Long Beach Poly Jr. Jackrabbits Football

The objective of Long Beach Poly Youth Football is to familiarize each participant with the fundamentals of football and to provide them an opportunity to play football in an organized, adult-supervised, safety-oriented setting. We encourage discipline, sportsmanship, competitiveness and fair play due to OCJAAF’s “Must Play” requirement rule. While we foster athletic skills and believe winning games is important, our primary focus is molding good citizens and developing fine character. We take pride in knowing that many of the children that have gone through our program have gone on to promising high school, college and NFL careers. Our motto isn’t “Home of Scholars and Champions” for nothing, by being a Jr. Jackrabbit it’s a reputation that’s earned!!

Coaching Staff

Certification

All participants must be certified!! Certification includes the verification of the participant’s age and weight. Certification is conducted by OCJAAF each year and requires all players to be in attendance. Please keep in mind that NO PLAYER CAN PARTICIPATE IN ANY GAMES UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED FIRST!!

Conditioning

Football is a rigorous sport. Practices are intense, but structured so each child can succeed with effort and self-discipline. During the first week of practice the players are subjected to a vigorous training program designed to build strength and stamina needed to maintain the endurance required for future league players and well as the need to cope with the physical contact of tackle football.

Games

Games are held on Saturdays. Players must show up for games 60 minutes prior to game start time for weigh-in.

Practice Schedule & Time Commitment

The season begins July 18, 2016. The regular season runs through the end of October. The season will continue through the end of November if a team qualifies for post-season playoffs, and potentially through mid- December if a team moves onto the championship level. During the month of August, practices are held 5 days a week. Each practice is approximately 2 hours. During the months of September and October, the practice schedule is reduced to 3 days per week, approximately 2 hours each practice. If a team qualifies for post season playoff games and/ or all-star, championship level, practices will continue throughout the month of October throughout December.

Attendance

Attendance is required at all practice sessions and games. To ensure that your child is receiving the best football experience that our organization has to offer they must be here and be on time. Players missing practice for legitimate reasons (sickness or injury) should contact and inform the head coach prior to the start of practice or game time.

Player Safety

Our Jr. Jackrabbit coaches are dedicated individuals that lend a large portion of their personal time to invest in the futures of the children that participate in our program. A good amount of their time is spent on creating conditioning routines, teaching football fundamentals and preparing game plans. All coaches attend mandatory meetings regularly regarding the most recent safety rules and regulations to ensure proper guidelines are being followed. Each coach including all assistant coaches are required to go through the USA Football “Heads up, tackling” Certification which allows them to be qualified to properly teach and train the children. Heads Up Tackling Certification consist of acquiring a certain level of knowledge from a football safety perspective in the following areas:

• Concussion Recognition & Response
• Heat Preparedness & Hydration
• Sudden Cardiac Arrest
• Proper Equipment Fitting
• Heads Up Tackling
• Heads Up Blocking

Miscellaneous Expenses

Players are required to purchase cleats and OCJAAF approved mouthpieces. Some teams elect to buy additional game jerseys for their players. This is worked out by each team via fundraising and/or team donations. Some players purchase additional equipment such as: (special pads, vests, special chin-straps and arm pads) special equipment is not provided by Long Beach Poly and is not required to participate.