Saturday, 12 November, 2016:
From the very first day that we started talking about my coming to Madrid to help the Osos Rivas prepare for the start of our 2016-17 season, we agreed that I would be here for three reasons.
The first reason would be to teach fundamentals to our offensive linemen.
The second objective was that I would involve myself in recruiting new players to the program via school visits.
Finally, I was entrusted to help coach the coaches of our club and its various feeder teams.
While I have been heavily involved with offensive line fundamentals since day one and had only been on one school visit to aid the Guadalajara Stings program, I had not been involved in any formal coaching the coaches efforts as of yet.
This is not to say that we have not discussed lots of American football with the Stings and Osos coaches before, during and after practices. The problem is that the Osos practices are at the same days and times as our other two feeder programs, the Royal Oaks Knights and the Alcobendas Osos, thus severely limiting our interaction.
Today, thanks to to organizational skills of Royal Oaks Knights Head Coach and Osos Rivas Wide Receiver par excellence Marco Chomón, we had ourselves an actual Coaches Clinic which drew a crowd of 38 coaches/players.
From what I gathered, this is an unheard of number to attend such a gathering for the discussion of all things about American football in the Madrid area.
Marco arranged a room for the
clinic at the sparkling, new
Universidad Europea campus
It was a great location and a good
sized room which met all of our needs
Wait a darn second!
Then it hit me. What in the world had I walked into? The crest of Real Madrid was everywhere I looked.
The Real Madrid fútbol/soccer team is Spain's answer to the New York Yankees and I don't like the New York Yankees either.
IT WAS A TRAP!
The Mission Statement made me
feel a bit safer
I was not attacked be a roving band of Real Madrid hooligans in the hallways and every one there was nice and polite to me.
Maybe these Real Madrid people deserve a second chance from me.
Marco Chomón setting the
tone for the clinic
I was up first to talk about the
"The Blitzing 3-5-3 Defense"
The big question from the feeder coaches is can it be adapted to the nine man game that is played at the Serie C and Junior levels.
I say, why not?
Guadalajara Stings Head Coach
Orlando Webb talking about
"Game Planning"
Osos Rivas Head Coach
Jesús Sánchez also talking about
"Game Planning"
I too was asked to speak on this topic which was viewed as crucial to the future success of all of our programs.
I also did the third and final session of the clinic as I discussed "Offensive Line Fundamentals."
We got a lot of positive feedback from those in attendance and the number of coaches who stayed after the closing to talk American football in more depth was a good sign.
I think that the day was a success and we are going to hold another clinic in two weeks.
In the evening, we were off to see our Royal Oaks Knights play.
The Royal Oaks Knights
at
The Boadilla Wildcats
This Junior game promised to be nine-man American football at its best!
The Wildcats were ready
Nice Wildcats recruiting poster
Here Come THE KNIGHTS!
Knights Field Goal Team
Knights line up ready to be approved
as licensed players by the refs
He was ready for action!
Coach Chomp's final
pre-kickoff words
Knights on Offense
They returned the opening kickoff for a TD but it was called back due to an obvious holding call.
Knights aide had an interesting
technique to keep the game ball
both dry and warm
At least I think that is the game ball in his shirt.
The Wildcats on Offense
For a Junior team, the Wildcats were amazingly large and strong.
Predictably, their running game was hard to stop.
The lines that were taped onto
the brand new turf were
almost straight
At the half we moved to the seats
and were entertained by a flag
football game during the intermission
From a spectator's viewpoint, it was a great game!
The Knights's QB was impressive with his great running and passing abilities.
As mentioned earlier, the Wildcats countered with a bruising ground game.
The final score was Wildcats 40 - Knights 35.
On Sunday we will travel again to the far side of Madrid as the Osos Rivas Junior team opens their 2016-17 American football season with a match at the home of the Atletico Nuevo Versalles Cuervos.
It should be great fun.
HUGE PAC-12 game in Seattle
Saturday night starting at
1:00 a.m. Sunday, Madrid time
This one has worried me for the last few weeks, we'll see.
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