OAKLAND PEE WEE BRAVES 2008 LEAGUE GAME SCHEDULE
Almost every practice, we schedule a fun activity for the players. Especially during the first two weeks of practice, we hand out ice pops and/or candy to the players at the end of practice. We do this as a reward for the players hard work. Anyone can play other sports but it takes a special type of person to play football.
First Weeks Fun Activities:
Pinball Football
Ultimate Football
Hut, Hut, Tackle
Football Snakes
Water Balloon Madness
11/11/07
2007 Oakland Braves Season Review
It was a warm August morning when the season began. The Pee Wee Braves came to our first practice not knowing what to expect. Would it be fun and interesting? They heard that it is tougher on the A squad and may have thought they are not cut out for football. Maybe the coaches were going to be too tough on them or the practices were going to be too grueling. Or they could have just come out to be with their classmates, teammates or even friends. Some of the returning players may have thought that it was going to be another tough year with only a win or two. Not many believed that they could actually win 6 games and make it to the playoffs.
I am sure that many questions and thoughts went thru each players head as we began the season. But from our very first evaluation practice and the each station with a flare of fun; ie crawling on the ground under a net to get to the other side, or diving into the “endzone” of puffy soft bags, or trying to kick a field goal thru the posts. Each station seemed to keep the players interested and the 3 hour practice went as quick as it started. We ended with a nice pizza party for the players hard work and effort. From there, we somehow made it thru 4 weeks of practice. Each practice having something a little different. We got some ice cream, ice pops or candy treats during the first few weeks of practice. All of which the players enjoyed. As the preseason went on, we battled with Bloomingdale, Wanaque and West Milford and started the regular season with Fairlawn. An excellent way to open up the season with an exciting overtime win in which the players got to see a coach go nuts in excitement! A nice treat to Dairy Queen was the icing on the top for this win. We leveled out the second game of the season against Pequannock, but played them extremely tough and lost on a blocked punt. We got back on our winning ways against Pompton Lakes with an exciting win late in the game and wins over Bergenfield and Ridgewood. We took another step back against a tough Franklin Lakes squad, but wound up winning our last 2 games of the season against Glen Rock and Kinnelon. In practices, we did some fun drills like the Douma drill, hut hut tackle, relay races, ultimate football, touch football and the popular NFL Jersey Pro Bowl nights. And to have our last practice be the MUD BOWL, it was awesome! Just an outstanding season for our Braves.
As a coach, you don’t always remember each game in detail, but you do remember many of the players ability and personality. (I am just going to mention many of the starting A Braves players, the other asst. head coaches may do their own year review.) Jake Riley with his sometime unbelievable monster blocking; Paul Campanelli with his magician type illusiveness when carrying the ball; Jarrett Kuipers with his bone crushing lowering of the shoulders when running; Nick Wisnovsky with his vision of the field and ability to cut on a dime; Tim OBrien with his command of the plays and throwing ability; Jake Hilberts with his defensive rush which almost got him handoffs from the offense; Chris Dellaiacono with is ability to catch and run for long yards; Cameron Cotter with his ability to stop anyone going outside; Luke Osterlof with his aggressiveness on offense and defense; Matt Wickert with a perfect season snapping the ball; Eric Wynn with his ability to drive block; Matt Paredes with his ability to sniff out a pass a mile away; Jason E. with his uncanny ability to run the outside with precision; Sean Kicinski with his strength alone could push a car; and Brad Kroepke with his ability to find the ball carrier.
Some of the more notable personalities… Matt Wickert and his smiling would always put a smile on my face. You could never get upset with him because he would look back at you with a smile. (I guess someday he will be in politics or a salesman.) The same goes with Tommy Delaunay and his “happy go lucky” personality. He will just put a smile on any coaches face. Paul Campanelli and Nick Cortese were the most convincing when asking for additional award stickers. Both of them could have sold me the kitchen sink! Cameron Cotter is a player who truly loves sports. He would practice from dawn to dust and love every minute of it. Some of the new players to football this year that are going to be dominate in years to come are Jason E., Joe Gaudino and Jake Hilberts. These three players will grow tremendously as football players in the next couple of years and we look forward to watching them as they move to the Juniors.
I cant say in words how much I and all the coaches have enjoy coaching this group of players. I look forward to watching them as they move up the Juniors next year. We are sure their next coaching staff is going to enjoy this squad as much as we have. Its one thing to have a very talented squad of players but it’s a totally different environment when you have a talented group and a squad an superb personalities who are a pleasure to be around.
