When the first high school football practice of the season got into swing full Tuesday at Oconto Falls, the normal sounds couldn’t be heard; no popping of pads or helmets colliding.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control passed a measure in late June to limit player-on-player contact starting this season. The rule allows players to act as though they are going to tackle another player and go into a wrap position, but there is no hitting the first week of practice. In the second week, just 75 minutes of live, full-contact action is allowed, excluding scrimmages, and 60 minutes per week the rest of the season.
Concussions and other collision-related injuries prompted WIAA officials to find measures to help prevent players from getting seriously hurt, especially in practice.
“We’ve got a governing board in the state of Wisconsin that’s trying to protect the sport, and you’ve got to give them credit for trying to take action,” said Jeff Trochil, who enters his second season at Oconto Falls and 13th year overall as a head coach. “As a coach you’ve just got to go with the guidelines. They’re obviously very hands-on and proactive with it. They’re just trying to protect kids and protect the sport, I think, and you can’t argue with that.”
The new guidelines are a major change for coaches and players throughout the state. Trochil will have to adjust how he teaches his athletes certain aspects of the game, something he hasn’t done in a number of years.
“It’s going to change things,” Trochil said. “Without using full speed, you’re going to have to back it down and use a little more technique training. … It will be slight adjustments. I don’t think it will be a night and day change.”
The Oconto Falls players picked out their gear on Monday and got to work for opening practice Tuesday. Trochil planned on going through basic drills the first two days of practice before progressing to strapping on helmets and shoulder pads Thursday.
“You can kind of get into 11-on-11 type drills, you’ve just got to be really quick on the whistle and make sure nobody’s taking anyone to the ground,” Trochil said.
Trochil is running morning practices the first week starting at 7:30 a.m. The 2 1/2-hour practices will include a WIAA-mandated hydration break and a 30-minute recovery period.
“We are going to be doing some individual practices and kind of break them up by position and then bring them together as a team,” Trochil said. “We’re trying to maximize those minutes of teaching.”
The new player-on-player contact rules are going to make it tougher for athletes to prepare for their preseason scrimmage and the first regular-season game, which is just 2 1/2 weeks after the start of practice.
Trochil said the new rules create an even playing field for every football program in the state.
“I’m not really worried about it,” Trochil said. “It’s a challenge from the way I was taught and we’ve taught in the past. But this is the way the sport is going, so you just work within those boundaries and you build your plan around that.”
Oconto Falls will play in a scrimmage at 10 a.m. Aug. 15 at Green Bay East High School with the hosts and Southern Door. The Panthers will be able to squeeze in eight or nine practices before the scrimmage.
Trochil will use the scrimmage as a major tool to evaluate his talent.
“Hopefully we can get our offense and defense completely installed and get the kids confident and having success offensively and defensively,” Trochil said. “We’d like to get a number of kids to step up and show that they’re ready to be starters at the varsity level.”
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