We may be excited for the upcoming return of Friday night lights, but for your Coronado football team, they’ve been preparing and ready for months. Beginning as early as the spring, the Cougars have been prepping for the upcoming season. Although spring training is not as intense as summer training, mostly doing only fundamental work, they still saw improvements over the numerous weeks.

When school was finally out for the summer and many of us were sleeping in until 1 P.M., the Coronado football players set their alarms early and began the intense training in the summer heat. Monday through Friday from 7 A.M. to 10 A.M., they focused their energy on lifting, speed and agility, and basic field work. But that was just in the mornings; every Wednesday night for five weeks, the Cougars played 7-on-7 football with others teams in Colorado Springs area.

Towards the end of the summer, in the final two weeks of July, they attended a nine day camp where they got a sneak peak of local competition, playing both TCA and Widefield. New head coach Monte Gutowski commented that “…it was good to see the summer work paying off”. With a well-deserved week break under their belts, the Coronado football team attended another mini-camp and finally started official practice on Monday, 8/14 alongside the other fall sports. The top returners, all of which happening to be seniors, for the 2017 season are quarterback Toby Smith, Justin Dwinell as receiver, tight end Brock Stinson, Shaun Tilley on the line, and Tyler Clark as tailback and defensive back.

Come out and support your Coronado football team at their first home game of the season on 9/15 at 7 P.M. against Sand Creek High School, and you’re sure to see the many hours of hard work they put in over the summer.