THE SCOUTING REPORT - WHAT IS IT AND WHY???

If you have a high school football player, you are likely in the middle of the scrimmage portion of your season.  The scrimmages begin after “two a day” practices, and before the regular season begins.  Scrimmages used to be of some value, but because of SCOUTING, I believe they have become a complete waste of time.

 

SCOUTING is when coaches from a third team come and watch the two original teams scrimmage, and they do this so that they can get the “inside scoop” on one of the playing teams, whom they will be playing in the regular season.  So if YELLO is playing RED, but next week, in the regular season, BLUE is playing RED in the first big game, you can bet BLUE is going to send in some scouts to see just what RED has up its sleeve. 

 

Sure, it seems fair, and most scrimmages are open to parents, so you would think the BLUE coaches would just slide in, unnoticed, and get the information they need.  But NOOOO.  BLUE will likely show up in their TEAM BLUE coaching staff jerseys, carrying notepads and pencils.  They will then make their way to the top of the stands, to one corner or another to try to become inconspicuous, which will, in turn, make them even more conspicuous, and obviously the RED coach will know they are watching.

 

                                      

 

Now typically, RED’s coach will not want to show all of his tricks and secrets to BLUE.  Therefore, RED will proceed to “show none of our good plays”  and often times, will barely play any starters.  “I’m not playing any starters!”  That’ll show ‘em coach.

 

So now, you have a group of players with a perfect opportunity to practice their good stuff in a game-like situation, and instead, they will do nothing of the sort, saving the good stuff, unrehearsed, for the first game of the season.

 You can now see why this is a colossal waste of time.  BLUE has wasted a trip to watch a game in which they learn nothing.  RED will be completely unprepared for the first game of the season, resulting in missed tackles, dropped passes, and poor execution of the running game.  RED’s coaches will be furious, yelling on the sidelines their players need to “GET IT TOGETHER OUT THERE!” and hoping for a victory by having less penalties that the other team.

 

BLUE, after returning to the team meeting, will report red has nothing up their sleeve, and will be an easy win, resulting in more missed tackles, laziness, confusion on the line, and several penalties for jumping off-sides, the favorite penalty for the first game of the season. 

It’s the beginning of the football season folks, and if you have a high school player, the best thing to do to get past this first game is get a LARGE popcorn, sit back, and ride it out.  Just make sure you DO wear your team colors – that’s what matters.