Monday-Friday 2 hours a day strength and condition and speed and agility, intense football focused work out, he never missed a day for 4 months. He started the summer football camp circuit at 6.2 and 215lbs.
There were several camps including the Team USA, Sound Mind and Sound Body, 2 Gophers, the Badgers, and Bemidji State rounded off the camps. They were all fun, focused and all about recruiting. Jimmy's take away from the camps was that he must have been doing pretty good if each coach he worked with wanted to follow Jimmy on Twitter .
Team summer practice was run mostly by the Captains/ Seniors with the coach only being able to attend a certain number of days, and of course Jimmy was the first one there and the last one to leave, every single day. The team then ended the summer preseason with a trip to South Dakota for a weekend football camp. Hopkins has never done well in these camps and historically finishes in last place. There are usually 5 or 6 teams that go through a series of drills, skills and games. This year Hopkins came in first! Jimmy and the team were beyond excited.
Two a days began the second week of August. Jimmy was practicing on both sides of the ball. On offense he was in the tight end spot and slot receiver and on defense left end and outside linebacker. Needless to say he was having a ball. Then in the last week of practice he got his finger caught in a kids shoulder pad and broke his finger. He was in a cast for two weeks and was cleared to play with a cast. Once we got through that same set back he was good to go and go he did.
The games were all somewhat the same meaning...the team that made the least mistakes won. Jimmy has several catches for big yards and first downs and blocked for just about everyone.He was very focussed and involved in each game. He led the team onto the field, he ran to the crowd to get them into the game and stood first in line at each and every game, home and away and sang the Star Spangled Banner, every time.
The best part for us as parents is that he still has to come home from the game win or loose and explain the entire game to us, he can't go to bed with the debriefing, it is awesome. He continues to be extremely passionate about football but at least we can get him out of the car when they lose (vs in 4th grade when he'd cry in the car for hours).
Melanie (girlfriend) would come to many of the games and cheer on Jimmy - they are pretty cute.
So what's next, College visits. So far the University of South Dakota (SDSU) invited Jimmy out for a game day experience. We toured the new stadium, practice facilities and were on the field before the game. The school had all his films and stats and even had him take a picture in a JackRabbits jersey that just happened to be the same number he wore at Hopkins, coincidence, I think not! We have heard back from St. Thomas, St Johns and are waiting a a few others. He's sent his info to Drake, Baylor, Davidson and the University of Dayton. He's looking for a school where he can play football, study political science and jazz. This spring will be busy. Currently he is focussing on weight training and studying for the ACT.We are proud of him and his accomplishments this Junior year! He's definitely got goals and is focused. He's got the world by the tail right now;)
More to come....
