Wilfredo Alicea Jr.
Journal Entries
September 11, 2013
My capstone is going to be a football camp that is for the middle school children at sports and medical science academy. I was born into a football family I’ve been playing football sense seven years old and till this day I love the game I think the game help raise a man because it shows team work and hard work pays off. Football is a game of intelligence and collisions so when you have to run and do all those pushups then you go out and win a game. I would be teaching them the fundamentals of football. I thought that it would be a good idea because a lot of athletes that come out for high school football they really don’t know that fundamentals of the sport which makes them more prone to injuries.
September 12, 2013
So today I met with the leader of the Mrs.B. and we talked about how she thinks my idea is very good. She really wants me to start setting up meetings with the middle school principle so I can fully get the okay by here so I can set up everything up and get this ball on the roll.
September 13, 2013
So today I went to the middle school principle Mrs.B and I asked if I can set up a meeting with her so I can tell her. She told me that I should come back second block 9-20-13 at 9:12.
September 20, 2013
Well today is the day I went to go and see the middle school teachers and principle today during my capstone block. She thought is would be a very good idea and that the only thing she wants to do is get a final date and time .She also said that is was important because her son plays football and the fundamentals in younger children aren’t as clean and known as they should. And as much talent as younger children have they aren’t able to show case there skills because they aren’t thought the fundamentals. So a lot of the younger children playing football are raw talent because they really don’t understand football.
September 23, 2013
So today I went to ask my high school head coach Mr. Martin to see if he wanted to be my mentor through the whole process because he has been around the game for 42 years so there is nothing better than wisdom helping out the youth. He said he would be my mentor so I was really happy he said that. I was really worried that he was going to say no due to the fact that he is a busy man. I was happy he said yes because he is a really organized man and he is always on time so he will help me organize the camp and also run the camp. He also helps out with the organized the Eric Mangine camp that is help for every football player in CT .So he has the experience that I would like to learn from him.
September 26, 2013
Today I met with my mentor and told him how the meeting went with Mrs.B. He also was explain to me that I should also be a like a mentor to these younger kids in our school. So I came home today and really though hard about it and figured out that after my camp I’m still going to talk to the kids and try to help them with their school work .So I constructed my child parent letter so tomorrow I would go and hand it in to Mrs. for corrections.
September 29, 2013
I really was thinking where I should hold this one day camp. I was thinking that where else better then at the practice field we practice at and so I asked our athletic director how do I go along with renting out the field. I also asked her if we can use the school footballs an cones and she okayed me.
October 2013
I have still been resubmitting my proposals .She told me that I am on the ball and she was really happy that I got it in. But she also suggested that I could go to the pto meeting to tell the parents what I am trying to do and any more information that would help me set up this whole clinic and I thought the mentor process it would be a lot harder than o thought because I would have to get a group of kids and get to know every single one of them on a one on one level and I would have to ask my block four teacher permission to see if I can leave class. I also don’t really have a good grade in that class so I think I want to bring the grade up first so she can see that I am trying to do good so she could let me . Also have to do it in that time because tiger time is the one block that our middle school teachers would allow them to leave class. So tomorrow is a start to a long weekend so this weekend I am hoping that I can go and get my park permit so I can run my camp so I would have to go to the city of Hartford and get it but I would have to pay 40 dollars . I went to the city this weekend and got my park permit it was pretty hard because I had to run back home because I forgot my id. But I ended up getting it done.
October 2013
I am really excited to run this because I had to try and get in touch with this lady at the head parks and recs and she is so hard to get a hold of. But after about calling her 15 times I went to my athletic director and called her from my phone and she sent me the form I had to fill out for her and she said that its okay so I finally got a final date so my date is march 29. I went to my mentor and told him. He said he was free and that he was really happy with me because I have been doing it all by myself. He said that it would be really good idea to mentor. He also was telling me In Connecticut the only thing referees are authorized to do is ask the coach if the athletes are fully equipped with the necessary gear. Another piece of equipment that a lot of football players don’t wear is jockstraps. In any contact sports for high school many students believe that they are all-stars and don’t need one. I was really happy I go to the school and he was my couch because he make sure not matter who you are how important you al are kept equal.
