It is the end of the football season for 2015 with a 3-6 record for Varsity. There were a few new faces to the varsity team, such as sophomores Ian Casey, Juan Simmons, and Josh Brody, while the whole team gains a new head coach, Coach “Sklad” Skladnowski. Adjusting to changes is always difficult especially for a team who have known each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Anytime you have change it’s tough for players to deal with, and these young men were exceptional…they did a wonderful job,” stated Coach Sklad about his first season as the new coach.

Change is most definitely not easy especially when it was already the start of football training over the summer.

For next season, Coach explained, “I look forward to being able to start from the beginning, not jumping into it. When I got the job I think, June 25th and usually football teams are already pretty much rolling by then. I mean you start in November to get ready the following year.”

It is hard for a new coach to come in after a season like last year when Fraser made it to the first round of the playoffs.

Varsity football team captain, Luke Warchol says, “This season was a lot tougher…This year was a big change; we didn’t really have a lot of time to work on our offense or defense, so I would say we didn’t do as well as last year, but change was the main reason why it wasn’t so well.”

Hopefully, the football teams will already be used to Sklad’s style of coaching and have enough time to adjust to it by next year. It can be very overwhelming and difficult for players who have known each other for several years to have a new leader of the pack.

Senior Left Guard, Andrew Reske proclaims, “[Sklad] runs some different things, and he’s a lot more uptight than Coach Threet was, but he wants us to work just as hard.”

Of course, not every team is perfect. There will always be the wins, but what shapes a good team is how they handle their losses. With varsity’s record of 3-6 this season, it makes the fans curious about how they keep coming back with their heads up each game. Losing is never easy for any team or individual, but it is a part of sportsmanship in any aspect of life from sports to even academics.

“You know we try and keep our heads up; tell ‘em we still have a chance next game and just keep everyone positive and keep working for the next [game].” Reske replied.

“The biggest thing that [the players] have learned from July till now is competing. They competed a lot better as we moved on through. They always gave the heart, but when we talk about competing; mentally competing they got a lot better as the rest of the season went on,” Sklad explained in what the players have improved on.
Now that the season is done, the players plan to focus on school, stay in shape for next season while still spreading their Fraser pride around. They are very proud to play for Fraser High School and have overcome new changes together as a team. With Sklad as a new coach for the 2015 season, this was just the adjustment period for both players and coaches alike and really look forward for a big year next year. Go Fraser!