By Leah Sunseri
There’s nothing like kicking off the school year with middle school and varsity football. With hard working coaches Jordan Barclay, middle school coach, and Coach D. Bernard and Coach C. Bernard, varsity coaches, they can teach talented young men moral values while doing what they love. School spirit is at its peak during football season, with dozens of students, parents, and staff attending both home and away games.
This 2022 season, Jordan Barclay describes, “This team has a good core of dedicated players, but they are young. We have mostly 7th graders, with fewer 8th graders that have previously played.” Barclay has been coaching for over 10 years, teaching many the foundations of the sport. Barclay states, “I think our main goal this season is to gain experience, learn something new every week, and win a good amount of games by the end of the year.”
Coach D. Bernard and Coach C. Bernard declare, “The kids are all good kids, and all are pretty motivated. They are young, they definitely have something to learn. The players have pretty good attitudes.”
Both men have been coaching for 9 years, from junior high to varsity players. Coach D. Bernard has also coached t-ball as well.
“Our goal is always state championship, regionals, or getting as many wins as you can get,” Coach D. Bernard states. Coach C. Bernard follows, “Learning from the year before, always learning from what doesn’t work out.”
Coach D. Bernard has a lot of community pride, especially when it comes to football. He believes that players should carry pride in the school and town that they represent. Both men are genuine when they say they want nothing but improvement and effort from their team. The coaches describe the beginning of the season as interesting, some low numbers so far, but the team is young.
The coaches said, “They’re improving, we played well against a school twice our size. They didn’t win, but they held their own and didn’t give up or fall back. We’ve gained some members, and things are looking up.”
With junior varsity and varsity being combined, it’s beneficial, with Coach C. Bernard stating, “It’s actually a good thing because they are gaining experience that they need in the future. We’ve had some hardships, but they’re pushing through.” Coach D. Bernard comments, “We haven’t had a JV team for the last 2 years, so we’ve gotten used to it. It definitely teaches them a lot, playing against older teams and practicing with the upperclassmen.”
Concluding the interview, Coach D. Bernard adds, “The kids have had a good attitude so far, even with the low numbers, they still show up and give their best effort.”
Looking forward, all 3 of Hale’s football coaches strive to educate the boys, and to see them improve and succeed. Sophomore and football player of 4 years, Seth Gibson notes, “It’s still early in the season, but our team’s attitude is the best it can be.”
Regarding the games played so far, he adds, “Since we have so many younger players on the team, it’s very difficult for them sometimes because they’re playing with varsity. It’s still the beginning of the season, we have a lot to work on, but I have faith that we’re going to majorly improve by the end of the season.” In conclusion, coaches and players all have similar goals for the season. T
Hopes are high for a good 2022 season. Go Eagles!
