Coach Webster presents on leadership and values

Coach Andrew Webster recently presented to the Kennett Rotary Club, sharing his thoughts on leadership and the values he hopes to instill in the Kennett High School football team.

“In June, Coach Wyatt moved back home where he’s from, so we took over the football program,” said Webster.

“It may sound silly, but we tried to recruit the players,” Webster added. “You actually can do it. It’s just doing it with your own players in your own buildings.”

Webster continued, “One of the things that I’m real proud of, that we were able to do, if you look at grades seven through 12, we’ve almost doubled our numbers from last year.”

“We had 53 kids in grades seven through 12, in the football program last year and now we’re up to 94 or 96 this year,” he said.

Webster then shared on some of the other tools that have been implemented this year.

“We’ve held coach’s clinics,” provided Webster. “The high school coaches and myself put on coach’s clinics for the junior high coaching staff.”

Webster stated, “We’re trying to get everybody on the same page. We’re also doing some stuff with the youth league. We want to all work together.”

“If we have a kid who comes into the football program in fifth or sixth grade, they’ll be doing a lot of the same things we are at the high school level,” said Webster. “They’ll have the same expectations, how to act right and do right, then by the time they get to high school it will be old hat to them.”

“That’s the idea behind what we’re doing,” he said.

Webster also shared on positive reinforcement techniques such as helmet stickers.

“We have these little helmet stickers,” informed Webster. “Those are for team goals, but also there are other ways kids can earn those.”

He continued, “If they had perfect attendance during the week, or no discipline actions, they get a helmet sticker.”

“If they perform random acts of kindness, that too is rewarded,” shared Webster. “If a teacher calls me and says that a football player did something nice to some other student, they’ll get a helmet sticker for that.”

Webster shared, “In the end, football is super fun, but really, it’s just a tool to help give these kids the skills they need to be successful adults and positive members of society.”

“The official tells them at the coin toss, this field is just an extension of the classroom,” said Webster. “They’ll learn things on the field that they can’t necessarily learn inside the classroom.”

Webster predicts a winning season for the Kennett Indians football team.

“We have the potential for a really good year,” he said. “You never know how things will go with injuries and COVID, but we’re going to do our best.”