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Malden 'focusing on Malden' at annual Gatorade game
The Malden football team showed off the work they've put in this summer on Saturday. There wasn't a grand fanfare, and instead of filling bleachers, Green Wave fans lined up lawn chairs along the practice field to see the players face off in team competitions and position drills.
“We're just taking a different approach,” Malden head coach Jeff Bullock said. “As much as we're cool with people coming out to watch us, we're trying to focus on us, and in the end give them something they want to watch. We're building back to get to that point.”
The Green Wave Gatorade game mirrored the same approach that Bullock has undertaken all summer. The team hasn't scrimmaged against another local team once this off season; instead, they've been working on themselves right at home.
Bullock said that his goal for the team to achieve before their first game can be summed up in one word: aggressiveness. The Gatorade game was the team's first practice in full pads, and they definitely got aggressive.
The players broke up into their positions to run drills including passing drills, catching and simulated 10-yard runs. The physicality that they've been working on showed.
“Our focus this summer has been on Malden getting better rather than going off and doing something else,” Bullock explained. “Hopefully this will reinforce all the work we've put in and show that we're in a spot we want to be in and prepare us for the next weekend.”
Bullock said he's happy with the progress his team has made over the summer, and in their first week of practice. He's hoping to carry on that momentum into this Friday, when the Green Wave will host a jamboree night against Chaffee, Charleston and Doniphan.
The team is undeniably in a better position than they were last season. Malden hasn't had the numbers to play a junior varsity team in three years, according to Bullock. This year he has 32 players on the roster and will comfortably have the guys they need to run a varsity and junior varsity team, which has been a major goal of the coach.
Still, though, Bullock said he is 'optimistically cautious.'
Despite his hesitation, things are looking up in Malden. The district is investing $1.2 million to renovate the football stadium over the next two seasons. The renovations will bring the Green Wave a new track, new fencing, a digital scoreboard and after the season they will be installing new bleachers and a press box.
“As the superintendent, you want to be able to attract good people here,” Bullock said. “This is something people drive by and see every day. We're trying to bring it up to the same standard as everything else. Hopefully it's something our community can be proud of – our community deserves first class.”