November 2013
I have decided that I’m going to have one of my fellow football players come and explain how to put on the head to toe equipment. I am also trying to get a football player from a higher collegiate level to come and speak to the campers about how important the fundamentals of football are, even if you are at high school, college, or pro.
November 2013
Football season is over. We did well. I had a lot of fun. A lot of the middle scholars came out to see me play this year. So I approached my teammate if they would like to come volunteer and help me out with the referring and the coaching because at the camp I want to put together about five to twelve plays so they know how to run a nice clean play . Also a lot of players don’t think or know how to direct a play. I also want to teach them the x’s and o’s.December/2013I am excited about getting this clinic started. But I still have some more things to do. I have to get into the middle school classes to let the players know about what I am trying to do for them. I need to get into conversation with Ms. Bertero the middle school principal. She told me the first time I had met with her that I could come in during tiger time. First I have to get my flyers and/or permission slips together to hand out to them. Then I have to get any volunteers from my senior class to come volunteer.
December 2013
Over the winter vacation I have put in a lot of effort on coming out with a schedule to see what I am going to do with the kids when they’re at my camp. In all the camps I have gone through in the past 11 years, a lot of them have competitions at the end to see which athlete or team is more skilled. They get rewards at the end. They also provide lunch for campers. So I asked my mentor if it was a good idea to provide my campers with lunch and kind of lunch I should provide them with. His answer was a hot dog with a fruit cup and a bottle of water. He also said it would be a really good idea if I buy seven small trophies or rewards to give to the team that wins it all. I also asked my mentor if I should use middle school or high school sized footballs. His answer was to use middle school sized footballs because a lot of middle scholars grow over the summer and the high school sized would be too big. So I want the most confer the campers could ever have at a camp. I want them to say willies football camp was the best camp they have ever went to. Also as a football player I find football camps like this is where you get the most knowledge from .
January 2014
So I went to Mrs.B the middle school principle and asked her if she can form a list of names. On that list will be the names if children that she think I could help in the class room and outside the class room. She told me I should actually go down to the inside suspension room and go talk to one of the students that was in there because he was on the middle school basketball team but could not stay on it due to the behavior in class and the grades he is producing out if the class. So I walked down there and went to our librarian Mr. Boutler and asked if I can use the room in the back so I pull this kid out and talk to him. So he Okayed me. So I walked down to the room grabbed the kid and he was first really shy and didn’t want to talk to me but I told him my name who I was and how I could help him. So he was telling me he has a bad grade in the math class because he thinks the teacher is going way to fast. So he wants me to go with him to his teacher and see if he can help, ask up some work and if he can talking to her about slowing down the class for him . So I will be helping him
January 2014
At this point in the project I got my research paper back. She said it was very good and I should just fix the minor adjustments. I also decided to order t-shirts for the campers when they come to my camp so they would have a souvenir when they go back home. I also decided I wanted to have a meeting with the parents and my mentor so we can all be on the same page. I also am planning on holding my next mentor meeting in the next couple of days.
January 2014
Today I went to go seen Mrs.B after a long time .She told me that she was happy that I got my stuff together and she told me about this one little middle school kid that she wants me to go see and talk to him because he really likes football and just is scared to talk to me so I’m going to get the papers and walk up to him and talk to him. Also after missing a couple of days at schoool my mentor child had gotten into a little bit of trouble and he had came looking for me and i wasnt there so he was really upset. I would have never though after a few meating that he would be so conected to me so I i relized that if i had made a comentment to this young man im going to fufill it and not slack off a bit whenever he needs me, i would be there .
