Weiser football team attends camp in Twin Falls

Weiser High School football players and coaches departed Monday, June 6 for the annual Southern Idaho Football Camp held last week on the College of Southern Idaho campus in Twin Falls.

 The defending Idaho 3A State Champions participated in the camp alongside 14 other schools, including conference rival Payette High School, in preparation for the 2022 season. 

 The camp is an opportunity for players to fine-tune their skills after about six months of football dormancy and potentially familiarize themselves with new strategies and techniques.

 During the week of May 31, Weiser coaching staff led a team camp at WHS to help players mentally and physically prepare for the camp at CSI.

 In a post-camp talk on Friday, June 3, Assistant Coach Jayson Bruce stressed that attitude and mental fortitude are key in overcoming the challenges that lay before his players after months of inactivity.

 What he had to say, consequently, applies to life, as well.

 “We have to pull through feelings of, ‘I’m hurt, I’m tired, and I want to lay down and quit’ because we all have those feelings, whether you want to admit it or not,” he said, addressing his players. “It crosses all of our minds. The guys who separate themselves are the ones that are able to talk themselves out of it. 

 “I promise you, the best have felt the same feeling; it’s just that they are really good at mentally talking themselves through it. And we have to help fight for other people. You can look at some dude’s face and say, ‘He is struggling right now; my teammate is struggling. I’ve got to find a way to help him, I’ve got to help get him going because we need everybody.’”

 The Wolverines have lost a host of key players from the 2021 season and although it is too early to make any remarks of true substance, Head Coach Tom Harrison said last week’s brief glimpse at his 2022 squad did not disappoint.

 “We’ve got a great batch of kids; they are good kids and they work hard,” he said. “We’ve also got some good leaders, so I like what I see, and it helps that we are the defending state champions. Right now, of course, they feel really good; they are champions, so they’ve got a little swagger going on right now, which is good. I like swagger and the coaches have a little bit too.”

 Harrison was quick to extend credit to the Weiser community for his team’s successes.

 “Our community is excited about them, and they represent us in the best possible way,” he said. “You know, the community is a big part of our team, so any positive feedback from the community that they can give our kids and make them feel good about what it is that they are doing and their efforts, that’s their part of helping our team because it takes a village and we’ve got a good village. It takes a lot of people.”

 Junior receiver/running back Brock Spencer said he is excited for the upcoming season.

 “I think so far, our team is looking really good,” he said. “We have a lot of new guys that are coming in and filling spots pretty good and that gives me a lot of hope for next year.”