Practice officially opens for fall sports squads
Monday was the first day of practice for fall sports in the WPIAL, and coaches and players were greeted with a good dose of fall weather.
While football coaches may have been hoping for hot and humid conditions, it was cool and overcast most of the day.
Football may be the most popular fall sport, but it is far from the only one. Also opening practices Monday were boys and girls soccer, boys and girls golf, boys and girls cross country, girls volleyball and girls tennis.
Uniontown football coach John Fortugna has been through this before, as he begins his 18th season on the Red Raiders bench.
鈥淚鈥檝e been blessed,鈥� Fortugna said. 鈥淚 have such wonderful support from our administration and from the kids. I鈥檓 blessed.鈥�
Fortugna said he had 73 players report for practice, a high-water mark for the Class AAA Red Raiders.
Uniontown hopes to secure a playoff berth from the Keystone Conference after missing the post-season last year.
鈥淭he teams the WPIAL added to the Keystone have made it one of the tougher conferences in the WPIAL,鈥� Fortugna said. 鈥淚t蘑菇视频 a good brand of football and we hope we can make it back to the playoffs.鈥�
Speaking of the playoffs, Geibel Catholic girls volleyball coach Rick Watkins has his sights set on keeping the Lady Gators in the post-season. The Lady Gators have made it to the playoffs for over 17 consecutive seasons.
He believes Section 5-A is improving overall, which could result in some different teams at or near the top of the standings.
鈥淚t could be a surprise this season or it could be the same old thing, with Frazier, Geibel and Jefferson-Morgan at the top,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淔razier is the defending WPIAL champ, but they lost a lot to graduation. I think the section will be very competitive. California has the talent to contend, Carmichaels is getting better, JM will be strong again and I鈥檇 like to think we can compete.
鈥淲e have a lot of young kids coming into our program. We have some talent, but it may take a while for us to gel. Our numbers are encouraging this year. We should have a bigger roster and that depth will make us stronger.鈥�
Watkins hopes to have a 20-person roster after getting through last season with about 15.
Practices continue daily, sometimes more than once a day, until school resumes on Monday, Aug. 29. The first play date for all sports except golf and tennis is Friday, Sept. 2. First play date for golf is this Thursday and for tennis, competition begins Monday, Aug. 22.
HeraldStandard.com will publish its annual football supplement on Friday, Sept. 2.