Youth Sports

Green Hornets players gear up for season

Posted

The Valley Stream Green Hornets football camp hosted more than 50 players each day last week for safety training and conditioning in preparation for the upcoming season, according to club president Bobby Hawkey.

The Heads Up Tackling technique was a focal point for the second year, Hawkey said. The technique, which teaches players to keep their heads up and out of the line of contact, is part of a program being instituted more widely in the Nassau Suffolk Football League this year.

“It’s an initiative coming down through the NFL to make the game safer,” said Hawkey, who was named a player safety coach by USA Football, the official youth football development partner of the NFL. “When our players learn the sport’s fundamentals in a program that employs Heads Up Football, they’re learning them in a smarter, safer and better way.”

Other elements of the camp included concussion recognition and response training, proper equipment fitting and heat and hydration awareness training for players and parents.

The season officially starts Aug. 1.

Hawkey said that while many of the roughly 150 registered players were away on vacation or otherwise unavailable, he did see a lot of veteran players and some new faces.

“All the kids had fun,” he said.