2007 Oakland Braves Pee Wee Parent Survey Results
1) Pee Wee Program – Overall, very good to excellent comments
2) Organization – Excellent across the board – no changes needed
3) Organization (practice/games) – Very good to excellent – parents liked the communication of the website and emails from the Asst. Head Coaches. – no changes needed
4) Quantity of Scrimmages/Games – Mixed reviews on this question. I am not sure if parents wanted more scrimmages/games or less. (The parents did not specify.) Please let me know.....
5) Quantity of Practices – Again mixed reviews, not sure if you want more or less
6) Length of Practices/Games – Very good to excellent – no changes needed
7) Cost of Program – Acceptable across the board – no changes needed
8) Condition of Football Equipment – good to very good, but several parents had issues such as condition of shoulder pads, game pants not fitting, and helmet issues. – I will look into getting new ear pads for the helmets, new smaller sized shoulder pads and smaller sized game pants.
9) Condition of Practice Field – most unacceptable to fair. Many parents had multiple issues with the condition of our practice field, lighting for our practice field, and condition of the sleds and field equipment. – We really need to upgrade our practice field conditions, maybe we can find another area for at least the C squads next year. I hope to get new sled dummies that actually fit the sleds properly, and we typically order a few new foam dummies each year. The lighting has been an issue for years and hopefully it will finally be addressed this off season.
10) Condition of Game Field – Good to Very Good – Most parents were satisfied with our game field condition, lighting and surrounding environment. – We tried to keep off the game field for most of our practices which actually helped save the field for the entire season. We will try to do the same next year.
11) Announcing Booth – Excellent for the A squad, but poor to average for the B and C squad games. Next year we will only have adults doing the main announcing. If a child would like to assist, that’s fine, but we really need to improve on this for the B and C games. The players love to hear their names over the loudspeaker and we should be consistent will all squads.
12) Website – Very Good to Excellent – We got mostly excellent reviews for the website although some parents would like to see a little more pictures of each game. – We can only do more if I get a parent from each squad to work with me adding the photos. If I do not get a parent from each squad to help me, there is no way we can improve this next year.
13) Quantity of Coaches – Fair to Good – Several parents stated that they would like to see more coaches at each practice. – I will try to add more coaches next year as it looks like we may have 1 A squad, 2 B squads and 2 C squads, so we will need a lot of coaches.
14) Quality/knowledge of Coaches – Very Good to Excellent - Most of the parents were very satisfied with quality and knowledge of our coaching staff this year.
15) Fairness of Coaches – Very Good to Excellent, although we had a few that said they would like to see players moved around to different positions during the year. – At the C level, our coaches tried switching players around to different positions in the beginning. But as I told the coaches, it just doesn’t work in football. Players have a difficult enough time trying to run a play and to switch them around to different positions, makes a complete chaos situation. I told the coaches that we could add a couple of games during the week to allow players to play offense if they only play defense in the regular games. Other than that, you just cant do it in football.
16) Resolution to Problems – Excellent, although we did have one problem that was not resolved to the parents satisfaction. Sometimes this does happen as people have different opinions and both may be right according to their beliefs.
17) Amount of Playing Time – Very Good to Excellent – Most parents were satisfied with their child’s playing time, but there were a few that was not satisfied. I am not sure why, but I will ask the coaches if they followed our Pee Wee Playing Time Policy in which all players will get a starting position and play in at least that starting position each game.
18) Child Placed in Appropriate Position – For the most part, parents were ok with where their child played this year. Obviously, many parents want their child to run the ball, but as I stated above, it is impossible in football. I will schedule 2 extra B and C games for a Thursday night, (one after our 3rd regular season game/ the other after our 6th regular season game), to allow those players who only play offense or defense to play a couple of games on the other side of the ball. Again, these games will be scheduled for the sole purpose of getting players more game time on the opposite side of the ball.
19) Recommend Football Program - Out of 51 responses, I only got one no and I am not sure why because their was no explanation, but hopefully we did a good job this year. We need the parents to talk to other parents about letting their child play football. If you had a good experience this year, tell a few of your friends.
20) Join Football Association - Most said maybe and yes, but I am not sure this is needed in the youth level. You are so involved already that I think it may be a little overboard to have a parents football association.
21) You Think Child Had Fun - All parents thought their child had fun playing football this year. I would like to thank my coaches for making this year fun for all the players. As you know, a coach has so much influence on whether or not a child has a positive experience playing sports. That's why it is so important that we have coaches that are not just good, but excellent with children this age.
22) Will Your Child Play Next Year - This is actually the worst question to ask a player at the end of any season. Most said yes, a few said maybe and 2 said no. My boys have to play football, it is required in our family. Not because I know they will enjoy it, but for all the other reasons why football is so great. Its a demanding sport, disciplined sport and a true team sport. If any of you watched the NJJFL Conference Championship game with Franklin Lakes and Pequannock last week, you saw a complete "team" versus a team with basically one star player. Although they tried to keep it close, Franklin Lakes could not keep up with a strong team which did not have any one superstar, but an entire group of players playing their hearts out.
