By J.J. Totaro
Special to LoudounPrepSports.com
Ashburn (Nov. 16, 2007) – Come Friday, the Broad Run and Park View high school football teams will meet for the second time in eight days with much more on the line than just a district championship and an undefeated season. The two rivals will be playing in the first round of the AA Region II Division 4 playoffs with the loser going home for good and the winner advancing to the regional final.
But with all that on the line — trying to get one step closer to a final goal of a state championship — additional preparation is needed to make sure everything is ready come game time.
Coaches put in more time preparing for their opponent and put in more time at practice, while players put more time watching film and getting ready for the biggest game of their young lives.
But what exactly does it take to make a contest of this magnitude go perfectly for Broad Run? What does a team need to do to prepare totally? And even more important, what has to be done behind the scenes to make everything run flawlessly for the host school?
For coaches and players, preparation starts as soon as they wake up Saturday morning and head to practice for film sessions and lifting.
“Things stay the same…,” according to Broad Run assistant coach Jason Dawson. “We havestrength training, plyometrics, conditioning, film work, equipment fixing, clothes washing; the usual stuff.”
Facing the same opponent brings an interesting twist to the preparation process.
Everything was planned and schemed last week, players knew what the plan was, but now it all changes, and the goal is not to prepare for a new team, but to fix what did not work last week.
Monday arrives and school is back in session, and now, not only must the players prepare to perform, they must also balance their academics. Practice keeps to its usual schedule, and BR head coach Michael Burnett and his staff keep things as regular as it has been for the previous weeks leading up to this moment.
“We just keep coaching,” Burnett puts it simply. “The big things are done. We pay more attention to detail, knowing that if we miss something, or let something slide, it could be the end of a season.”
Drills are focused on fixing the small miscues that could make the difference, and walk-throughs are driven to make sure the mistakes made in the previous game are not repeated.
Burnett is also sure to mention that “focus to detail is the key to preparation this week. If we have to change big things, we have failed as coaches.”
All of this culminates with a Friday night game that will be more intense, and will send one team home for the season.
All the preparations must be perfect. The game must be played flawlessly in order to win, but what about all the other things that need to be prepared? Who makes sure the field is ready? Who gets the tickets and concessions stand set for game nights? What goes on preparing for the biggest game in Broad Run football history that no one ever knows about?
Getting everything ready for Friday takes hours of work and planning from numerous people that extends far beyond the coaching staff.
From athletic staff, to “team moms” everyone has a hand in making Friday’s game the best experience, not just for their student or son, but for everyone else in the Loudoun community coming to watch.
For the athletic department, work starts Monday morning when plans have to be created for everything that will need to be taken care of. The laundry list of items covers everything from painting the field and having the press box and ticket booths ready, to having people to work the concessions stands and sell tickets.
Not only that, they also need to be sure they have enough money for the gates, programs for the fans, get locker rooms prepped, and be sure to have things set up for the officials.
According to BR athletic director Jack Kirby, “the hardest part is getting the field up. We end up painting between the raindrops on a week like this.”
Kirby’s assistant Ryan Young adds “watching the weather becomes a major issue when we get to Thursday or Friday because if we cant get out there, we cant make [the field] look the way it should.”
Adding to the normal “to do” list is the additional dilemma of finding a chain crew and volunteers to work the game, making sure the boosters club has the tables it needs to sell merchandise, and making sure there is room for busses as well as spectators to park.
Parking, however, becomes the major job of the security staff at Broad Run, led by Don Ingerski and Officer Scott Vall, who are in charge of keeping order in the parking lot as well as with the crowds of people.
“My main jobs include making sure we have the barricades ready an hour before kickoff, and making sure there’s no alcohol or altercations,” said Ingerski.
Parking and security play a major role in the overall atmosphere of the game, but in the end, it is the spectators and students that will make the biggest impact on the overall atmosphere of the game.
Student sections create incredible excitement in a big game, and the closer to the field the better. Thanks to Dr. Edgar T. Markley, principal of Broad Run, that was made possible last week by placing six bleachers in the end zone near the school building.
Some may worry that it would be a problem have the students so close to the field, but with a supporting staff as solid as the Student Council Representatives of Broad Run, Markley is able to allow more creative ideas such as this.
BR teachers Susan Dezzutti and Mary Ries are intricate parts of the preparation, not in terms of set up, but spirit. They, with the help of the SCA students, make sure the student body is ready for the game and as pumped as possible.
From signs to cheer on the team, to bleachers in the end zone, they do their best to make the atmosphere electric on Friday.
According to the SCA advisors, “It’s really more about getting a plan together for the week. After that it’s all up to the kids to make the signs and get things organized.”
They are so organized in fact that it is never hard to point out the ever-spirited Maroon Crew and Gold Patrol at any Broad Run event.
Dezzutti and Ries are not the sole providers of spirit, there is also the band, directed by Lisa Napoli. The band goes through preparation all week in practice, but Friday at 5:15 p.m. they start their real prep.
Napoli says, “they eat together, then change, and start practicing the Star Spangled Banner. They practice for the half time show, and then it’s onto the field.”
Together, the students and band help to give Friday the energy and feel of a big game. The same can be said for the Dulles District champion Spartan cheerleaders who also do their best to not only initiate fan support, but also do their best to inspire the players.
Spirit and student involvement is always wanted, but it is up to the administrators to make sure that the lines of sportsmanship and proper behavior are not crossed. According to BR administrator Doug Anderson, “there’s not much on our ‘to do list’, unless we add in a pep rally. Most of our job is making sure things run smoothly in the crowds.”
He is also quick to point out that most of the burden of game preparation falls on the shoulders of the athletic department and that they have the hardest job of all.
In reality, the athletic department’s job may be difficult, but it is not them, but the “team mothers: that have the hardest jobs of all.
“We start with team dinner Thursday night. Roughly 65 pounds of pasta, salad, rolls, and dessert are prepared for these boys,” says Team Mom Lisa Galzerano. She adds that she could not do it alone, and that “there has been a dedicated group of football mothers that have helped her for the past four years.”
Food prep is not all that is involved for Galzerano, she is also the Broad Run Athletic Booster Club President and in charge of vendors, 50/50 raffle tickets, concessions, which must start preparing food two hours in advance, and finding volunteers to work the stand and ticket sales.
It’s not an easy job, but she has an army of volunteers willing to help each and every week, which she says she cannot thank enough: “They are wonderful people and all of them are so willing to help every time.”
In the end, there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes than anyone, other than those who do it, will ever see. They get little recognition from fans and students, and are forgotten as soon as that pigskin leaves the tee, but it is these people, from administrators to volunteers that make the big game truly big. And while they do not play, and they have little effect on the final score, in the end, they are just as important to a playoff game as the players, coaches, and training staff are.
Totaro is a social studies teacher at Broad Run High School where he also is the freshman football coach, assistant varsity wrestling coach and junior varsity softball coach. Totaro graduated from Broad Run in 1999 and George Mason University in 2003.
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