Sports Information Director: Steve McCloskey Phone: (570) 662-4845 Email: smcclosk@mansfield.edu
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Sports Information |
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Sports Information Director: Steve McCloskey Phone: (570) 662-4845 Email: smcclosk@mansfield.edu |
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RELEASE DATE: 8/11/03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MOUNTAINEER FOOTBALL OPENS
CAMP UNDER NEW NCAA RULES – NEWLY ENACTED REGULATIONS RADICALLY CHANGE
PRESEASON CAMP
MANSFIELD
– While most of Pennsylvania high schools marked the first day of football
practice on Monday with two-a-day full pad practices, it was radically different
for the state’s NCAA Division I, II and III collegiate programs.
As
103 student-athletes reported to the Mansfield University preseason football
camp this week, all of them were concerned how they would stand up to the “Dog
Days” of August.
What
they found so far is a preseason camp like no other in the football careers.
Thanks
to newly enacted NCAA regulations the days of consecutive two-a-day practices
are gone and that has produced a big change for both players and coaches.
“It’s
a big difference for us and the players,” said third-year Mountaineer head
coach Chris Woods. “Both players and coaches are forced to get
used to a new camp routine and that’s changed the comfort level for all of us.
As coaches, we really have to be organized and get the absolute most we can out
of three hours on the field. As a player, you really need to be in shape coming
in to camp because you are not going to be able to catch up physically –
especially in the first five days. By the end of camp we need to be at the same
level we have been in the past. We just need to find a different way to get
there.”
Changes
in the NCAA preseason regulations limiting physically activity were enacted
following a number of deaths and injuries in preseason camp.
Instead
of starting with the traditional grueling two-a-day practice, sessions are
limited during an opening five-day acclimatization period. For the first five
days of camp, the Mountaineers are limited to just one three-hour practice on
the field. They may wear helmets only during the first two practices followed by
helmets and upper pads the rest of the acclimation period.
After
the first five days, teams are allowed to have two-a-day practices until the
beginning of classes, but only every other day. Mansfield will have its first
two-a-day on Saturday.