Chickasha High School football coach Joe Molder reflected on his first season and the lessons he learned ahead of this fall.
The Rotary Club of Chickasha met Thursday, August 15. Rotarian Mitch Williams led the club in singing "Be True to Your School".
In committee reports, planners and volunteers are wanted for this year's Rotary Christmas Party. Interested members should contact Scott Smith.
As Rotarian of the Day, Kory Kirkland introduced the speaker, Joe Molder, the head football coach at Chickasha High School. Molder is himself a CHS graduate, his wife is a graduate, and his children are attending school in Chickasha. He stressed that he has "no desire to go anywhere else".
Molder noted that a difficulty of being football coach in Chickasha is that many people want to return to "the glory days" of the program. It is achievable, he said, but it will not be an easy or quick process. "A lot more has to be done....I learned a lot in that first year."
A new direction the program would be taking this year is an emphasis on quality over quantity in terms of players. Molder wants to prioritize athletes who are truly dedicated rather than simply recruiting as many students as possible to the team. The "Summer Pride" program is being used to keep student athletes engaged and in a competitive team mindset.
Molder also believes that the school should be proactive in developing players well before they enter high school. Each of his coaches also help with middle school football in Chickasha. The next step in the plan is to form a better youth football program, so that students do not feel the need to travel to other districts to participate in a quality program. The booster club will be taking on a more proactive role in Chickasha's existing program, and the goal is to create a proper organizational structure.
The team mantras are nothing unique, Molder admitted, but he still believes them to be critically important. Posters in the locker and training rooms spell out "C-A-P: Commitment, Accountability, Pride". He expects his students to take responsibility for their own mistakes instead of "pointing fingers", and to always act like representatives of the program. Above all else, he added, CHS football is a family. Molder recalled that when he was a player, he had teammates for whom the team served as their family unit. He noted that there are even more students today for whom that is the case.
Another new add for Molder's second season is the addition of a defensive coordinator. He said he is a defensive-focused coach, but he found in his first year that directly running the defense hindered his overall effectiveness. Delegating duties to a DC will allow him to keep the whole team in focus throughout the game.
Lunch was provided by Interurban.