September 11, 2008

Field of Freshmen

Three football teams – Pioneer, Lincoln, and Silver Creek – competed in the annual Freshman Team Jamboree at Pioneer High School. Photos by Kymberli Brady

Pioneer hosts freshman team jamboree

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Pioneer High School’s gridiron was full of freshmen Saturday morning as three football teams competed in the annual Freshman Team Jamboree.

The athletes from Pioneer, Lincoln and Silver Creek High Schools are part of a program that allows much more than a handful of freshman to play football each fall. In many cases, the frosh/soph teams are made up mostly of sophomores, which means 40 or so freshmen mostly sit on the bench. That doesn’t happen with these teams.

“Instead of 40 freshmen sitting on the bench during the frosh/soph game, these freshmen get out and get experience allowing them to really develop as players,” said Pioneer Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Mark Krail. “From a head coaching standpoint, it is awesome. It’s also a good thing for the players. They practice hard and if they have a game to look forward to it, it’s more bearable [for them]. It’s also why we’ve been consistently good over the years.”

The junior varsity or frosh/soph team this year has 47 players, only six of which are freshmen. These freshman games allow each of the players to play and gain experience so that they have better skills and a deeper understand of the game when they make the junior varsity team. In addition, it’s a good way to spot special players.

The freshman teams have their own volunteer coaches and play a number of games each season. This year they will play nine. They typically play on Saturday mornings, instead of Friday nights. This year Pioneer will play Palo Alto, American High School from Fremont and Los Gatos among others. In previous years, the team also has played Saratoga and others.