CHS FOOTBALL ENLISTS FEROCIOUS TIGER MOMS

Cape Girardeau Central High's football program is having a pre-season session Saturday that Lawrence Brookins says will surely bring a smile to the mothers of all the Tigers.

Brookins, in his second season as a Cape Central assistant coach, has been the driving force behind the Mom's Football Clinic that will take place at 9 a.m. on the Tigers' practice field at the high school.

According to Brookins, the mothers of Central's players (grades 9 through 12) will get together with Central head coach Jerry Dement and his staff for an informative session that will touch on just about everything related to their sons and the Tigers' football program.

"We're going to put them (the mothers) through an informative clinic that basically is going to let them know what we're doing with their boys every day," said Brookins. "It's also going to help reassure them that what we're doing with their boys is safe.

"We're going to have our trainer (Tom Weber of HealthSouth) on hand who is going to explain some things about injury prevention and rehabilitation and he's also on hand for every one of our practices."

Continued Brookins with a laugh, "I have three kids of my own and I know that most kids don't tell their parents what's going on. They'll just bring home a form, say sign this, and you never hear about what's going on at practice or anything. This is going to let the mothers know exactly what is going on and what their kids are doing."

Brookins said there will be two sessions of the clinic, the first featuring discussions, led by the coaching staff, pertaining to safety, injury prevention/rehab and basic football philosophy. There will also be a tour of the Central weight room and an overview of the strength training program.

The second session will consist of the staff leading the mothers through a light instructional period and workout with their son's position coach.

Brookins said he instituted the same program for moms when he was an assistant coach in Columbia before moving to Cape Girardeau.

"In Columbia, those women loved it," he said. "Once all the talking was done, we got them out on the field and actually put them through some drills that their sons do in practice. We broke it down by position and had the offensive line moms doing offensive line drills, the wide receiver moms doing wide receiver drills, etc. Everybody had a great time."

According to Brookins, Dement was a bit leery of the idea when Brookins brought it up during his first season with Central's program last year. But he said now Dement seems almost as excited as he is and Central hopes to make the Mom's Football Clinic an annual event.

"The more and more I worked on coach Dement, he seemed to think it was a pretty good idea and good public relations for our program," said Brookins with a chuckle. "We hope to do this every year."