I would like to thank all the parents who participated in the surveys. Hopefully, we can make the changes to make our Pee Wee program even stronger next year. Coach Berrian
11/2/08 - The B Braves travelled to Kinnelon this after and played another superior game on defense. Even though we didnt have our entire team, our players stepped up when they had to. Matt S. played exceptionally well at nose tackle making several key stops in the backfield. Bobby M. also some some nice stops in the backfield. Joe D. and Matt N. did very well stopping any runs that got past the line of scrimmage. Darin G. and Michael A. did another outstanding job containing any runs to the outside. On offense, Matt N. had some nice runs during the game. Justin H. had another stellar game at qb and to top it all off, Scott S. centered for the first time in his football career and did exceptional! Just another fun and exciting game for our B Braves! Coach Berrian
11/1/08 - The A Braves have had a tough season. We just want all the players to know that we are proud of their effort, sportsmanship and most of all never giving up even when the chips are down. We are proud of all the kids that have worked extremely hard throughout the season! Continue to hold your heads up and play hard because you are a good team that just needs a little more luck! The A Coaches
10/31/08 - Indians Games - The Indians played 2 games in a row, on Wed. and Thur. night. On Wednesday, they played a good Ramsey squad and it was a nail bitter all game, but the defense came up big in the end stopping Ramsey at the 7 yard line with no time left and won the game 12 to 7. Last night the Indians played a very strong Wayne Boys Club team and we had very limited offensive plays, but we were able to squeak out another win 14 to 12. And we held Wayne in the end stopping them inside our 15 yard line as time ran out. I cant believe the transformation in the Indians the last two games as they seem to have come together well and are playing very well together. Just a great job by our players! I want to thank the few Warriors and Chiefs players that helped us out on Wednesday and Thursday. Without them, we could not have fielded a team, so thank you very much for coming, all the boys appreciate you being there! Coach Berrian
10/27/08 - Just another stellar game by our B Braves. Without our starting qb, the B Braves were still able to push out a win over a tough Bergenfield squad. Matt N., who never played qb, did an excellent job for his first time under center. He also scored our lone touchdown on a 44 yard scamper around the outside. We also had fairly decent blocking all game long, but a couple of holding penalties stalled some drives. Our defense played extremely well, only giving up 2 first downs and only 1 longer run on a nicely executed double reverse by Bergenfield. A nice interception by Liam C. towards the end of the game sealed the win. Very nice job by Kyle M. both on pass defense and also tackling.
10/25/08 - Ok, now that was fun! Thank you all for coming to the 2008 Braves Halloween Party. You probably didnt believe me when I told you it was a nutty and fun night for the boys, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves and hopefully they will remember this for a long time. I will tell you that this was the most scared group I've had in many years! I literally had to stop talking in the dungeon because players were tooooo scared! Which was very cool! It was also nice to see many of the parents go thru the dungeon this year. The Halloween party for me is like saying thank you to all the Braves who play football. Football is a tough sport that many young children will not even try and for our players to come to practice, work hard and play hard each week, they deserve a big hand and fun party. I hope everyone had a great time! Thank you, Coach Berrian
10/22/08 - Warriors - In our best all round effort of the season the Oakland Warriors beat Pompton Lakes 19-7. Outstanding running from Jason Earle (2 TD’s), Sean King and Anthony “PETRO” led our offensive efforts. Very effective blocking upfront kept our offense moving all night long. Danny Hit Man Hrenenko pick up a fumble and went the distance on a long TD run. BTW he is our Center and could not be caught. I have a feeling Jim (mike martz) Thomas will be getting him the ball.
On the defensive side of the ball the Warrior’s were awesome. With 4 forced fumbles the defense was swarming to the ball with gang tackle on after another. Joe Miceli stood out again leading the team with multiple solo tackles. Nick Brown playing his best game of the season caught a Cardinal from behind on his way to the end zone that led to a fumble recovery for Brandon Thomas. A great defensive effort by all. Coach Al
10/22/08 - The Indians actually played an excellent game last night against a B squad. Our 4 "Braves Dawgpound" players did an exceptional job stuffing the inside runs all game long. Again, the league schedule has been a mess this year and we are just trying to get thru this season. All these scheduling issues will be dealt with at the league meetings at the end of the season.
The Dungeon will be open to all Pee Wee players on Sunday October 26 from 6pm to 8pm. All pee wee players are welcome to come! (this is not the halloween party, this is for any pee wee player who may want to go thru the dungeon and any A/B Braves who may want to go thru again.
