UW-Whitewater Football Training Camp is underway

(In the adjacent photo – UWW head coach Lance Leipold holds the 1st team meeting of the preseason – photo courtesy of Warhawk athletics)

It has been a busy first day of training camp for the 2013 UW-Whitewater football team.  Check-in and moving players into dorms took place first as players arrived on campus.

The highlight of day-one was the first team meeting of the preseason. Head coach Lance Leipold explained the policies and procedures of UW-Whitewater football.  Leipold, who enters his seventh season with an NCAA best winning percentage of .929 and 79-6 career record, explained to his team how he wants his team to approach practice.

Senior wide receiver Tyler Huber is back after suffering a season-ending foot injury in UWW’s game two, 7-6 loss to Buffalo State last year.

According to Huber, one of the Hawks’ three captains this season, “I look forward to showing these younger guys ‘the ropes’ and the necessary work ethic we must have in practice every day.  It will be important for us to be high tempo in practice and that is something that we must have.”
Whitewater along with most Division III schools hold a two-week training camp as dictated by NCAA rules.

According to the NCAA Division III Manual, the first official preseason practice may not take place before the date that would allow the maximum of 25 practices before the school's first scheduled intercollegiate game. Colleges calculate the date by counting backwards from the first scheduled game, with each day representing one or two practices as outlined in the NCAA manual. Division III follows the same rules as Divisions I and II regarding a five-day acclimatization period. The NCAA dictates the same regulations for multiple-session practices for Division III as for Division I.

All schools must respect a five-day acclimatization period at the start of the preseason. During this time, athletes may engage in no more than one conditioning, speed, strength or agility test or one on-field practice per day of no more than three hours and one walk-through without gear. There must be a three hour recovery period between practice and a walk-through. During the first two days, only helmets may be worn. On days three and four, helmets and shoulder pads are allowed. From day five onward, full pads are allowed. Multiple practice sessions per day may not occur on consecutive days, and student-athletes must be allowed at least three hours of recovery between sessions. On single-session days, no more than three hours-on field is allowed, and on multiple-session days, no more than five hours on-field is allowed.

The Warhawks will open the season on Saturday, Sept. 7 in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Perkins Stadium.