CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
New Bearden Head Football Coach Trey Outlaw has given a new meaning to the phrase “hit the ground running.” After just being hired on May 31, Outlaw conducted a team meeting on Monday at the Bearden High School where he talked about summer workouts and setting high goals for the season.
A good crowd of Bearden student athletes showed up, considering it was the summer and a lot of students were already out of town. Outlaw got straight to the point, and talked to the team about the F.A.M.I.L.Y. - Faith, Attitude, Mental Toughness, Integrity, Love and You. He spoke about the team playing a selfless, unintimidated brand of football and “winning the day.”
“If you will focus on the little things - take it one day at a time, one rep at a time - then by the end of the game, those big things will come along,” Outlaw said. “You are never going to see a countdown until game day in our locker room. We have to win each day.”
Outlaw then distributed the summer schedule and shared that there will be incentives for the student athletes who participate - such as, possibly getting their names put on the back of their jerseys. He explained that there are roughly 1,440 hours of summer available.
“All we are asking for is 4.5 percent of that,” Outlaw requested. “If you give us that over the summer then I promise you, in December when we are sizing for rings, you’re going to look back and say, ‘man, it was worth it.’...One thing we got in common with the schools we play: We all have 60 days. We don’t have the same equipment, we don’t have the same coaches, we don’t have the same field. But we all have the same time”
Outlaw emphasized the importance of envisioning a state championship ring and even provided a slide show with the players’ names on the side of them.
He also talked about community service.
“We have six team camps, 7 on 7’s and a community service day,” Outlaw said about the summer schedule. “This community gives so much to us. It’s easy for us to ask, ask, ask. It’s time for us to give back. That’s the first thing I learned when I got here. This community loves you guys. That is all they talk about. We want to return that love and we want to become the face of the community.”
In closing, Outlaw said that he loves and cares for the team and said it will start immediately on learning the new “dynamic” offense and team concepts.
A community meet-and-greet event is tentatively set for June 11. The Camden News will release more details as they become available.