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STARTING A PROGRAM

This page is here to a) Provide acurate and timely information about how to start a high school football program and b) Help prospective new programs avoid re-inventing the wheel while ecognizing that each school is unique in it's personel/logistical situation. Such diversity demands a diverse and dynamic set of strategies for putting together a program. However, there is much common ground in the endeavor and lots of advice to be had from those who have come before. Enjoy and if you have questions please contact the site editor.

 

Index By Topic

What is High School Football In BC? Timeline Your Mindset The School The Cost Myth Becoming A Member and Getting Involved
Kicking-Off Your Program Coaching Facilities Booster Club Practices The Importance Of Information
Financial Plan Fundraising Program Building Coaching Resources The Value Of Football Tips and FAQ

 

WHAT IS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IN BC?

Highschool Football in BC is four down, US highschool rules football played between schools at the Grade 8, Junior (9/10) and Senior (11/12) levels.  The senior ranks are divided between AA (Schools with less than 300 boys in grades 11/12) and AAA (Schools with 300 or more boys in grades 11/12).  AA schools have a choice to play in the AAA league if they want and this entails a two year commitment on their part.  AAA schools who are starting a program may play in the AA league for a period of three years so as to develop their program.  All levels are extremely competitive at their top levels of play!  Highschool Football in BC is governed by the British Columbia Secondary Schools Football Association (BCSSFA).  Highschool Football in BC is rapidly growing in popularity and participation.  For more insight please check out the BC Highschool Football Website or Howard Tsmurra's column in The Province Newspaper every week during the Fall Season.

TIME-LINE

Once you have made the decision to pursue the development of a football program at your school, there are some things you need to of which time is a critical factor for consideration.

Immediately contact the BCSSFA regarding your intentions.  This group will provide you with the most up-to-date information about becoming a member, financial avenues, etc. Important Note: There is an application form that you can download on the BCSSFA site.

January: First weekend back from Christmas Break- Usually held at the Burnaby Lakes 8 Rinks complex. Be at this meeting!

January to May-This is the time to secure the following if you do not already have them in place:
 

  • A TEAM ROOM ON CAMPUS
  • COACHING STAFF
  • TRAINER
  • BOOSTER CLUB (PARENTS)
  • PLAYER-EQUIPMENT
  • FIELD-EQUIPMENT
  • UNIFORMS
  • WEB-SITE
  • ANNUAL PLANNER
  • STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PROGRAM
  • SPRING EXHIBITION/JAMBOREE LINED UP
  • FINANCIAL GAME PLAN
  • MEDIA GAME PLAN

 

YOUR MIND-SET

Your mind-set is your greatest asset!  Your approach to the program is going to be contageous and set the tone for everyone else!  A set of suggestions:

Lou Holtz provides a great starting point in terms of philosophy, "TRY YOUR HARDEST-GET BETTER EACH DAY-DO THE RIGHT THING"

  • Build a realistic plan and stick to it!
  • Be relentless and unfailing! Decide that you will not be outworked by anyone, when others are resting, relaxing and following off-season non-football pursuits, it is the time to move your program forward!
  • Multi-Task!!! Get started on more than one project, delegate where you can and when it is not possible to work on one item, switch to another where you can make progress.  Develop the ability to focus on more than one project at a time.  Celebrate the little victories and understand that everything comes together in the big picture.
  • Do not resist asking for advice and do not try to reinvent the wheel!  You are surrounded by success stories, research what works and what fits with your situation.  You will find that the coaches in BC and everywhere else for that matter are eager to give you a tip when you ask for one!
  • Do not become fixated on immediate results, a lot of the seeds you will plant this year and next will bear fruit in year three, four and five.
  • Hard unselfish work and a climate of self-help gives you moral authority when asking for a share of the school's extra-curricular resources down the road.
  • Always be on the lookout for human resources to add to your program, it begins and ends with people and thee is all kinds of talent out there!

