Arizona Football Update

Just like players at some of the other Division I Football programs around the country the Arizona Wildcats football team has had many of its' players sleeping on cots and bunks in rough conditions. Unlike those players, the Arizona Football Team has been doing it by choice and won't have a criminal record linked to it. For those of you who do not live in the Greater Tucson area, or do not check out the online Tucson Citizen or Arizona Daily Star you might not be aware of Stoops Troops new off-season Training Camp Regimen. Thanks to innovative thinking by Stoops and Major General John M. Custer over at Fort Huachuca in Cochise County, AZ. The Kitty Kats football team has taken a team building trip and Fall Ball Camp to the Military Institution to get ready for the upcoming season.

The players and coaches spent 4 days at Fort Huachuca located in Southern Arizona doing a lot more than focusing on football. Anyone who has been to any kind of team getaway camp will tell you that coming away from that week/weekend has the team better prepared for the season at hand. After living together for that time they grow closer. Rather than just two-a-days where the players see each other all day then go their separate days for dinner and sleep, these guys are together. From the moment the wake up until the moment they go to bed they do everything together. They run, eat, sleep, practice, and team-build with one another over the course of training camp. They learn to communicate and work together and become much closer. They also are free from the trappings of cell phones, e-mail, Myspace, Facebook, and of course newspapers and blogs.

This is the first year the Cats have ventured down to the Military Installation (rumored to be connected to the teaching of torture methods used in Abu Ghraib) and from the sounds of the reviews coming back it won't be the last. In fact, players and coaches are both asking that the 2009 trip be extended longer than this years 4 day jaunt. In my personal opinion I think this will be great for this Wildcats Team going into the season (10 days away). Team building activities do so much in the long run for these players and teams as far as building bonds and communication. This will definitely pay off every Saturday this Fall.

And I'm willing to bet, no one tries to mess with our kickers