New Waverly athletics faces new schedule after four-day school week
Jun. 28—NEW WAVERLY — At a February school board meeting for New Waverly ISD, the board voted 6-1 to change to a four-day school week, eliminating 13 school days from the calendar as New Waverly will attend school on seven Fridays in the academic year.
However, Friday nights are when teams across Texas hit the field to play under the lights and with no school, New Waverly will have to take a different approach as the students are no longer required to attend class.
New Waverly athletics will, though, have more leeway on its Friday game days as they are no longer restricted by classes.
"Football will be the biggest sport it alters because we won't be at school on game nights," New Waverly athletic director and head football coach Dean Schaub said. "Other sports will still have the Tuesday experience of a game day. As coaches, we like it because it is less distracting during the day. Nothing can get your focus off of football. I think it's going to be a good thing."
What does a potential Friday look like for New Waverly? Without school, coaches will be able to have kids show up around 11 a.m. for a brief workout.
Before a game, the Dogs could hold a brief weight workout followed by a film session with a snack. Somewhere in between, hold a walkthrough before heading over to the church for the typical pregame meal.
The difference will mostly be before 3 p.m. as the team would arrive at football at that time with a class. It also eliminates distractions that a typical school day can bring to students.
"From 3 p.m. on, it will be the same as it has been every year," Schaub said. "Prior to that, we will do some little things that will benefit us."
Another factor is it allows the team to get rested before games. With all of the coaches and some of the players going to support the junior varsity team. Now both players and coaches have an opportunity to sleep in before games.
New Waverly will have one week where they attend school on a Friday that they play a football game.
"We get to sleep in a little bit after our Thursday night games," Schaub said. "The kids are tired and the coaches are tired. I think we will be a little more rested for Friday night, which will be a benefit."
The Bulldogs are looking to build off last season where they went 7-4 on the season with a 4-2 district record. New Waverly is coming off its third straight trip to the postseason as they will look to make it four after this season.
New Waverly opens its season on Aug. 25, as they will travel to Shepherd for the opening game. The Dogs will play their first home game on Sept. 8 against Anahuac.
