Hello Grant Football Families,
There will be no practice this week for all sports.
Student-Athletes signing day for Colleges is also this Wednesday. Congrats to our Grant Athletes that have turned hard work in the classroom and on the field into a college dream!
Friends of Grant Football
Sorry for the last-minute invite on this. We just heard that this was going to happen for sure and would like as many players, parents, and coaches to attend. Please wear Grant Gear to rep our school. There will be multiple news crews to help promote the cause. With 3 large fields at the park, Social Distancing will be easy to accomplish and Masks are required.
Also, we have a tentative schedule ready to go when we get the go ahead from the state and District office. The Central Game will hopefully continue to be scheduled in the bowl on a Sat afternoon.
****We will be starting our Snapfundraiser that we have been working on through Friends of Grant Football soon. This will be run through our nonprofit so all profits will go towards Grant Players. If you would like your player to opt-out, please contact us to remove him. If we do not hear from you, we will assume player’s accounts are ready to go and have full parent support. Again this is a parent/booster supported fundraiser.
Hope you can make it to the rally!
Friends of Grant Football
Grant Football Families,
***No Practice on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day
We are asking for your help in securing sports for our kids this year. Coaches from all of the west coast states are in alliance in helping to make this happen. Please see the info below and consider adding your name to the letter, if it’s in the best interest of your family.
Thanks,
Friends of Grant Football Board
Return to Play Campaign:
Below is a letter addressed to Governor Brown that emphasizes the importance of providing co-curricular opportunities for Oregon High School student-athletes this school year. The letter contains information, data, and research showing how high school athletics can be done in a safe and productive manner. We need you to gather as many signatures in support of the letter as possible. Please forward this email to your athletes, parents, staff, and community members as it contains the letter itself and instructions on how to provide an electronic signature. To make the letter-writing campaign a success we will need a unified effort from our schools, coaches, athletes, parents, and community members.
To provide an electronic signature to endorse the “Return to Play” campaign letter, complete the form at the following link:
https://sites.google.com/lakeview.k12.or.us/return-to-play-electronic-sign/home.
Please note, that after submitting the form, you may see a white blank page. That is normal and you should assume your response has been recorded.
In completing the form, we also ask that you list your local state representative and senator. To find your local representatives, you can type your address at the following link and it will provide you with your local representatives: www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html
We believe one letter with a large number of supporters, will have a greater impact. With the proposed February 8th start date for football practice, we would like to have signatures collected no later than Jan 26th. On January 27th we will be sending the letter and collected signatures to the following state decision-makers including your local state representatives and senators.
Governor Brown
Patrick Allen – OHA Director
COVID-19 Reopening Team
Oregon State Senators & House of Representatives from your local area
RTP Campaign Letter:
To: Honorable Governor Kate Brown
cc: ((Select Oregon House of Representatives & State Senators))
From: Oregon “Return to Play” Campaign
Re: Request for Return to Co-Curricular Activities for High School Students by February 8
Date: January 12, 2021
Thank you for your leadership and hard work over the past nine months fighting Covid-19. This has been a challenging time, and the efforts of you and your team have slowed the spread of the virus in our state and helped keep Oregonians safe. We are grateful for all the extraordinary efforts made by you, the Oregon Health Authority, and the Oregon Department of Education. The Oregon “Return to Play” Campaign represents Oregon High School Athletic/Activity Coaches and the 120,000 student-athletes they work with daily.
Governor Brown, we share your desire to get students back in classrooms as soon as possible. Beyond the classroom, however, we respectfully request that you consider revising OHA and ODE guidance to allow all high school co-curricular programs to resume by February 8th, so that our student-athletes will have a chance to participate in their most cherished activities this school year. If we miss that date, seasons will be canceled and lost forever, and our student-athletes will not be able to benefit from crucial activities they love and need. These co-curricular activities – whether it is playing football, competing in dance, or singing in the choir – are essential engagements for our young people offering crucial connections to peers, adults, and communities.
Participation in co-curricular activities has been proven to improve social skills in our young people. It correlates to improved academic performance in the classroom. These activities relieve stress, broaden horizons, and improve physical conditioning and overall health. In fact, participation in co-curricular activities is not just beneficial for our students, they often are among the most enjoyable, impactful and educational experiences our students have during their time in high school. These are just facts. Activities matter.
We believe students should be allowed to participate in activities this ’20-21 school year for the following reasons:
· Our students are extremely vulnerable right now! Teen anxiety, depression, and suicide have been amplified by distance learning and the isolation related to COVID-19[1]. The cancellation of activities this school year will only further exacerbate this serious issue among Oregon high school students. Sadly, the leading cause of death in Oregon for those under 24 is suicide. According to the CDC, so far, there have been 163 total deaths from COVID-19 nationwide in school-age children 5-17 years old[2], while there are roughly 3,000 teen suicides annually. Involvement in sports and other activities will help us reduce this awful trend.
