Guest Speaker: Joe Ryan

 

Joe Ryan says coaching is about being organized, and making the best use of your time and talents; and he says it's more crucial than ever in high school football, since there are new limits on how players can practice.

 

Ryan is the head football coach at Sycamore High School; he told the Rotary Club on September 2nd that safety concerns have led to new rules from the Illinois High School Association about practice time.  This year, players only get 90 minutes of live contact drills; this is being done in an effort to lower the risk of concussions and other serious injury.  Ryan says it really isn't necessary for players to spend all their time hitting each other; he prefers to concentrate on technique and strategy...and notes that his practices rarely go beyond two hours.

 

Sycamore opened its season with a loss to Lincoln Way West, but Ryan is undeterred; he says it's better to have a close defeat to a quality opponent than to crush one that's less capable.  With a narrow loss, the team can find and fix its weaknesses...whereas little can be learned from a one-sided victory.