By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
High school football players who come off the field have traditionally made a trip to the water cooler, congregated near the coaches to watch the action on the field, or perhaps snuck a peak at their friends and family in the stands.
But increasingly, local players are gathering around large screen televisions on the sidelines or peering at hand-held devices on the bench.
The high school game is becoming more high-tech by the season. It’s not uncommon to see a drone buzzing just outside the field of play, filming the action and relaying those images to coaches as the game is going on.
For an old school football fan familiar with Vince Lombardi’s diagrams on a chalk board, it can all seem mind boggling. But to teenagers immersed in a high-tech world, it’s the best way to learn the game.
Highland Park football coach Jermaine Monroe said that ever-changing technology can provide big advantages for high school teams. [File photo/TSN]
“This is the way to communicate to students today,” said Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe. “I think to be able to connect to students in the classroom and on the field, we need to stay up with the times. We have to be able to change and adapt. Technology in the game is not going anywhere, and it’s only going to get better and better.”
Monroe is one of several veteran coaches in the area who are working hard to adapt to the new technology. He said he no longer prints playbooks for his players to study. It’s all done on video.
“I’m 100% enjoying it,” Monroe said. “I was kind of stuck in the old school way of doing things, but when I learned how user-friendly these things are, it’s making things easier and I’m getting information to the boys faster, which is the most important thing.”
Shawnee Heights football coach Jason Swift said that the T-Bird coaching staff uses technology in a variety of ways to communicate with Heights' players. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift said the T-Birds typically use a camera in or on top of the press box to send video instantly to a TV on the sideline.
“That enables us to, in between series, have a unit look at the video on the monitor which allows the coaches to teach what’s going on based on the past series,” Swift said. “It’s instant feedback.
“A lot of our kids play both ways and don’t come off the field long enough to look at film. But seven or eight might.”
Like many teams, Shawnee Heights uses a drone and mounts a camera on a tripod in one end zone to provide different angles of the action. While the T-Birds utilize footage strictly from the press box during the game, Swift said the other video footage is invaluable for teaching in practice.
“I love it,” Swift said. “It’s more time management on downloading film and getting it ready to show to kids. If you’re looking at a sideline view of a play and an end zone view of the play, you have to cut it up so that they match. It’s a little bit more time consuming, but the benefit of using it as a teaching tool outweighs the time.”
Monroe praised the capabilities of touchscreen technology on smart TVs, which he said are as effective on the football field as they are in the classroom.
“While we’re watching film, I can draw on the screen as we’re watching a play,” Monroe said. “I have the ability to move the X’s and O’s as I’m talking. I can have pre-drawn screens so I don’t have to draw the plays over and over. So I’m flying through those meetings quick.”
Monroe said this season Highland Park will utilize a drone that was donated to the program, which will provide video to watch in practice. He noted that the team does not at present use a big screen on the sideline, which he said would be helpful in games.
“There are a lot of things that I show the kids on Saturday morning or Monday after school that I could show them on the sideline in the heat of the game and make those adjustments right then,” Monroe said.
In keeping with national regulations, KSHSAA provides some oversight on the use of technology in football games. But Mark Lentz, assistant executive director of KSHSAA, said the governing body is enthusiastic about how schools are incorporating cutting-edge tools.
“We’re in the education business, so anything that can help kids educationally, by all means we’re going to be in favor of it,” Lentz said.
Some of the regulations of the use of technology include:
• No information can be communicated electronically to players on the field.
• All coaches must be in the designated coaches box or in the press box during the game.
• There is currently no limit to the number of cameras a team may use.
• Drones cannot be flown over the field of play.
• Whether or not drones are allowed is determined by the host school. Drones are not permitted in playoff games.
Lentz noted that Kansas schools are utilizing technology in varying degrees.
“The ones who are using it the most are probably your bigger schools because they have the kids on the sidelines between series,” Lentz said. “The smaller schools, most of those kids are playing both ways. So, they may be only seeing (video) at halftime.”
Monroe pointed to one change he would like to see in the high school game.
“I’m hoping that Kansas will allow teams to use (technology for) on-field interaction with the players. The quarterback can have a digital watch that coaches can send him plays. Think about how quick I could call plays and send him notes on the field.
“We have signals to communicate from the sideline, but I’m still sometimes running in players with the play or I’m yelling. If I had the (live-technology connection with the quarterback) I could press a button, and it would go right to him. That would be a game changer.”
Lentz recognizes that not all schools have the same budgets or access to the tools that can give one team an edge. He said KSHSAA is keeping a close eye on the use of technology to make sure it never becomes inequitable or gets out of control.
“Those conversations will continue, but right now the (KSHSAA board of directors) feels that anything that helps students learn, that’s what we’re for,” Lentz said.