· In Oregon, not a single young person aged 0-19 has died from COVID-19.[3] It is known that the virus attacks different age groups differently and COVID-19 simply is not a disease that kills our young people, except in the rarest of circumstances.
· High school sports have not spread COVID-19, according to studies. A University of Wisconsin study[4], for example, researched 207 schools, 30,000 athletes, 16,000 practices and more than 4,000 games. No sports were found to have a higher incidence rate of COVID-19 overall than the 14-17 year olds in their community’s greater population. None of the cases that were found resulted in hospitalization or death. Of the 209 cases that were diagnosed, only one case was attributed to participation in sports.
· States that are allowing their high school students to participate in activities are doing so safely and successfully. Coaches and instructors across the country are diligently following state and local safety guidelines and protocols. Much like in-person schools have been found to be safer for students and teachers than the communities within which they reside[5], the transmission rates among high school athletes in places like Utah are being found to be lower than the general population due to excellent and motivated compliance among all participants.[6]
· 35 states have already played football in 2020.[7] Just because everybody else is doing it does not make it wise, but the fact that 70% of the states have successfully held seasons in one of the activities considered to among the “highest risk” – football – is certainly encouraging. Moreover, we have all of their collective experiences and lessons to learn from as we build a safe plan for our student-athletes to participate in activities in Oregon.
· Oregon’s coaches and adult mentors are ready and eager to safely lead our students who want to play. We want to be part of the solution. Our high school coaches are professional, well-trained, committed servants who want the best for kids and who will ensure safety is a priority. Currently the reality is a chunk of kids are playing outside their shut down school programs, doing so in private and/or for-profit settings with far less adherence to safety measures. These groups will travel to and from Oregon to play games and show wildly different commitment levels to safety. Bringing these activities back into our Oregon schools will ensure far greater oversight and safety measures, and it will be far better for overall community health.
These are obviously complex times involving many tough choices. Among the many things we appreciate about the State of Oregon’s approach is that you have been willing to adapt as we learn more and as time moves forward. We are at a crucial moment for Oregon’s 120,000 athletes involved in co-curricular activities. If we do not allow them to participate in co-curricular activities, literally thousands of positive experiences and inclusive interactions will be lost forever. That would be nothing short of tragic. These kids have suffered and sacrificed immensely for the good of all. We must consider their health and well-being, too. With the benefit of time and the experiences of other states, we now know we can safely conduct high school activities. With the utmost respect, we urge you to work with the OHA to allow our kids to participate in all activities – utilizing proper protocols and safety measures – on or before February 8 so the OSAA can offer a full slate of activities this school year. Their seasons will be truncated at this point, but the joy and benefit this action would bring to our students, families and communities would be immeasurable… and healthy!
Thank you in advance, Governor Brown, for your time and consideration.
[1] COVID-19 Linked to Rising Suicide Rates Among Teens, The Daily Signal, 9/29/20 (https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/09/29/covid-19-linked-to-rising-suicide-rates-among-teens )
[2] CDC COVID Data Tracker, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, 1/7/21 (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics )
[3] Oregon’s COVID-19 Case Rates by Demographic Group, Oregon Health Authority, 1/7/21 (https://public.tableau.com/profile/oregon.health.authority.covid.19#!vizhome/OregonCOVID-19CaseDemographicsandDiseaseSeverityStatewide/DemographicData )
[4] “Study: High School Sports Have Not Spread COVID-19,” Athletic Business, 10/20 (https://www.athleticbusiness.com/athlete-safety/study-high-school-sports-have-not-spread-covid-19.html )
[5] “Schools are not spreading Covid-19. This new data makes the case,” Washington Post, 11/20/20. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/20/covid-19-schools-data-reopening-safety/ )
[6] The statistics behind why ‘we all need to start acting like high school athletes’ in fight against COVID-19, KSL.com, 11/17/20 (https://www.ksl.com/article/50050165/the-statistics-behind-why-we-all-need-to-start-acting-like-high-school-athletes-in-fight-against-covid-19 )
[7] Where the start of high school sports stands in all 50 states amid pandemic, MaxPreps, 10/14/20 (https://www.maxpreps.com/news/quL5GOXkFkyfJ9jwZ8wb-g/where-the-start-of-high-school-sports-stands-in-all-50-states-amid-pandemic.htm )
Happy New Year to our Families and Players. While there is still a lot up on the air with the start times for school and sports, the district has allowed us to add one more day of practice per week. We are grateful that our PIL Athletic directors and Coaches have had success In keeping our athletes safe and continue to advocate for them.
