The Krueger Middle School Falcons and Ed White Middle School Eagles are fierce rivals on the football field. But they won’t always be opponents. In a few years, they’ll be teammates at Roosevelt High School. This inspired coaches at Krueger and Ed White to hold an inaugural joint football practice.
Ed White’s coach Lorenzo Hayes believes this new tradition will help turn a friendly rivalry into a winning program.
“The deeper takeaway is that our players’ futures have a competitive and loving foundation,” said Hayes. “They got to see the two coaching staffs compete against each other, root for each other and work with each other for a common goal. We’re hopeful this will motivate the community and build quality, lasting relationships.”
The Eagles and the Falcons used this opportunity to get ahead of the first-game jitters. They also familiarized themselves with terminology and plays that will apply once they suit up together as Roosevelt Rough Riders. After one practice together, Krueger’s coach Luis Bueno can already see a foundation of friendship forming amongst the players. It also meant a lot for the players to hear from Roosevelt coaches Richard Severyns and Matt Carroll.
“One of our goals is to create the healthiest relationship and rivalry between the student athletes at Krueger and Ed White,” said Bueno. “Their bonds and relationships get a head start, thus allowing their friendships to begin earlier rather than later. The icing on the cake was having the coaches from Roosevelt come and observe and even give a pep talk to all the players.”