 

YOUR  SCHOOL

A school without a vibrant football program simply has not fulfilled its full potential.  The difference a well run program makes in the hallways, classrooms and homes is HUGE!!  The sudden appearance of a football program however, can be intimidating to other established sports/coaches.  It is important to a) provide administration with your annual plan and as much info as possible about your program/intentions b) establish from the beginning your intent to encourage football players to participate in other sports during the "winter and spring seasons of play."

 

THE  COST MYTH

There exists a myth about the cost of football that persistently dogs those who seek to start-up programs.  Lets take a look at the facts for facts are stubborn things, they don't go away. Football equipment once purchased, has a lifespan of 6-10 years depending on the item.  With reconditioning, field equipment may last for several decades.  So, over the lifespan of the item you purchase your initial dollar spent really costs you about ten cents per-year.  Other than buying new helmets, your initial equipment purchase does not have to be new gear, the most expensive brand of gear or the most asthetically pleasing.  What you want in year one is functionality.  Shop around and try to find used gear that is up for sale, donations or equipment loans from established programs to get your program up-and-running.  The pretty uniforms and brand-new gear will come!  By following this strategy, you can start football at a fraction of the cost of buying everything new.  Your registration fee/fundraising efforts will quickly put you in a position to upgrade.


Once you are up and running your costs are quite small.  In fact, football is less expensive to run than basketball!  You travel less as you rarely have more than 4-5 away games, referee costs are lower, and you are not travelling to tournaments and staying at hotels !  Your dollars generally go back into better protective and practice equipment where kids get to use it!  Your game/refereeing costs are made up by Booster concession and 50-50 and one or two big original/ easy to organize fundraising events during the off-season will quickly put your program in the black.  In fact, when you consider the GST rebate your school gets from your equipment purchases, you can come close to breaking even or even making a small amount of money for your school!  Remember, once you have secured your original pool of equipment, your costs drop off dramatically. 

GET OUT OF THE MINDSET THAT YOUR ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT PURCHASE IS A PRICE YOU PAY EACH YEAR, BREAK THE COST DOWN OVER ITS TRUE LIFESPAN! 

BCSSFA CAN ALSO STEER YOU TO 1) START-UP GRANT 2) A CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP WHEREBY A COMPANY BUYS YOUR FIRST 20 SETS OF GEAR.

Cullen Sport in Vancouver will carry new programs interest free for up to three years! 

Contact the BCSSFA executive or the site editor for details.

BECOMING A MEMBER/GETTING CONNECTED

Becoming a member/getting connected is as easy as emailing contacts listed on this site or picking up the phone.  You will find that Island coaching staffs are more than willing to share what they know and help you any way they can.  Each program has a unique perspective based on their individual school and community circumstances.  As well, the BCSSFA is keen to help you out and bring you into the organization.  Highschool Football is a small family that is very supportive of those who want to contribute to this great sport in British Columbia and beyond.  Remember, all you have to do is try, you don't have to re-invent the wheel and you will never be alone as we all want to help!  You will find that building a program is one of the most rewarding and spiritually fulfilling endeavors you have ever embarked upon. You will make a lot of great friends along the way and most of all, you will have fun doing a great thing for young people and your community as a whole!  Have the courage to try and the rest will follow!!

KICKING-OFF YOUR PROGRAM

Kick-off  your program with a bang!  Once you have assembled all the personael, scheduling and logistical pieces call a meeting with your local media.  Have a press statement prepared outlining your program, league, philosophy goals and objectives. Be sure to have your administration, athletic director, coaches, booster parents and some players present at the meeting.  In addition to announcing your program, describe and promote your kick-off fundraising activity.  Make it an event that is large in scale and seize the excitement generated by your start-up to generate interest and notariety for your first big fundraiser.  By doing this you are starting off your program as an activist in the school setting that is working to pay its own way.  From a psychological standpoint this goes a long way towards silencing nay sayers and convincing fence sitters that you will not be a drain on the school's resources.  The large dose of positive press is also a good way to attract players to your program within your school and catchment area.

