LIHU‘E – A plan two years in the making came to life Saturday at the Kaua‘i High School athletic field. Hosted by the Kaua‘i High School Football Boosters Club, about 50 young football players, including one young girl, gathered around
LIHU‘E – A plan two years in the making came to life Saturday at the Kaua‘i High School athletic field.
Hosted by the Kaua‘i High School Football Boosters Club, about 50 young football players, including one young girl, gathered around Kaua‘i High School football head coach Derek Borrero for a big break.
“Rick Renaud and Craig Koga talked about having a clinic like this last year,” Borrero said. “When they called earlier this year, we all agreed that we should just do it.”
Ron Victorino, president of the booster club, said they got a lot of help from the community in getting the clinic off the ground.
“Island Image who does all our embroidery work and stickers provided enough shirts so the first 200 players could get free shirts,” Victorino said.
Borrero said the group of 50 young players was a nice small group to work with and with their special “Red Raider in Training” shirts on, was a good starting point for the clinic.
“As more kids see these shirts and want one, they are going to have to come and work for it,” Borrero said, adding that he hopes the turnout is a starting point to help bolster dwindling Pop Warner numbers.
Sean Andrade, one of the coaches for the Koloa Pop Warner Association, said the Kaua‘i Pop Warner program can always use more numbers.
Tackle football and cheer for the Kaua‘i Pop Warner gets underway with practice starting August 1, Andrade said. Next Saturday, the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Association will be hosting its coaches clinic so everyone can be updated with the latest rules changes and information for the season.
“What coach Borrero is doing is great,” Andrade said. “Waimea High School tried to do a similar program, but it never got off the ground. This clinic is a great way for Coach Borrero to reach out and interact with the community.”
Andrade noted that among the 50 young athletes, players were from the Lihu‘e area with some from Koloa, some from Kalaheo, and others coming from the Hanapepe area.
When the participating athletes go to the high school football games, they’ll remember working with the players on the field and get closer to the game, Andrade said.
The format of the clinic was broken down into a warm-up section with the Red Raider football players leading the young players in a series of speed and agility stretching exercises followed by a session on offense, a session on defense and a wrap-up closing off the clinic.
“These are exercises and drills the players perform at every practice,” said Keith Burgess, the school’s athletic trainer. “These young guys are really going at it full speed.”
Borrero said a lot of the exercises and drills used in the clinic can be modified for the young people to use on an everyday basis to help them with fitness and wellness.
“We hope that the young people enjoy this and will want to come out and play football,” Borrero said. “When their friends see how much fun they have, they’ll hopefully want to come out and play, too. I’m already excited about doing this again, next year.”