Announcement from Coach Beck:
Un-padded practices will be on M-W-TH's at 3:50 p.m. starting on Monday January 4th.
We need to have consistent attendance since we only have one month and no lights to the official start of our season on February 8th.
Questions or Concerns - please contact Coach Beck
John J. Beck
Grant High School
Head Football Coach
OACA Executive Board
OSAA Executive Board
Cell: 541-414-8803
Dear Parents and Boosters:
I wanted to update you since our OSAA Executive Board came to some resolutions yesterday.
The OSAA voted to have a new 3-sport season Tier in place starting on February 8th for football and February 22nd for the other fall sports. This is obviously a change from the August decision that put football into a season behind the winter sports. This new plan will allow for a 6-week regular season and a one-week culminating bowl game activity.
We are currently in a non-padded and non-contact practice format...that unfortunately for us at Grant HS, allows for about an hour and 15-minute practice because of our facility (lights) issue two times a week. We will stay in this format (Monday's and Wednesday's) for the rest of this week and next. We will then have no practice for the two weeks of Christmas vacation. We will resume non-padded and non-contact practices after the first of the year. There "may" be a chance of adding an additional day to our format before the February official start date.
A question you will probably be asking is..."what if our county metrics (OHA) don't change enough to allow us to resume normal practice procedures"? If that should happen...the OSAA Executive Board will reconvene to put a plan into place. There have been a number of scenarios discussed around this possibility...including moving the season further into winter and spring.
I want to be clear on a couple of items:
1. The OSAA is bound by law to follow the directives by the Governor's office and the OHA.
2. The data and science show some interesting facts that were not what was perceived early on in the pandemic concerning schools and/or competing in HS athletics.
3. 37 States played HS football this year. Alabama just finished 11 state championship games this past weekend for example.
4. Arizona is continuing to play football in a distance learning model.
5. It is up to each family to decide what is the best avenue moving forward for their child. If not playing is what they feel is best - then follow that lead. If having your son play is what you feel is best, then, like me, as a parent of a senior player - to get involved and moving forward there will be some opportunities to voice (in a positive manner).
If you have any specific comments or questions...you can always contact me and we can discuss those.
During this Holiday time, I want to say I sincerely appreciate having the chance to work with our kids...even if it is only two days a week. They are just outstanding young men who I truly care about. If there is ever anything I or the Parent Board can do to help any player or family...please let me know.
Thank you for this time....even if it is not "normal".
Happy Holidays,
John J. Beck
Grant High School
Head Football Coach
OACA Executive Board
OSAA Executive Board
Cell: 541-414-8803
Hi Parents,
-We wanted to remind you that the players should be getting their emails into Snap!Raise by tomorrow. Most of their profiles were filled out after practice, and we have only a few that have the emails in. We wish we didn’t have to do fundraising, but we have many costs to cover. Please help your sons get their emails in soon. If they are feeling overwhelmed or don’t have enough contacts, please let us know and we will do what we can to help get some on their list. We want everyone to feel like they can be a part of this. Info for the links below if needed.
-The Western States Coaching Alliance has put together a campaign to bring attention to the cause of getting sports back into play. Please see the info below on how you and your athlete can participate.
Please have student-athletes start posting their videos to their personal social media accounts. Please remind athletes that this is a campaign void of politics and to keep their message short, positive, and informative. The goal is to create an opportunity for our student-athletes to communicate the importance of sports in their life and to advocate for safety protocols as leaders in their schools and community.
Below you will find a sample video, a sample script, and a list of the hashtags as well as social media accounts who should be tagged in an athlete’s post.
Sample Video:
https://twitter.com/CooperPerez76/status/1330756696482824202
Sample Script (please try to make it personal) Part 1 (Introduction)
1- Name and school
2- Year in school
3- Sports and activities involved in
Part 2 (Information)
1- What your sport or activity means to you
2- What you miss most about not being able to participate
Part 3 (Ready to play our part)
1- I am ready to get back on the field and will play my part and “mask up” so it is “#safe2play.” 2- Anything you want to add but please keep it positive in nature
Please post your videos, starting on December 5th on your personal social media sites
Twitter Instagram Facebook
Please use the hashtags
#maskup
#safe2play #TeamUpToBeatCOVID
Please Tag the following:
Oregon RTP Campaign (Twitter) @OregonRTP
(Instagram) @oregonrtp OACA (Twitter) @ORCoaches
West Coast Coaching Alliance (Twitter) @WCCoachAlliance
Dear Grant Football Parents and Famly,
As our program is going through COVID-19, we are preparing for the season and staying positive that it will happen. We have been struggling to get the funds needed for this year’s program, as businesses are struggling and students will be unable to go door to door to sell the discount cards that we usually sell each year. Cards have been our largest source of income for the team, besides business support. We have decided to join an online fundraiser called Snap Raise for all athletes and families to participate in. This is the only way we will earn enough funds for the season. Snap! Raise has been finding great success from friends and family at this time, as most understand the difficulty sports programs and kids are going through. Because we have a high demographic of underprivileged Athletes, our program has a much higher need than most.
