The annual Spring Kick-off meeting for the Owen-Withee football team was held on Sunday, June 1. The seniors chose the motto for the team to be “One Family—Continuing a Legacy.”
Coach Terry Laube said the season started that night. In December they will look back on what was when they have their awards ceremony. He congratulated the track team members going to state and the golf team members moving on to Sectionals. But the evening was about football, to light or re-light the fire. He hoped it would carryover to Summer Camp, which begins June 23.
The motivational speaker for the evening was Coach Richard Lang from UW-Eau Claire. In introducing him, Laube said that he has coaching experience and has won three assistant coach of the year awards.
Lang talked about being from a small town and the pride in community. He spoke about the night as being base camp, that they were about to take a climb. He also talked about the importance of the role parents play at the high school level. He said the positivity that they can bring is contagious for the entire community. He said to the players, “You guys are going to get tested. It's going to be a climb that tests every ounce of what you have inside you and what you have to persevere, okay? It don't matter if you win every game by 50 points in a season. At some point, you're going to go through adversity as an individual or as a community or as a team, okay? And this climb is going to test that, all right? So, hopefully, we can speak to some things that help you get through that and measure your abilities to withstand the climb, okay?”
He said the climb requires three things. The first is that you have to love playing football and the process. You also need to love the people you are climbing with. The summer is what prepares them for that climb. Lang added, “What you have in the next two months is the critical piece. And if you truly love the man next to you, okay? And you see them not training or not getting ready for the football season, and you don't tell them, then you're just their buddy now. You don't love them, okay? If anybody has younger siblings in this crowd, imagine watching them out in a soccer game, a baseball game, and they're giving bad effort, talking to the officials, talking back to the coaches, and not going out to play. What would you do? What would you do? Would you say anything? I sure hope you would, okay? Imagine your little brother being a little temper tantrum, being a baby, not getting coached, and not giving effort. Would you say something? Absolutely.” He said that is what they need to do for their teammates.
The next thing required is last play. Lang said that, “It means that every rep that you take in the weight room, every play that you play in practice, every note that you take in the meeting room when coach is installing a play, you do it like it's the last one that you have, okay? Because you owe it to the guy next to you, you owe it to the people sitting behind you, and you owe it to yourself to give that last play effort.” He added that the biggest mountain they will climb is life is building their own family one day and that is what the game is preparing them to do. You have to show up even when you don’t want to.
The final thing required is to make a difference. You need to handle business and get the job done. That will make it more enjoyable for the people around you. He said it is about taking an interest in the guy next to you and making a difference in their life. Lang said that positivity and negativity are both contagious. He asked which one they would be catching.
He said that there is a foundation that builds that and it begins with belief, in what the coaches are planning, in the process, in yourself, and in the guy next to you. You also need discipline to do what you’re supposed to do when and how you’re supposed to do it. In part, that is about the choices you make. Lang said, “There's going to be things that you want to do, but you know you shouldn't do, can you make yourself not do it? Then there's going to be things that you don't want to do, but you know you should do, can you make yourself do it, okay?” He asked if after a long day, they could still make themselves run 110s and put on a pair of cleats. He said that is discipline. He also spoke about grit. He told a story about his wrestling coach and how he used to have a Black Flag Day where they spent 22 hours in the wrestling room. If they made it, they were part of the Black Flag Crew. The next day they had a regular practice and didn’t do well, but the point was it was about who showed up. The coach knew they wouldn’t be their best. Lang said, “But the point of the drill is, it's not the days that you feel great to train and to practice, I feel great, Coach, we can go out there three hours a day, I'm ready to go, okay? Those aren't the days that get you better, it's not. It's the days that you don't want to do it, but you do it anyways, those are the days that get you better, especially as a football team, because you guys all know, man, when you're in the middle of camp and your legs are dead and you're sore and you want to find a way out, yeah, that's process. And what do we find in process? We learn who's committed and who's going to be there when we need them in the fourth quarter of a game and game eight, okay? That's what grit is. Grit is showing up on the days that you don't want to show up and going anyways.”
He talked about the responsibility the seniors have because it is their team and their job to get those guys to do all that stuff that he spoke about.
Lang said “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” He told them not to be tired. He said the game isn’t about who is tough but about who is in shape, who is in great condition. The second quote he shared was, “On the plains of hesitation lie the bones of countless millions, okay, who at dawn of victory lie down to rest and in resting die.” He said that means they can’t wait. They have two months to prepare and be ready. He said they have to decide now to believe in the people next to them and themselves. And the coaches and the plan. They need to decide to get up every time they fall and to pull each other up the mountain. Lang added, “Just make a decision right now. Pull each other up the mountain because that's what you're about to go on. It's the biggest mountain that you've ever gone on, okay? And every stage of your life is going to be the next big mountain but this is the one that's in front of you now.”
He asked if there were questions. One question was how to deal with teammates that played last year and decided not to come out for football this year. Lang said to ask them “Why do you want to leave us?” That identifies the problem. If they say they don’t love playing anymore, then ask them to give it a week. The other question asked is what it takes to make a good team a great team. Lang’s response was competitiveness in practice. He said that have to go after each other in practice if they want to beat other teams. One of the parents asked about nutrition. Lang said he believes the players have to eat a lot of meat protein. He tells his players to eat a pound of beef a day and that they need animal protein three meals a day. He also said eggs are important, so he tells his guys to eat six eggs a day. He doesn’t like breads and pastas. He also believes that eating potatoes is the number one carbohydrate to feed his players. Coach Laube added that nutrition is the biggest limiting factor with high school athletes.
Coach Laube told the players that everybody is competing for their time, but he wants them to be a kid. He challenged them to come to the weight room and make themselves better athletes. He said grades are important for them to remain eligible. They are athletes year round so they shouldn’t violate the Athletic Code. Summer Camp will be June 23-26. A running program was handed out to the athletes to help them stay in condition. He said they should have fun but come to camp in August in great shape. Laube also talked about being selective for those who planned to attend football camps over the summer. JV games will be on Mondays. Practice starts on August 4 with the Lift-a-thon.
Laube said, they need to understand the coaches expectations. He talked about being part of something bigger than yourself and that the team goal is to be state champions. He said they have a target on their backs because everyone wants to beat the reigning state champion. Laube said, “You have to be willing to pay the price for success. Think like, act like, become a champion.”
The players went off with the other coaches and Laube talked to the parents. He said they should be involved in their athlete’s career but to let the coaches do their job. They are constantly challenging the players to be better than they thought they could be. He is part of their lives academically, athletically, and socially. He said if he chews a player out, it was because he expected more of them and they deserved it. He is proud of what we have at O-W. He said the parents need to help their children become better athletes, that nothing comes easy.
A copy of the schedule was handed out. They have a scrimmage on August 15 and begin play against Gilman on August 22.