hands of the Jacksonville Jaguar over the Miami Dolphins' fifth-round draft pick for a touchdown, I felt pretty good about myself. Forgetting the interceptions, I threw on the next two plays. But watching those kids have a blast and watching the young man that I once coached just give back to his community made it all worthwhile and it energized me, gave me a lot of energy to come here tonight and talk about our kids.

We were able as a team to play many games of 7-on-7 during the off-season against other local teams as well as several other schools at camps at the University of Richmond. Overall we ran more than 2200 plays in 48 games of 7-on-7 over the course of the spring and early summer, so our kids were able to get some valuable experience to prepare them for the coming season.

Coach Calvin Copeland (Deep Creek)

I respect the quality and depth of the teams represented in the Southeastern District, but I'm still confident that with seven returning starters and a strong work ethic, Deep Creek football will be able to greatly improve from last season.

It's rewarding when I think back on what influence I have on my players. I realized that on my staff I have seven coaches who played and graduated from Deep Creek, and they came back to help out. So I feel that what we do as coaches really is impacting our players. They want to be a coach because they see how we impact the kids, so I really think that's a blessing right there.

Coach Martin Asprey (Grassfield)

Working with a young team