10/19/08 - B Braves Game - The B Braves traveled to Pompton Lakes on Saturday night and probably played their best game as a squad. Pompton got the ball first and drove right down the field and scored on our Braves. We got the ball and we drove right down the field on them and scored. So, from the first two series, we know that this was going to be a battle all game long. Coach Cleary made some adjustments on the defensive side to counter what they did successful during the first drive and our Braves defense responded with dominance. After the first drive, I think Pompton only got one other first down the rest of the game. Just a great job of penetration by Kyle, Bobby and Joe. Michael and Darin kept the outside runs in check and Matthew and Brendan did a great job reading the play and filling when they saw the back coming. Our defensive backs, Kyle, Liam, Justin and Walter also shutdown Pompton's passing attack. Just an awesome job by our defense. On offense, we got excellent blocking most of the time by Joe, Scott, Darin, Kyle, Zack, Michael, and Brendan and great running especially by Justin and Matthew. We scored 3 touchdowns which is the most we have scored this year by any of our Braves squads. Great Job Boys! Keep up the good work. Coach Berrian
10/18/08 - A Braves Game - As they say, football is a game of inches and again our Braves played their hearts out last night. At half the game was tied 6 - 6 and it looked like the momentum was shifting our way. But a long drive by Pompton and just a good bootleg option pass and catch by Pompton made the difference in the end. When the qb threw the ball, I was just hoping that the player would drop it, but he didnt and they got in. We didnt get much offensive opportunities in the second half and were set back a little by holding penalties and a couple of sacks. At the pee wee level, it is extremely difficult to make up those yards and 95% of the time you get a holding penalty at the pee wee level, you will not get 20 yards in 3 downs. But like I said, our team continues to give everything they have and leave it on the field, we just arent getting the break at the right time. Coach Berrian
10/13/08 - Chiefs Game - The Oakland Chiefs returned home on Tuesday night and took on USR/Allendale’s 4th grade squad. Early on the Chiefs D suffered a few missed tackles and USR took the lead 6-0. From there, Oakland was hanging tough on Defense not allowing another score and stopping USR on three 4th down plays. Sean McMorrow, Andre Girard, Nick DiDonato, Jonny Caponi and Kenny Summers shined with big plays on defense. On offense, Nick DiDonato ran hard inside gaining 25 yards and Shane Brancaleone also gutted out the tough yards from the tailback position. The offensive line blocked the pass plays very well and QB Conor Pernetti was 3-3 for 22 yards. On a big 3rd down and 19 play DiDonato took the handoff on a 28 sweep taking the USR D with him and then planted and threw a perfect pass back across the grain to Pernetti who snuck out of the backfield on the throwback play. A perfect pass and catch was good for 18 yards. The Chiefs came up short 6-0 and return home on Tuesday night to take on Wyckoff at 7:30 PM
10/12/08 - Our B Braves came out on fire today as they scored 2 touchdowns and 2 more that were called back due to penalties. But a great job by the Braves defense to hold Ridgewood to only one td today. Excellent running and passing by Justin H. and some nice catches and runs by Joe D. Matt N. had the most yards running again with two touchdowns. No running would have taken place without decent blocking by our offense line. On defense, Liam C., Walter J., Darin G., Brendan G. and Michael A. were in on many tackles. Many gang tackles were made in Ridgewoods backfield which was nice. Great Job boys! Keep up the good work. Coach Berrian
10/11/08 - As a parent, most of you dont know what type of teams we are facing or their prior records. Rigdewood II was undefeated so far, prior to our game, they have NOT let up ONE offensive touchdown all year and literally have NOT given up ONE first down in their prior two games against Franklin Lakes or Pequannock. They also were NEVER behind in any game all year long. And for us to take the opening kickoff and drive for a touchdown was a MAJOR success. They didnt know what hit them tonight and I am so proud of our boys tonight. To get a first down was one thing, but to score an offensive touchdown against a team that has shutout everyone else was just awesome! Our defense was stellar all game long and we bent a few times, but Coach Mike made some adjustments to stall Ridgewoods potent offense. Our players left everything on the field tonight and we couldnt have asked for anymore! JUST AN OUTSTANDING JOB BY ALL OUR BRAVES PLAYERS TONIGHT! Coach Berrian
Indians - 10/6/08 - Just another awesome game by the Indians squad tonight playing a tough Franklin Lakes War Eagles squad. Both teams had very good success running the ball. Matt F. had some nice gains and Alex B. ran for over 60 yards. Marc F. made some very nice cuts on the outside on several plays for g
