Ahh, the sweet sound of two-a-days. From Misawa to Mangilao, they're back, doing the conditioning sprints, learning the basics of the option and 4-3 defense, the competition for starting and backup jobs will soon be in full swing as high school football prepares for the 2008 campaign.
And pretty soon, that'll be accompanied by the thwock! of tennis balls being banged around, the scraping of cross-country running shoes against pavement and the smack! of volleyball spike slamming inside that 10-foot line.
In just two weeks, classrooms idle since mid-June will again buzz with activity, the counting down of the minutes until the dismissal bell sounds, indicating time for another practice.
Football two-a-days began in Japan and Guam last Monday. They'll commence this week on Okinawa and Korea, as the chase for Class AA and Class A championship honours begins in earnest, Kadena defending the former and Robert D. Edgren trying for a Class A title hat trick.
Regular-season play begins in Japan and Guam on Aug. 29. Korea opens the next Friday, as does Okinawa, the earliest opening weekend in Okinawa Activities Council history as it converts to a full-fledged varsity season to mirror the other leagues.
Call this a two-weeks-before-school-stars roll call.
Who are you? For which school and team do you play? Where did you spend summer? What did you do to stay in shape? Did your coach have a conditioning plan, did you follow one of your own, or combination of both?
Welcome back, y'all!