******Please have your Athlete fill out his sign in and fill out the profile before Thursday morning. It will only take a few minutes
Here is that link. Every Athlete in the program is expected to participate. We will help kids find emails that don’t have enough but they must make a profile and sign in to the site by Thursday morning.
http://www.snap-raise.com/join_code/108692760
For the past six years, Snap! Raise has helped more than 35,000 groups in the U.S. raise more than $400M in funding! We are excited to get started and have one very IMPORTANT vital request.
WE ask that you help identify at least 20 people your child will reach out to via Snap! Raise, and gather their email address so your child can preload them onto their profile prior to December 3, The list of 20 people should include many of your child’s biggest fans and needs to be completed in full to ensure our campaign is set up for success. It is our hope and expectation that each group member will have a major impact on our program.
Here are the next steps:
· Help your child select at least 20 potential supporters
· They will need to create their profile, add a photo of themselves (something a grandparent would approval), select prizes and gear, add their 20 emails or more potential supporters, and have 10 cell numbers of their biggest supporters (5 of them can be the same person off their email list)
· Avoid using emails of teachers, peers of your child, or strangers or Coaches
*Important* Your child will receive an invitation from Snap! Raise to sign up for the campaign, there a 4:00 minute video that walks them through the steps and how to enter in the 20+ email addresses prior to November 15th. Please be sure your child completes their profile and adds a photo of themselves. There should be only 1 account per child.
Here are 20 examples of people you should consider adding:
1. Parent(s)/Guardian # 1
2. Parent(s)/Guardian #2
3. Grandma
4. Grandpa
5. Cousin(s)
6. Uncle(s)
7. Aunt(s)
8. Family doctor
9. Orthodontist/dentist
10. Church/Social leader
11. Scout/troop leader
12. Family friend #1
13. Family friend #2
14. Former coach
15. School alumni
16. Local business that knows you
17. Neighbor(s)
18. Parent co-workers(s)
19. Friend of parent
20. Adult sibling(s)
***Your contacts are strictly private and protected, and never sold or shared***
Snap Fact Overview:
1. Safe and Protected - Snap! Raise is the safest online donation campaign available. All data is private and never used for any purpose other than driving direct support for our program. Your student’s information on the Snap page is less detailed than what would be on a typical team website roster.
2. Online Donation Platform - Reach potential donors via email, social media, and text to ask them to support our program and visit the page, where they can seamlessly donate.
3. Email Strategy – One initial email is sent directly from your student’s profile once entered. There are up to three reminder emails sent to potential donors, with an option to unsubscribe. Once a donation is made, the supporter is removed from the follow-up list and sent a thank you email from your student’s profile.
4. Network - Snap’s platform and process is what makes their campaigns so successful. It allows an extensive reach across communities by providing options to connect with multiple donors and their social networks, maximizing our raising efforts.
We are looking forward to this fundraiser helping to cover our cost for gear, fees, scholarships, team meals, cleaning supplies and PPE, equipment, and something special for the seniors. We want to continue to elevate the quality of our program and enrich your student’s experience.
I appreciate your support!
Thank you,
Coach Beck and Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football
Dear Grant Football Parents and Family,
As our program is going through COVID-19, we are preparing for the season and staying positive that it will happen. We have been struggling to get the funds needed for this year’s program, as businesses are struggling and students will be unable to go door to door to sell the discount cards that we usually sell each year. Cards have been one of our largest sources of income for the team, second only to the generous business support. We have decided to join an online fundraiser called Snap! Raise for all athletes and families to participate in. This is the only way we will earn enough funds for the season. Snap! Raise has been finding great success from friends and family at this time, as most understand the difficulty sports programs and kids are going through. Because we have a high demographic of underprivileged Athletes, our program has a much higher need than most.
******Please have your Athlete fill out his sign in and fill out the profile before Thursday morning. It will only take a few minutes
The link to sign up is below. Every Athlete in the program is expected to participate. We will help kids find emails that don’t have enough, but they must sign in to the site and make a profile by Thursday morning.
http://www.snap-raise.com/join_code/108692760
For the past six years, Snap! Raise has helped more than 35,000 groups in the U.S. raise more than $400M in funding! We are excited to get started and have one very IMPORTANT vital request.
