Can’t play high school football? New SLO County club program gives kids chance to compete
San Luis Obispo County high school football players could lose out on their school seasons this year because of pandemic restrictions.
But Morro Bay High’s football coach, Jake Goossen-Brown, is starting a non-school club program, called the Flock Academy, to help San Luis Obispo County players stay engaged and fine-tune their skills.
The Flock Academy held its first practice Friday afternoon at Moro Bay’s Lila Kaiser Park, where they’ll gather two to three times per week for 7-on-7 play and skills workouts. There’s no limit to how many athletes can join.
The club program is open to high school students from around SLO County. They will participate in touch — not tackle — football and practice skills to maintain activities during the pandemic.
“The main goal around this is to keep players active and engaged, and to maintain a football culture,” said Goossen-Brown. “If football is out of sight, it can be out of mind, and it will be harder to get students to come out and play in their schools next year. And I want players to compete and get better.”
The California Interscholastic Federation’s Central Section has called for high school football to start here by March 16, but that’s contingent on SLO County’s COVID-19 tier. The season would lend by April 17, meaning the window is rapidly closing.
Under state public health rules, high school football can only be played if the county is in the orange or yellow tiers, the state’s two lease restrictive levels.
Goossen-Brown said, as part of the club program, players will be required to wear masks, except in situations of extreme exertion or when the mask become wet due to sweat.
When they’re gathering for instruction and talks, they’ll be required to stand in socially distance spaces where cones are placed. And footballs will be regularly sanitized.
“They’ll wear masks almost all the time,” Goossen-Brown said. “We’ll be doing all sorts of things to get better and hone technique.”
What the club program looks like
The 7-on-7 competition will use quarterbacks, running backs and receivers on offense and defenders against those positions on defense.
And while lineman won’t be part of the games, Goossen-Brown will hold specific training and workouts for them to keep up their skills.
The Flock Academy hopes to participate in tournaments with other club teams, possibly some from out of the area.
“Some of our local athletes aren’t going to jump off the page in terms of height, vertical (jumps), and 40 (yard dash) times,” Goossen-Brown said. “But hopefully they will have a chance to get some type of film from this, so colleges can notice them.”
Goossen-Brown said the cost to play will be $20 per month, mostly to cover insurance.
“I’m relatively new to the area,” Goossen-Brown said. “I’d love to get to know the kids. This will be open to high school athletes from anywhere around here. We just wanted them to be able to compete and get better.”
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