Published: July 10, 2008 01:18 am            

Team building experience

On Wednesday afternoon, 56 Lebanon football players returned from Turkey Run State Park after participating in the Lebanon football program’s "Boot Camp."

"It’s something the kids hate and dread the whole time," Lebanon coach Kent Wright said. "But it’s something they talk about the entire year."

Coaches, team members and some family members went to the park on Sunday.

Family members did their part by cooking food.

"Parents are the key to the whole thing," Wright said. "They’re the behind the scenes. The parents did a great job."

The coaches and players took part throughout the four days in team building exercises.

"The whole thing has to do with team building," Wright said. "Building each other, trying to get people to accomplish things that they couldn’t as a team and hopefully a little bit of discipline."

Each day started at 6:30 a.m. with conditioning, followed by breakfast.

The morning conditioning included drills and a team run. The run was a mile long up and down a hill.

During the day, each day, was a group activity to exercise team building.

Another conditioning session took place in the evening and it was lights out by 11 p.m.

Tuesday’s team building activity was the "Amazing Race" which was about a seven-mile timed race through the park.

"Everybody has to work together," sophomore quarterback Matt Beard said. "If one person messes up, they don’t pay for it, everybody does."

The team was split up into six squads who competed against each other throughout camp.

"It gives a team unity, team bonding type of thing going," Wright said.

The squad received points during their team building activities.

Wright said he didn’t know what the winning squad would receive, but in the past he has taken members of the squad to a steak dinner during two-a-days.

Wright said the players don’t even touch a football the entire time, except each squad has a ball they must keep and protect.

"They have one football they have to carry with them everywhere they go," Wright said. "We don’t do football drills and we don’t talk offense or defense, just team building."

It’s the fifth time Lebanon has traveled to Turkey Run for "Boot Camp." Last season the team traveled to the campus of Indiana University and the year before that was a trip to New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina relief.

"They first year we did it was the first year we had a winning season that I was here," Wright said. "And the next three were all winning seasons, so I thought it took an immediate effect."

Wright said he’s done a team building type of activity every season except his first year.

"My first year here I thought we had great athletes," Wright said. "They were some of the better athletes that we’ve had since I’ve been here, but they didn’t play as a team and they argued a lot."

Wright will start his eighth season at Lebanon this year.

"I want them to know they can do things that they never thought they could do (after going through ‘Boot Camp’)," Wright said. "Hopefully they built some friendships and hopefully they built some memories that they’ll have for life."

        

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