What is behind the success of the 2023 GR Rebels’ football season?

At the start of the season, we set goals. Those goals get brought up throughout the season, basically giving us an update on our mentality, keeping our mind in the right area. Execution and finishing the game are two of our goals. There are physical and mental goals. Goals like “Play Ten” were mental goals, keeping us looking forward into the future and moving through the playoffs past that tenth game, leading us to our second mental goal, “Play One More.” Mental goals are a must, but physical goals are just as important. Goals like “Most Improved Player” or stats like leading touchdowns or leading tackles motivate and keep us going. Finally, commitment sums it all up. Being committed mentally and physically brings you toward the Dome and ready for any challenges in life. As TR would say, “No more eating bon-bons during the weekend.”

One of the things we do for the upcoming week is to watch film, getting to know what the other team is like. We have to research stats and weights/heights, basically find who their star player is. Then, we practice against simulated situations. The coaches go through the other team’s plays, draw them up on postcards, and our scout teams run these plays to give our defense a look at what it’s like running in these formations. We also work on the little things, like going on two just in case we get that thrown at us during a game.

On a football team, we all matter. This means showing up to practice, doing your homework, and overall putting in time and effort. The scout team is a big influence on a team, they work hard on the field and off showing and pushing the starters to play better than how they were last week because there is only room for improvement. As coach Babs would say, “Let’s play better than (Whatever team we are playing that week).” Yesterday in practice our scout team was working on the plays that Central City is good at so that the defense can get a better look at what it would be like and know what to look for. Along with all of the scout team players the varsity takes a lot of the glory, as they are working hard in practice and in games. Off the field, we’re still a team so we stick together. Our GR Rebel varsity starters and a few other players will go to Peppers or some type of restaurant for a team dinner the night before a game.

On the football team it’s not only the players that matter, the coaches are very important as well. They help us study and examine everything that the other team might bring us, they give us motivation to keep pushing into the week to see how far we make it. They help us not only on the field but also in the classroom, along with the teachers they make sure our grades are up so we can stay a good healthy winning STUDENT athlete.

In conclusion working as a team is hard work but the GR Rebels get it done. Be sure to do your part and show up or tune in to support your Rebels!

GR Publications is periodically published by the G-R High School English 10 class.