We ask that you help identify at least 20 people your child will reach out to via Snap! Raise, and gather their email address so your child can preload them onto their profile prior to December 3, The list of 20 people should include many of your child’s biggest fans and needs to be completed in full to ensure our campaign is set up for success. It is our hope and expectation that each group member will have a major impact on our program.
Here are the next steps:
· Help your child select at least 20 potential supporters
· They will need to create their profile, add a photo of themselves (something a grandparent would approval), select prizes and gear, add their 20 emails or more potential supporters, and have 10 cell numbers of their biggest supporters (5 of them can be the same person off their email list)
· Avoid using emails of teachers, peers of your child, or strangers or Coaches
*Important* Your child will receive an invitation from Snap! Raise to sign up for the campaign, there a 4:00 minute video that walks them through the steps and how to enter in the 20+ email addresses prior to November 15th. Please be sure your child completes their profile and adds a photo of themselves. There should be only 1 account per child.
Here are 20 examples of people you should consider adding:
1. Parent(s)/Guardian # 1
2. Parent(s)/Guardian #2
3. Grandma
4. Grandpa
5. Cousin(s)
6. Uncle(s)
7. Aunt(s)
8. Family doctor
9. Orthodontist/dentist
10. Church/Social leader
11. Scout/troop leader
12. Family friend #1
13. Family friend #2
14. Former coach
15. School alumni
16. Local business that knows you
17. Neighbor(s)
18. Parent co-workers(s)
19. Friend of parent
20. Adult sibling(s)
***Your contacts are strictly private and protected, and never sold or shared***
Snap Fact Overview:
1. Safe and Protected - Snap! Raise is the safest online donation campaign available. All data is private and never used for any purpose other than driving direct support for our program. Your student’s information on the Snap page is less detailed than what would be on a typical team website roster.
2. Online Donation Platform - Reach potential donors via email, social media, and text to ask them to support our program and visit the page, where they can seamlessly donate.
3. Email Strategy – One initial email is sent directly from your student’s profile once entered. There are up to three reminder emails sent to potential donors, with an option to unsubscribe. Once a donation is made, the supporter is removed from the follow-up list and sent a thank you email from your student’s profile.
4. Network - Snap’s platform and the process are what make their campaigns so successful. It allows an extensive reach across communities by providing options to connect with multiple donors and their social networks, maximizing our raising efforts.
We are looking forward to this fundraiser helping to cover our cost for gear, fees, scholarships, team meals, cleaning supplies and PPE, equipment, and something special for the seniors. We want to continue to elevate the quality of our program and enrich your student’s experience.
I appreciate your support!
Thank you,
Coach Beck and Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football
November 2020 Newsletter
Hello Grant Football, Parents, and Guardians!
Our district is allowing us to continue practices. Good news for kids. In the month and a half of practices, PIL has had NO Covid cases linked to sports. The PIL Athletic Administration has approved High School programs to continue their outside workouts. We will continue to go Mondays and Thursdays from 4-5:20ish approximately. Please dress for the weather.
Practice times have been moved to Monday and Wednesday. NO THURSDAY PRACTICES FOR NOW.
Also: No practices the week of November 23rd thru the 27th due to Parent-Teacher Conferences and the Thanksgiving break.
I am sure you have all begun to notice the great change in your sons as they have had the opportunity to work out and socialize and have contact with our awesome coaches. One of the hardest things to watch with my own son during the pandemic has been his feeling of being lost without sports. I have noticed a dramatic change since the start of the workouts with some sort of normalcy in his life.
Sports in our state have become a hot topic with many different articles and info from around the country that have come out in support of the importance of athletes staying active even amongst Covid fears. Armed with this Data there have been many advocacy groups working to get athletes back on the field in a safe manner. A Western States Alliance of Coaches(Oregon California and Washington) has been formed to work in direct contact with OSAA and The Oregon Association Coaching Alliance. Coach Beck is a Board member on both, so we have been getting updates from him. He and our District Office, our Athletic Director and Principal have been working tirelessly, advocating to get kids back to sports just as 37 other states have successfully. There are a few groups on Facebook that have made huge gains uniting together. If you would like to join, the largest one is Let Them Play Oregon and Open PDX Schools on Facebook.
***Please make sure to check your email from Ashley Heacock, our athletic trainer at Grant. She has sent information last week to sign up every athlete at Grant on the Healthy Roster account with Providence Sports Medicine.
