Warriors Tackle Nariticong for Season's First Practice (25 Photos)

About an hour before the Hopatcong Warriors' first official football practice of the 2010 season, there were already a few dedicated young men on the field.  

Two of them were leisurely throwing a football back and forth, but they seemed mostly focused on their discussion of who their teammates would be during the upcoming season.  Another was dead-set on punting a football over a fence from a certain spot on the field.  Two others were stating their own case as to whose cleats were better.

Youth football is definitely back in Hopatcong.

The Hopatcong Warriors held their first practice of 2010 on Monday evening at Nariticong Field. Varsity head coach Butch Bunnicant was ready to go.

"I can't wait to get started," Bunnicant said before practice.  Bunnicant, a Hopatcong resident, is in his 28th year with the Warriors.  When asked what he was looking forward to the most in this first practice, Bunnicant said, "To see what type of talent we have this year."

The practice began at 6 p.m. with a team sit-down on the field, where the coaches introduced themselves, along with the plans for the season, to the kids for about 20 minutes.  Warriors General Manager John Young, about to enter his 33rd season, made no bones about why the kids were there.

"We're here to have fun," Young told them.  "We're going to work hard, and we're going to play hard.  But we're here to have fun."

After that, they were off and running—quite literally.  There were lots of running drills for the kids in their first practice, aimed at getting them into football shape.  The first hour or so consisted of jumping jacks, stretching, running laps and hitting pads.  

The kids often tried motivating each other. Whenever any of the kids would finish one of the conditioning drills, they would continuously clap and cheer on their teammates until every last one finished.  At the end of one of the running drills, the team clapped, surrounded junior varsity assistant coach Dave Barella, and yelled a "1-2-3 Warriors!" chant.

While the kids were working their butts off, the parents enjoyed reuniting for another season of cheering their kids on.

"It's like 'Whoville' during Christmas," April Giordano said.  "The whole town comes out to see [the practice]."
She was right.  The sideline was filled with people once the practice began, and didn't thin out in the least until the practice was over.

After the practice, April's son, Andrew Giordano, a sixth-grade pee-wee linebacker, was happy with how the practice went.  "My favorite part was learning the plays," Andrew said.  When Andrew isn't on the football field, you can find him playing baseball or even basketball, which is his favorite sport.  

Andrew's teammate, Patrick Aufiero, had a different favorite part of the first practice.  "[My favorite] was practicing throwing," Patrick said.  Patrick, also a sixth-grader, splits time between half-back and quarterback.  When he's not giving his all for the Hopatcong Warriors, he's busy with baseball, basketball, or track.  When he's not playing sports, his favorite activities include hanging out with his friends and riding his bike.  

The Warriors first game is at home against Hanover on Sept. 11.