Local Athletes and Coaches Reflect on a Season so far of Growth and Team Success By: Anaya George

As the high school football season progresses, two local athletes and one coach share insights into their journey of improvement and the team’s collective success. Team.com a sports website claims, “Team talks are crucial for open communication and team improvement. Coaches should create a safe space where players can freely express concerns, ideas, and solutions. Active listening is important to promote trust and respect." Jayden Fisher, (a sophomore football player at Hillgrove) had an offseason goal. “I focused on speed training this off-season so I could get faster for varsity,” he said, emphasizing the importance of agility and quickness in his performance. During the season, the difference in training has been evident for Hillgrove football. Fisher reflected on how his training process has changed, he noted, “My training process changed a lot because last year I played freshman.” The shift to varsity required a harder and specialized training expectation. Fisher has enjoyed his season so far but is anticipating a big one coming up. When asked about his favorite game so far, he responded, “My favorite game this season was Marietta.” Looking ahead, he is most excited about the upcoming game against McEachern. “The game I’m most looking forward to is McEachern because we haven’t beat them in two years and I want to beat them,” he said with determination.

As the season unfolds, Gavin Askew, a senior, shares his experiences and insights into the team’s journey of improvement and unity. Leadership is a very important quality that Askew stressed in his responses. He believes it is his duty to lead his team and set them up for success in the future. Looking ahead, his goals for the next season are clear. “I’m a senior, so when I leave, just leave behind some guys knowing they need to be accountable, make sure and be leaders so we can continue this success that we had this year,” he said, focusing on building a legacy of leadership. In football, keeping your strength and focus throughout the season is very important. Askew says the most significant lesson he learned this season is about maintaining their standards. “Even when we’re winning, it needs to be the way that we know how to do it, not just to everybody else’s standard,” he explained, highlighting the importance of consistency and discipline. Finally, the team’s relationship with one another has been a key aspect for their moments of triumph. Askew says this season, he noticed a significant change in team dynamics. “Everybody’s a lot closer, like a family, than they were last year. It was like separated,” he observed, noting the unity.

From a coaching perspective, Coach Humphries, a football coach at Hillgrove, has seen from the sideline how Hillgrove football has claimed success. New mindsets, areas of improvements, and new strategies all played a factor. As the season ended last year, the coaching staff identified two critical areas for improvement: physicality and scoring efficiency. “We realized it was more about physicality and finding a way to score points,” Humphries explained. Humphries credits the head coach for majority of the management. Humphries says rather than introducing entirely new strategies, the emphasis was placed on creating a winning culture. “It’s just more about getting everybody in the same mindset and creating a winning culture. This means doing things the right way in practice, the way you want to see them done in the game,” Humphries noted. This consistency in practice translated into better performance during games. Coach Humphries prefers to take the season one day at a time and challenges that appear will only be lessons learned. One notable challenge the team faced was maintaining consistency in their performance. By fostering a strong team culture and emphasizing the importance of daily practice habits, they overcame this hurdle. “Every day in practice, we do things the right way, and it shows in our games,” the Humphries emphasized. As the season continues, this team and coaches’ dedication and the team’s collective efforts promise an exciting season ahead.