It will be different this Friday, however, at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium. Normally the Wabash football team would go through its final preparation for Saturday's game against Ohio Wesleyan. It's a chance to fine-tune everything to try and secure another win for the Little Giants. The Wabash players will still go through their walk-through, but after it's completed, a different group of players will take to the field.
For the second consecutive season Head Coach Chris Creighton, the rest of the Wabash coaching staff, and all of the Wabash players will work with area youth in their annual Youth Football Clinic, teaching them football technique and letting the kids go through some of the same drills that the Little Giants go through themselves.
It's more than just football. It's also a chance for the players and some of their biggest, and littlest, fans to meet face to face.
I remember walking around on the field taking photos at last year's Youth Football Clinic. I expected to see the smiles on the faces of the kids as they got the chance to run around on college football stadium and pretend that they were Jake Knott throwing a TD pass or Ryan Short making the catch. In fact, I saw lots of smiling kids as they pretended to be Nate Boulais as they fiercely hit a soft tackling dummy.
What struck me, though, were the smiles on the faces of Jake, Ryan, Nate, and the rest of the Wabash players. They got a chance to remember that no matter how much you want to win and play that perfect game, football also has to be fun. You have to love playing it, and you have to be willing to give something back to the game that you love. The smiles told me that all of those things were happening.
Last year I watched then-junior Todd Bertrand throwing the football with a couple of kids. He was asking them about their football season while they just tossed the ball back and forth. It was such a small thing, but the next day those same kids were the first ones to find Todd on the field after Wabash defeated Hiram to tell him how much fun they had watching the game, having gotten to see the players in a different way.
It's not just for young men playing football. Last year Olmy Olmstead worked with a station where each kid got a chance to kick an extra point. It led to a discussion about football with one young girl who had come out to participate in the clinic. The next day against Hiram, that same little girl was back in the stands watching Olmy get closer to setting a Wabash single-season record.
This year the clinic, which is free, begins at 5:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon at the Stadium. If you would like more information, contact Coach Steve House at 361-6299. And remember, the Ohio Wesleyan game this Saturday is free to the public, but we're again collecting non-perishable food items for the FISH Food Pantry as part of the football team's Turnover Hunger Program.
I think your youngsters, both boys and girls, will have a great time interacting with the Little Giants at the Clinic and the next day at the game. Some of you parents might have fun, too.
Brent Harris is a life-long Crawfordsville resident, and is in his fourth year as sports information director at Wabash College.