March, 2007: Where the hell have you been?

Guess what folks? We’re back. I can’t promise that we’ll be able to offer the updates as regularly as they were during 2001-2002, but five years without a decent article is a bit much. I appreciate your patience.

I’m really excited about the new incarnation of Football for Youth!. After hearing a number of opinions about the previous color scheme, I decided to revamp the site and change to the current red, white, and blue motif as a reminder that football is a uniquely American sport, and one that I’m proud to be a part of.

There’s been a lot of great stuff in the works. In March of 2006 my first book, Impact! was released by Authorhouse Publishing (www.authorhouse.com). I’m very pleased at the comments that readers have had about the book. It’s the first of a four-volume set that will detail every aspect of coaching my program, from Xs and Os, to practice planning and dealing with parents. If you’ve read Impact!, and you have a comment, please let me know.

I’m currently hard at work on Volume II: Special Teams for the Youth Game, and I anticipate its release before mid 2007.

That sort of depends on you, though. I’ve discovered that I just don’t have the time or energy to keep Football for Youth! operational at the level of quality I want it to be. It’s one thing to write some articles now and then, but it’s something entirely different to write two to five articles and a book review every month. In order to keep abreast with my other projects, I’m forced to scale back the amount of personal writing I’m doing for the site.

This is why I need your help. I don’t care how long you’ve been coaching or at what level. If you have any experience at all with football, I need you to put it down in an email and send it to me. I’d like every monthly update of this website to contain at least three articles from coaches other than myself. What makes a team strong is the unity among multiple athletes. Sometimes one is fast, but easily knocked over, while another one is strong and balanced, but slow. Together they make a team stronger. I can’t do this alone and meet any of the deadlines I’ve set for myself. Please give me a hand with some articles of your own.

In addition to finally completing Impact! Volume One, I also, with the support of my colleagues and supervisors at USCG Training Center Petaluma, managed to finally complete my Bachelor’s Degree in Sports and Health Sciences, with a focus in Coaching Studies from the American Military University. At the moment I’m working on my teaching certificate, so very soon I should be fully qualified to join your staff!

On a football-related note, I’m very pleased to say that my continued association with Tomales High School here in Northern California has gifted me with another championship. Our 2005 Junior Varsity Braves, led by 1000-yard rusher Bailey Tucker and record-breaking passer Zack Wenrich, with Lonnie Peterson's 18 sacks anchoring the defense, and Abe Avalos paving the way on the offensive line, won the first ever NCL II League Championship on November 5th, 2005. Our season was marred by a loss in the first game, but the Braves have always been resilient, and they hung together like their namesake to win seven straight games and hang a banner on the gym wall, where it sits with the 2001 and 2002 varsity championship banners I am also proud to have been a part of. Across the gym is a baseball championship banner from 1936, so our young Braves are in excellent company.

If you’re interested, the highlights DVD of our incredible season can be ordered via snail mail from me at:

Derek Wade
PO Box 641
South Prairie, WA 98385

The DVD is $25 (no shipping) and is 110-minutes of some hard hitting football action with a great, rocking soundtrack.

I hate to come back after my long hiatus with a bunch of items for sale, so let me please assure you that Football for Youth! will always be, first and foremost, a source of free information about coaching football in general, and my particular programs in specific.

I hope you enjoy the new version of Football for Youth!. 

Good luck.

~D.