Rain can't ruin the opening day of high school football practice in Rockford
ROCKTON — Brian Zimmerman couldn’t sleep.
The thunder and rain weren't too loud in the wee hours of Monday morning. It was what that inclement weather meant to Hononegah’s football practice from 8 to 11 a.m. on the opening day of practice for Illinois High School Association fall sports.
“It was thinking about getting ready for practice and trying to get everything organized and ready to go,” said Zimmerman, who has coached Hononegah to three NIC-10 titles in the last five seasons. “The first day of practice is always one you get up for. You get nervous. You get anxious. Every year. It doesn’t matter.
“Then at 6:30 I have to make that call whether we are going to be indoors or outdoors. We don’t want to tear up the field on the first day. So we’re going to be indoors. And that’s fine. We will get everything done we need to get done indoors.”
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But practicing indoors — even with the skies a dark gray — doesn’t feel the same.
“Being inside kind of stinks,” Hononegah defensive back Isaiah Houi said. “You want to be outside. But we’re making it work. We’re still having fun out here. That’s all that matters.”
'Ready to make your mark'
Harlem was able to practice outside Monday morning because the Huskies have an artificial turf field. And although the team went to 7-on-7 camps and had summer workout days, that is not the same as the first official football practice of the season.
“Summer camp is fun,” Harlem all-conference defensive lineman Logan Lawson said, “but football camp is a whole different level. You just enjoy it so much more. It’s closer to the season. You are ready to go out there and play football. You are ready to make your mark.”
“The first day of practice is so important,” agreed Harlem junior linebacker Andrew Redmon. “It’s opening day. You should be excited because it’s football season now. I feel bad for people who have grass fields and can’t practice outside. It’s nothing like being on turf on opening day wearing helmets.”
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But that doesn’t make the first practice perfect for everyone, even those who can practice outside in wet conditions. Harlem, for instance, was missing several projected starters.
“I hate opening day for this reason,” Harlem coach Bob Moynihan semi-joked. “Half of the kids are trying to get their physical. The other half are trying to sign up.
“It’s nice that we can practice on the turf. We don’t like to be inside. But when it’s helmets only, inside or outside doesn’t matter that much.”
Making use of facilities
It also helps that Hononegah and Rockford’s public schools now have giant gleaming fieldhouses and gyms. The soccer team took up Hononegah’s fieldhouse, which opened in April 2019, from 7 to 8 a.m. Monday. Eighty volleyball players filled it for the next two hours. Hononegah’s 150 football players alternated between three stations, lifting weights, doing stretching and agility training in what used to be the main gym and classroom work.
“We wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without this facility,” Zimmerman said.
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“You obviously want to be on the field right away,” junior quarterback Cole Warren said. “It’s a little disappointing. You can’t do much inside, but we’re working with what we’ve got and doing what we can do. As long as we’re getting work in, that’s the best part. And with all of these gyms, we can have multiple sports going at one time.”
Houi, one of three returning juniors on the Hononegah defense who started as sophomores, said he was never worried about getting rained out of opening day.
“I knew we were going to get some work in no matter what,” Houi said. “That’s what we do. We work hard over here. We are going to figure out a way to do something.”
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA football: Rain hits first day of 2022 practice in Rockford area