**We are planning an all team fundraiser with Snapraise. Info coming soon. We are struggling to get the funds needed for the program that is needed, as businesses are being cautious at this time and the players cannot do door to door card sales.
Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving,
Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football.
Prep School Option for Seniors
Because this is such an odd time we wanted to make sure players were aware there are 5-year playing options to look into at Prep schools. Below is one to look into if you are considering that route.
Milford Academy's PG Football program is recruiting football players graduating in 2021 (as well as 2020 grads who missed this past fall season) who are looking to significantly improve their college recruiting.
Please email me the cell #, email, and Hudl link of any 2021 and 2020 grads who you believe can compete at the collegiate level and benefit from our academics and the exposure/experience our college JV schedule and recruiting history provides.
We just completed its 53rd year with five games and all NCAA academic requirements, including Army JV and Army Prep - with ZERO Covid issues!
Milford Academy is a full academic one-semester (Aug to Nov) football-only school, competing against D1A and D1AA college JV programs. Our target prospects are a) offered and would-be offered athletes needing GPA and/or test improvements, and b) underrecruited athletes you believe to have the potential to earn football scholarships at D1A, D1AA, or D2 levels.
There is NO loss of eligibility. Download our Brochure PDF at the top left of Milford Academy’s home page to learn more.
Quick Facts:
-An average of 60% of our students enter college in January following our PG semester with 5.5 years to play 4, the remainder enter in August.
-We had 17 players in 10 FBS bowls last season and average between 10 and 30 players in FBS bowls each year.
-We average 50 players per year in D1A and 50 in D1AA programs nearly every year.
-12 alumni were drafted or signed NFL contracts last season.
-Our students increase an average of 120 - to 130 points on the SAT every year.
-Milford has generated over 600 D1A and D1AA scholarships for our players over the past 20 seasons.
-Milford Academy has been the premier PG football program in America for over 53 years.
-Bowl Boys by Year: https://milfordacademy.org/athletics-bowls.html
-Recent NFL Alumni Include:
LeSean McCoy, RB - Buccaneers
Shonn Greene, RB – Jets & Titans
Cameron Artis-Payne, RB – Panthers
Terrance Knighton, DT – Broncos, Redskins & Patriots
Tyler Matakevich, LB – Steelers & Bills
Jake Dolegala, QB - Bengals & Patriots
Blessaun Austin, CB - Jets
Ka'dar Hollman, CB - Packers
Contact me anytime for more information.
Coach Buff Bowen
Recruiting Coordinator
www.MilfordAcademy.org
203-733-8851 c
buffbowen@gmail.com
A PG semester offers many advantages over Juco, college walk-on, and "limited" PG programs (a high school limited to 4 PG football players). Athletic, financial, and academic goals should ultimately determine which option is best for each student-athlete.
Below are some comparative advantages of a PG semester:
NCAA Eligibility:
PG: Zero loss of eligibility.
PG: Enables 5 to 5.5 years to play 4.
PG: An average of 60% of Milford Academy’s athletes attend college in January following our season.
PG: Many graduate in 3.5 years and attain their Master’s degree while on a college scholarship.
Juco: Averages 1 to 2 years of lost eligibility.
Walk-on: A year of eligibility is lost each year.
Limited PG: Zero loss of eligibility.
Limited PG: 5 years to play 4. Most require a full year of attendance and tuition.
GPA Requirements:
PG: NCAA sliding scale (GPA + SAT/ACT).
Juco: 2.5 in a full schedule of core classes.
Walk-on: Remain academically eligible in the school.
Limited PG: NCAA sliding scale (GPA + SAT/ACT).
Game Schedules:
PG: College JV (D1A JV and D1AA JV at Milford Academy, Including Navy and Army).
Juco: Primarily other Jucos.
Walk-on: Conference teams (once you get on the field).
Limited PG: Another year of high school football.
Academic Support:
PG: Strong if the school offers academics. Classes are mandatory at Milford Academy with a heavy focus on the SAT.
Juco: None
Walk-on: None
Limited PG: Very strong - classes are mandatory over a full year.
Average Costs:
PG: $19k to $23k / semester (discounts for lump payments are available).
PG: Greatest opportunity to eliminate or minimize future college costs.
Juco: $12k to $20k / semester (financial aid is available). Costs add up over multiple semesters.
Walk-on: $25k to $35k / semester (financial aid is available). Costs add up over multiple semesters.
Limited PG: $30k to $40k / semester (financial aid is available). Costs add up over multiple semesters.
Playing Time:
PG: Excellent - goal is to get every player recruited.
Juco: Good - 3 class years compete for time. Must remain academically eligible.