COACHING

Your players no matter how talented, will only play up to the level that they are coached.  Look to gain a 1:6 coach-to-player ratio on your squad.  Historically, great military units around the world have modelled themselves on sub-units of six or less.  This is the number where teaching most effectively occurs.  Some programs are fortunate enough to have a large enough pool of qualified coaches on hand to employ this model, and some are not. Necessity however is the mother of invention. 

If you have quality people who want to contribute as coaches then your job is as follows:  Break down your offensive and defensive schemes and develop a drill package that directly relates to what you are trying to accomplish.  Get a couple players/prospective coaches and run them through each drill you have developed and video tape it!  Next, with the aid of drill-book and video to support you, run your new coaches through their respective drill packages that you have developed over and over again until they have mastered them.  Only when the coach can run you or someone you have designated through the drill package correctly and at the right tempo do you allow him to coach up the players.  The drills and skills being taught are being deliverd as you would have delivered yourself and the overall quality of teaching now meets your standard, mission accomplished.  After a season or two your new coaches will be confident and seasoned enough to take on added responsibilities within your program.  As well from the point of view of unit cohesiveness, your authority is absolute as "knowledge translates into authority" and it is your knowledge/philosophy that permeates the program at its most basic levels.

FACILITIES

The most important facility you can have is a "Team Room"  a secure room in which to store player and program equipment.  This is a must as players cannot be expected to carry their gear around with them throughout the day.  Also, it prevents the loss of expensive equipment. After this has been secured, the rest is all commentary.  Try as a rule to play your games in the most attractive stadium/field situation possible.  A PA (your school band) and music/a colorfull announcer go a long ways towards making your games more exciting for players and spectators alike.

BOOSTER CLUB

BUILD IT THE BALLENAS WAY!

A Booster Club is a group of people, some football fans, some not;
some fanatical football fans, some not; some alumni, some not; some
parents of players on the team, some not; but all with a common goal.....
to have fun while fundraising and otherwise supporting the football team!
 
Following are some of the things the Ballenas Whalers Booster Club
has done to raise money for the team.  Some are year-round activities
and some are once-a-year events.  There is a place for everybody in
a booster club.  A booster club is limited only by its imagination when it
comes to fundraising ideas.  You may find it keeps things fresh and
takes into consideration the desires of various members of the group
if the location of the club's meetings is periodically moved.  Perhaps
once at a pub, then at a member's home, maybe at a restaurant or in
the backyard, on a boat.....but whatever the place, remember...all work
and no play is not the booster way.
 
Frozen meat sales - This is a year-long activity.  All you have to do
is find a local restaurant or other supplier from whom you can buy the
meat.  They may want to make a small profit for their trouble or they may
forgo that as a way of helping to sponsor the team. Nevertheless, you
need to be sure they will be reliable and that you can get good pricing.
Be sure not to mark it up too much once you get it so as not to price
yourself out of the market.  Remember, aside from helping out your team
people generally are attracted to meat sales because they are
convenient and economical.  Somewhere between 5 and 15% is probably workable.  Remember too if you do this year-round it is
continual revenue and not a "get rich quick" vehicle.  It is not important
to beat Costco or the supermarket pricing in every event.  As long as
you are priced comparably or lower than their everyday pricing you
will do fine.  When someone points out that a local store was selling
its chicken for "a lot less" than yours it was probably a sale and you
can point out that yours is "everyday" pricing.
The Whalers Booster Club has secured a "top quality" meat deal so
it has the added benefit of pointing out the grade of meat one is getting.
Make up a price list of what you're offering and be sure to include
how you can be contacted and any other ordering particulars.  This
is a reeeeeaaally easy fundraiser to do and makes for continuing
revenue once you get 'em hooked.
 
