Fifth Grade O'Fallon Renegades: Welcome

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WELCOME TO THE HOME OF THE O'FALLON RENEGADES WHITE FIFTH GRADE FOOTBALL TEAM WEBSITE

We promote sportsmanship, discipline and the fundamentals of full contact football.  Our goal is to prepare young athletes for competitive sports in High School and to always try their best in everyday life while encouraging sportsmanship and physical fitness.  We are now beginning to prepare for our fourth year within the Gateway Youth Football League.  Go to www.gatewayfootballleague.com for rules and regulations.  Practice begins in late July and games begin early September at Dames Park in O’Fallon, MO.  This is a full contact football league.  Players must be 10 years old on or before 7-31-10 and may turn 10 years old on or after 8-1-10.  A $250 participation fee includes equipment rental, referees and field usage.  Participants on our team must reside within the St. Charles county area. 

Our team is associated with the O’Fallon Junior Renegades Organization.  www.jr-renegades.org. 

  KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!!!

JFK; "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."

Rocky Balboa: It Ain´t About How Hard You Hit... - More amazing video clips are a click away

GAME FOOTAGE CAN BE SEEN AT: http://www.renegades.jtrwebhosting.com/

 

(Click Here for O'Fallon Weather)



Monday, September 27
Down syndrome football player scores TD in Washington game

Ike Ditzenberger is like a lot of other 17-year-old American football players. He dreams of playing college football. He attends daily practices. Most of the time he toils away in offensive drills. Then, on rare occasions, Ditzenberger runs into the limelight with aplomb. The description could fit thousands of American teenagers, except for one crucial detail: Ike Ditzenberger has Down Syndrome.

Ditzenberger, a junior at Snohomish (Wash.) High School, achieved a major milestone on Friday in a game against Lake Stevens, running 51 yards for a touchdown with 10 seconds remaining. The "Ike Special" provided the only points in Snohomish's 35-6 loss. It was the first varsity touchdown in Ditzenberger's career, a ramble through an opposing defense that mirrors the end to Snohomish practices every day, when Ditzenberger gets the final run of practice and somehow finds the end zone, through a combination of running guile and intentionally passive defenders.

"He's someone that everybody can kind of enjoy because he has such a great personality and character," Snohomish senior captain Keith Wigney told the Everett Herald in a feature on Ditzenberger.

For Ditzenberger's feel-good story to go beyond practice to an actual competitive game took an assist from the coaching staff at Lake Stevens. The Vikings' coaches not only instructed their players to let Ditzenberger score, but to make it look relatively competitive in the process to make the moment more real for the Snohomish junior. In the video above you can see a handful of Lake Stevens defenders make diving runs at Ditzenberger, only to come up agonizingly short. Or perhaps gleefully short, in this case.

The moment wasn't without precedent. Lake Stevens also collaborated with Snohomish for Ditzenberger's other touchdown, a gallop through the Vikings defense in a junior-varsity game last November, which you can see below.

For his part, Ditzenberger has trained for such a touchdown each day for the past three years. He practices every day with the Snohomish junior-varsity team, but gets the final run of the varsity practice as long as he adheres to two conditions Snohomish head football coach Mark Perry relayed to the Everett Herald:

"I make him a deal," Perry told the Everett Herald. "‘If you keep your shoulder pads on and your mouth piece in, you're going to get a play.'"

Ditzenberger first became obsessed with football by watching his brothers play the sport. One, Jake, was also on the Snohomish team with Ike for the younger Ditzenberger's first two seasons. Taking part in a sport in which his older brother starred helps Ike bond with him, and gives the 5-foot-5 17-year-old a sense of place despite his limitations.

That role as part of a larger team has made football one of most important aspects of Ditzenberger's life. Here's how his mother, Kay, described the importance of football to the Everett Herald:

Down syndrome kids "don't learn by what they hear; they learn by what they see," Ike's mother said. "So he's a real imitator. For him to be able to watch and learn by doing, and to be like his older brothers, is a really big deal."

For Snohomish's program, Ike has become a big deal. His runs at the end of practice build camaraderie and sense of routine for the rest of the team. And they help place sports in perspective.

On Friday, the "Ike Special" even provided the Panthers' only points. Of course, Snohomish coach Perry may have had that play up his sleeve the whole time. After all, he sees just how effective it is at the end of every single practice.



Sunday, March 28
Newly Added Coaching and Sports Parenting Videos Click Here...


Monday, November 30
Normandy and O'Fallon 4th Grade Teams Combine to Compete in 2009 Rumble Tournament

Pablo Castillo, Normandy Head Coach, and Kory Albrecht, O'Fallon Head Coach, joined forces to compete in the 2009 Renegade Rumble Annual Tournament.  Pablo and Kory were teammates around 2003.   3 years ago they discovered they became opponents head coaching little league football.  They both have competed against each other with the utmost respect and sportsmanship since.  This year they decided to combine teams to attempted to compete as partners as a team named, "Game On!".  Kory is a dork and created the name due to O'Fallon having O's on their helmets and Normandy having N's on theirs.
The weekend went well.  Game On only had two opponents since there were only 3 teams in their age bracket, the Kirkwood Cardinals and the Columbia Blue Jays.  Kirkwood was extremely powerful during the regular season and then went out and picked up a player from Pagedale that just about looked us grown men in the eye!  Kirkwood beat Game On 41-0 and then beat Columbia twice 38-0 and 47-0, obtaining the championship title.  They were Brutal and fast!  However, Columbia was a good team as well.  We found out later they were 13-0 during their regular season coming into that weekend and winning their local Superbowl.  Game On competed extremely well however lost to the Blue Jays 20-12.  Game On almost took the lead going into the second half.  They drove down to the 10 yard line and ran out of time.  It was 13-12 at the half and the Blue Jays scored with a few minutes left in the game sealing the deal.  Game On had a chance to comeback at the end however the clock was not on their side.  
Both Pablo and Kory were extremely proud of how the players played.  They only had one true practice because of all the recent rain.  Their first game was a little unorganized but they got it together on the second.  They think if they had a second chance at Kirkwood, although they probably wouldn't have won, they would have given them a better game the second time around.  Both Pablo and Kory received a lot of praise from parents of both teams upon how they conducted themselves and had the players competitive.
Kory has purchased some pictures and will put them on the website after they are received in the mail.  If you have any photos you would like to share, PLEASE email them to Kory at koryalbrecht@yahoo.com and he will place them on the website as well.  Sorry, due to the cost of the photos Kory only purchased ones of his son.  SORRY!
I hope Pablo does not mind; however Kory would like to speak for both them, stating they are EXTREMELY proud of their players upon how they participated, competed, played as a team, and portrayed great sportsmanship!  The parents were great as well!


Friday, September 25
Arkansas Players ends game with noble gesture!
Arkansas Players ends game with noble gesture!