It was a mission for me to get to Maranatha. Nevertheless, I found my way onto a campus that felt like an oasis; one of the most peaceful and beautiful high school campuses I have ever seen.
Got to talking with Coach Joel Murphy, in his third season as head coach, and he’s looking for good things from his quarterback Matt Shields. The line is young but they have a good group I feel will compete with Brentwood in the Alpha League.
One interesting thing I noticed as I walked up to the coach’s office:
The entire football team stays in a dorm-style building for one week. The team checked in Sunday night and will pack for home on Saturday after the 10:30 a.m. inter-squad scrimmage and of course, a BBQ (by the way, I’m not doing anything that afternoon in case .. you know .. wanna send an invite … ha ha, j/k).
In the meantime, the players get an opportunity to bond with a week’s worth of each other. Football teams often are referred to as a family and in almost all cases it is another family. But Maranatha found a way to take it to the extreme, which is a great thing for the school, the team, players and family.
Continue reading “Training Camp: A week’s worth at Maranatha” »