Walk-on: Very tough - always behind scholarship players and incoming transfers.
Limited PG: Excellent - team and game competition is the lowest of these options.
Recruiting Opportunities:
PG: Greatest college football recruiting advantages.
PG: Great college game experience.
Milford Academy's D1A and D1AA JV games provide the greatest competition among PG programs.
600+ players have earned scholarships at Milford Academy over the past 19 years.
PG: Increased physical, mental and emotional preparedness.
Juco: Good college football recruiting advantages (loss of eligibility is not attractive to some colleges).
Juco: Good college game experience.
Juco: Increased physical, mental and emotional preparedness.
Walk-on: Increased physical, mental and emotional preparedness.
Walk-on: Can transfer with remaining eligibility.
Limited PG: More attractive to Ivy and little Ivy colleges. Strongly recommended having a college commitment first.
To Parents and Players:
Due to field availability - we will NOT be working out on Wednesday's.
We will still have workouts Monday and Thursdays from 4-6 p.m. as light allows. We will try to start warm-ups a little earlier if we can.
As always please have athletes stay home if they are feeling ill with possible Covid symptoms, and report to coaches or AD if they get a positive test.
Thanks,
Coach Beck.
Hello Grant Football Family!
October 18, 2020
We come to you with great news! PIL has cleared us for practice/workouts this coming week.
Starting Wednesday....practices 4-6 / 3:30...with check-in and protocols. Practices M-W-Th
*******Mandatory to bring a mask, own sanitizer, and a bottle of water. Equipment needed: cleats and gloves, as needed.********
-Players will form social distance lines on the west side of the gym, minimum of 6' apart for check-in.
- Be there plenty early.
-If a parent or two wants to help with check-in, Please Contact Karmen if you are able. Karmenvonarx@icloud.com
All safety protocols will be followed and coaches have been briefed and are trained on what needs to happen to keep our players safe.
Male athletes from other sports are invited to also work out with football if they would like. Most sports are sponsoring their own, but possibly not clubs. They must also go through clearance.
Make sure your athlete has gone through the whole clearance process or they will not be able to work out.
-Physicals every two years are needed so if not up to date you will need to get that in.
-No need to pay until teams have been made in the respective seasons.
https://www.friendsofgrantfootball.com/2020-player-registration
P.I.L. Player Covid Responsibilities
-Enter/Exit the facilities at the assigned points and time.
-Wash/Sanitize hands thoroughly before and after practices at designated stations.
-Students are encouraged to bring their own sanitizer if possible.
-Students are required to wear masks prior, during, and directly after practice.
-Students must sign in daily on the contact log.
-No one is allowed to share personal equipment, food, water, or bags.
-Students must leave the field at the completion of their session.
-Students must remain with one group for a week.
-They cannot rotate groups from day-to-day.
-Practice social distancing before, during, and after each session.
-Complete online registration through Family ID
-Will notify the coach and Athletic Director if they have been exposed to and/or have had symptoms will follow the COVID-19 protocol
-Maintain good physical hygiene by bathing/showering after each session.
Coach Beck will have a quick zoom meeting to go over the Covid safety protocols for any parents that are interested.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71306981185?pwd=Q2dldnR6cW50S1hrSEpwcUo0YkRaZz09
Meeting ID: 713 0698 1185
Passcode: 4zYAqtIt is scheduled for Tuesday 10/20 at 7:00PM
Please talk to your players about the importance of following these safety measures. If we can show that it is safe, it will be easier for them to allow for Sports to begin in the future.
Thanks so much
Go Generals!
Friends of Grant Football
Dear Friends of Grant Football Family,
We are still hoping and waiting to hear soon if workouts may begin with coaches. Please make sure all clearance and physicals are in order in case we can start soon.
https://www.familyid.com/organizations/grant-high-school
Please let us know if you are worried about your athletes' school work, eligibility or mental status. We can help get you in touch with the help they may need. This is such a difficult time and we want to make sure all our players are doing ok. Email Head Coach Beck at jbeck@pps.net
The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief and Resiliency is taking applications for any Black families that may have been affected by Covid 19’or the shutdowns. Here is that link https://thecontingent.org/oregon-cares/individual-application/
We have a few opportunities for players to get some exposure at non contact showcase evaluations and experience, while we are awaiting workouts They will need to sign up on their own. Attached are the flyers and invitations below for Varsity players. Sign up soon, space is limited.
1.
Opportunities for training and getting ranked:
Register at national sports is.com/npshowcases
2.
Attached is a QR code to pay on PayPal. Make sure each athlete emails Coach Smith
Send email to smith.performance@outlook.com and include:
full name:
age:
position:
shirt size to the orde:.