Raffle ticket sales - There literally is no end to the types of things a
booster club can do here.  Once the raffle item is selected you must
apply to the BC Gaming Commission for a raffle license.  There is a
$25.00 fee and you will receive a license number to be put on the tickets.  You can get the form on-line from the Gaming Commission's
website.  The trick to this one is to find that item which people will get
excited about both wanting and selling.  Raffles items might include
things such as trips, lodging, furniture, appliances, groceries etc.
You should know that the Gaming Commission prohibits raffles that
include firearms or alcohol.  The Ballenas Whalers Booster Club has
raffled off a number of different items.  Our current raffle is an idea
we borrowed from our Cowichan friends.....a cart full of groceries.
You might get the groceries donated whether through the store you
do the promotion with or perhaps another sponsor puts up the money.  You may decide to match the donation the store puts forward with seed
money of your own.  In other words, if the grocery store puts up
say $200.00 worth of groceries you may want to add $200.00 to it.
This is the kind of raffle item everyone can use and get excited about.
Thank you to our friends in Cowichan progam for sharing it with us.
Remember too that everything you do is newsworthy in some respect!
Once again, imagination is the key.  For example why not invite the
press to take a picture of some of the team members in jerseys around
a shopping cart full of groceries.  Get the store manager into the act.
If the press won't come, stage the event yourself, write a press release
and send it in with your own photo and see what happens!  Be sure
the store's name appears on the raffle tickets (get approval first) and
mention them with every ticket you sell.
 
Spring garage sale - Talk about a "no cost" fundraiser!  Don't throw
anything away!  Plan a garage sale at your school.  Make sure you let
all booster members and parents of players know about the event.
Put some posters up around town letting people know you are looking
for items to be donated to the cause.  Put it on the community programming TV channel.....this costs nothing.  What about a small
concession at the event?  Coffee, orange juice and muffins etc. for the
early birds and hot dogs for the afternoon crowd.  Don't forget your
raffle tickets!
 
Pub nite - Now this is what we mean by fun!  This fundraising event
is a chance for some to party with friends and a chance for some to
get that item they have always coveted.  Whichever the case, if you've
never been to a pub nite fundraiser you don't know what you're
missing!    First of all most everyone at the event will know each other
because everyone sells tickets to friends.  Even the non-drinkers
among you will have a good time.  Dinner is included in the price of the
ticket and the ways you might put this together depends upon where
you hold your event.  First of all...it needn't actually be in a pub.  You
might find a restaurant or club or golf course a willing participant.
$10.00 to $12.00 is a good price range for the tickets and you want
to strive to get at least half of that for your team.  A successful pub nite
fundraiser is really a question of how much work your booster club is
willing to put into it and how much you can get donated.  If you can
get food donated and the owner is OK with that, you're ahead of the
game.  Same with drinks.  You may have to work out a bar deal with
the owner.  Whatever the case, make the best deal you can and then
plan to capitalize on the event in the greatest way you can.
Perhaps you can get your music donated.  It's great if the event is in
a facility that allows dancing.  Plan a "half-time" event of some sort
that gets people involved and laughing.  A sword dance was a
hilarious spectacle at a recent Ballenas Whalers pub nite.
Prizes, prizes, prizes are key to a successful fundraiser....and all
donated!  Perhaps have helium-filled balloons that folks can buy when
they enter.  The balloons would contain a piece of paper with the
number or name of the corresponding prize they receive.  Balloons
might be priced at a couple of different levels for varying values of
gifts.  A silent auction is an excellent way to get people to mingle,
generate excitement and fundraise.  Again, donated items are
accompanied by a list upon which "bidders" can silently try to outbid each other for the item they covet.  Remind everyone throughout the evening of the purpose of the event.  Great time too to have some of your program's promotional info laying about for people to pick up as well as sign up lists for volunteers.  Great fun!
 
Recycling - Do you have a recycling depot in town?  Perhaps you can