To a passerby, the Friday, September 18 Cross Country and Football joint practice at Hockinson Middle School may have looked like more like a summer camp. According to the coaches who organized it, that was the point. But, looking closer, an observer might also recognize the conditioning and team-building that was taking place. That was also the point, say the coaches.

"This is the second year we've combined practices. It's so fun for all of us - the athletes and the coaches" said Janell Morley, Head Cross Country Coach. "But it's also effective at building skills and respect between our programs."

HMS Head Football Coach Brandon Redeau agrees. "To me, there are two main outcomes from the day. First, it gets our students intermingling, which breaks down the walls that unintentionally get built between programs when your teams practice their sport every day for weeks on end," said Redeau. Second, the competitive format hides the conditioning that is taking place. Athletes associate conditioning with discomfort and the fun activities we do kind of hide the work out that is also taking place," he added.

The practice consisted of four activities, all of which involved cooperation, strategy, and individual effort in a team setting. Oh yeah - and the conditioning. "These activities give our kids a good, whole-body workout. But the one thing [Coach Redeau] and I really wanted to focus on was explosiveness - the ability our kids to accelerate quickly from a stopped position. Getting out fast is important in football and it's important in cross country, too."

Coaches assigned athletes to teams, doing their best to balance the team rosters by sport, gender, strength, and quickness. The teams were asked to run a variety of relays and "handoff" drills. In one, teams were asked to run with a ball that had to be touched by every team member before the next runner received the ball. In another, the runners carried a sponge that, again, was handled by everyone before getting squeezed blindly into a cup. Teammates also did a progressive "dress down" relay in which the first runners dropped off an articles of clothing and the final runner put on all of the items before running home. Athletes were also paired up for a crab walk.

This wasn't a typical practice. The new faces, new challenges, and laughter were evidence of that. But the effort, hard breathing, and sweat were indicators that it wasn't all fun and games, either.

There were also lessons learned along the way - lessons about not letting up because your team was behind, lessons about encouraging others, and lessons about group problem solving. All in all, athletes learned about teamwork in a blended setting. Along the way, they were also reminded that, regardless of what sport they played, everyone there belonged to the HMS community.

Best of luck to the Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams who compete at LaCenter MS on Tuesday, Sept. 22 (4:00 pm) and to the Football team, which hosts Huntington MS at the HHS Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Kickoff is at 5:15 pm.