Football: A new strategy for dealing with private coaches

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With football players turning to private coaches in an attempt to keep busy during the off season, Westlake Village Westlake Coach Jim Benkert has decided to offer an alternative. On Saturday, he held the first of what will be weekly voluntary workouts for players at his school.

“Every team sport is run by clubs and gurus,” Benkert said. “The only sport holding on is football.”

Benkert said he has a player who spent more than $3,000 for 10 weeks of receiver lessons last year, so he decided to provide an opportunity for parents to have their kids get extra football training for minimal cost.

“It’s our kids, on our field with our coaches,” he said of the Saturday gathering. “It’s not mandatory.”

Benkert plans to start holding seven-on-seven passing competitions two months earlier than he has ever done, offering to play other schools beginning March 12 at Westlake. That’s probably too early for some schools where athletes are involved in multiple sports, but it could be the start of a trend. It will be interesting to see how many other schools want to participate.

Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said he wants to start playing passing competitions the first Saturday in March at his school and is interested in attracting other schools.

It’s another sign that football practice will be starting earlier than ever.

-- Eric Sondheimer