February 2014
Well this mouth has been a month where I have learned a lot. So I emailed Brenda to make sure that I had the field and that she got my application to hold the field and then she said I have it but I have to fax it to her but I really never knew how to use a fax machine . So I went to Mrs.B and she helped me and tough me how to send one. So I met with my middle school student that I am mentoring two times earlier in the month then I was busy trying to get the college process finish all my applications sent and since I thought that I only met with the kid one time that I could meet with him later on in the month. Then I got an email by his teacher and the middle school principle telling me that he has been asking and looking for me. So I made a schedule with him that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will meet with him at 12:06 and talk to him. Also he was telling me that he really enjoys meeting with me and that he likes talking to me. So I thought to myself that my goal in life is to help people. When I was younger I never really lived in a awesome place but I remember this like it was yesterday, there was this cop that came by every Friday. He would through the football with all the kids at live around me and he would tell us how important school is and that if we wanted to become something we would have to stay focused on the goal we set in life. So senses he helped me and gave me advice even though I was young he was a huge impact in my life and I always wanted to be an impact in someone else life like he was in mine. So I found that opportunity in mentoring this middle school child because he looks up to me so I want to help guide him in the right direction. I can relate to him a lot to so that also makes this process a little easier because when he talks to me I know what he is going through I know how he feels so I can give him good advice and steer him on the right path. I always s told myself that whoever I can help in my life time I am trying to help as much as I can and I would never give up. Also this month my capstone teacher Mraz is helping us with preparing us for the presentation part of this project. So he has assigned me a day that I will be taking my capstone class to the gym and be running a little minicamp to show them some of the drills and the fundamentals I will be teaching the middle school students on March twenty ninth. So I’m glad he’s doing this because I would be getting peer feedback on how I should improve and also what shouldn’t . The only thing I have to do is shorten all the time I have because I football camp is going to an hour and a half but I’m only going to have forty minutes on Wednesday February twenty sixth and I’m going to have to switch the size balls because I will be using middle school size football but Wednesday I would have to be using highschool size footballs because it wouldn’t be fair if I allow the practice presentation to be a little easier because the smellier ball .
March 2014
Well this month is the month that I have to run my football camp. But I made a behavior chart for the middle school child that I’m mentoring. He has been behaving lately but I think that the only think I really have to get through him is to make his confidents level. When he looks a people he’s a small guy so he likes to look around and not look the person in the eye so I think I want to express how important it is when you are talking to a person you look them in the eye . What I really want to do to help him is go to the middle school English teacher Mrs.Rynn and express how if she would write the work written down on a list telling him what’s due or how to do it . Then I missed school Monday because I had to get the t-shirts and the cones for my football camp. I think that I’m going to have to pass out the paper all at the same times and the for twenty kids to get the blue and white paper but I thinking that some of the kids aren’t going to have the physicals in so I’m going to tell them to make sure that they ask there parents if they have gotten one in the last 12 mouth .I’m going to talk to coach about the times and everything and if I should bring water or Gatorade .Also I want to see if it should two hand touch or should I bring the flags out so none of the kids would get hurt . AI also have a couple of my football team coming out with the equipment to show them how to put it on and what is protected by what . I think that its important because there are a lot of player out there that done even know why they are putting some of the equipment on so I think that would be a smart think to do. I also want to email Mrs. nephew to see if he wants to come down and talk to the kids to show them how important the weight room is and how if you really put your all in the sport of football that it will talk you along want down a successful path in life. So this mouth I have a lot of things to do so I’m hoping to get into all the tiger time classes to day to get all the paper work out because if the paper goes out then it would come I faster and I can get those really important things out of the way. I also want to tell them how important it is to keep your grades up and stay on the football team and not let your team down because if your grades aren’t right then you can show case your talent on the football field or any sport you want to play . So I’m really exited for this month because I get to hold the camp but I’m actually kind of nervous to see how everything is going to go down .But I think if I utilize all my resources with coach the athletic trainer and my ability to get along with the middle scholars and talk to them on a level that they would understand that this should be a vary successful mini football camp I am going to run for my capstone project.