Once this is completed Coach Smith will confirm and add players to the list. If they do not have paypal, there are a few other ways to submit their payment via: CASHAPP ($smithperformance1) Venmo, or apple pay.
The club would like to encourage our lineman to sign up if they can for this event individually. $40
If you need help to pay for a camp or if you are a parent willing to help pay for another player camp, please text Karmen von Arx @ (503) 913-4331
Friends of Grant Football is excited to announce our 2 new board members Nikki Giudice, and Chad Hoffert. Nikki fills our freshman parent position and Chad fills our Sophomore parent and both come with years of experience starting from youth football. We are grateful they answered the call to serve.
*If you are a new freshman player or parent please feel free to connect with Nikki. If she doesn’t have answers for you she can find out! nikki@farrellrealty.com
Freshman: with all that’s going on, we haven’t been able to connect with our freshman players and parents and we hope we can soon. In order to make sure new players don’t fall through the cracks please alert other potential players or parents of freshmen, to sign up to receive all the info from the team. We will be reaching out this week to those we have heard are interested in more info. Please have them google Friends of Grant Football and it will lead them to our site.
We are grateful for our new Principal James McGee, Head Coach John Beck, Chris LaCarubba (our new AD) and our District Coordinator Diallo Lewis for their tireless efforts in trying to get the athletes some sort of workouts going. They really are talking to and doing everything they can on the behalf of the kids. We are very lucky to have them.
We will hopefully all be seeing each other soon!
Go Generals,
Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football President
admin@friendsofgrantfootball.com
Friends of Grant Football September 2020 Newsletter
Friends of Grant Football Families,
We have great news to report on football! We have been told the District may soon start workouts for players with the high school coaches. This is pending approval and so our athletic office says they are being proactive and need all athletes to be cleared for workouts ASAP. We are grateful to our PIL athletic department leadership for working hard to make this happen.
The start date will be soon, but most likely will start in the next few weeks. Time/Date TBA. The program will be doing everything possible to keep our players safe. We will have temperature checks, small group specific workouts, sanitation of equipment, and players multiple times throughout practices.
Players will be required to go through Clearance so please get that done this week!
-Freshman and Juniors will need to have physicals done by a Dr. They are only good for 2 years.
-if you have already registered there is a COVID release form that has been added to family I’d that you will need to fill out. Look for an email to come soon from Erin Cole
-EVERY PLAYER will need to sign up on Family ID to register for the season. Payment is not required at this time but can be done if you want to get it out of the way.
-If your player will be doing workouts with multiple sports, they will need to fill out forms for each sport. Coaches can’t see athletes cleared for other sports on their clearance page.
www.familyid.com/organizations/grant-high-school
Before our season starts in March we also want to make sure families have the information on eligibility needs, per grade, in order to play. If your athlete is not in the range that he needs, please have them get ahold of their counselor to get them on track. We want to make sure everything is ready for football as soon as we get the go-ahead. You can contact the counselors at the school anytime with questions. They are a great resource for students and parents.
We are still in a shortfall for funds for this season as businesses have been hit hard during the pandemic. We have hard costs that have to be met to get everything we need. Please consider forwarding us businesses and contact names to Sean Mcloughlin or Sponsorship Director Sean.mcloughlin@libertymutual.com
Senior Parents:
Please email us back a favorite action photo of your athlete out of our football photo album. This will be used in the marketing and Seniors poster. We have only received one so far and we have a lot of seniors and will not have time to look through all the photos. Here is a link to look through photos of our two Photographers.
https://www.friendsofgrantfootball.com/resources
We are so excited to finally get the players on the field! Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football Board
Coach John Beck
Grant High Head Football Coach
Dear Grant Football Families and Supporters,
We are noticing we have a low rate of opened emails and want to get that number up, so please pass along to other players and families that we need all the families open emails to get all the info from the team. These team emails may also be going into spam folders, so adding admin@friendsofgrantfootball as a contact will help ensure these emails make it to your inbox.
We are excited to announce we have a new Sports AD at Grant. Please see the info at the bottom, introducing our New Athletic Director Chris LaCarrubba!
As the players get back to school we are hoping that families will remember that The Friends of Grant Football and coaches are here to help if needed. It has been such a trying time and we want to make sure we can support our student-athletes the best we can on and off the field. If students are struggling with online learning we can look into getting tutors or parents with that skill set to help.
At this time there are no organized team practices. If Portland moves to the next phase, workouts with coaches may be an option. We will shout it from the rooftops as soon as we find out! We are looking into the possibility of having the club pay for trainers (coaches can’t work with players through the school.) We are hoping to do training through trainers to help keep it equitable for those that can’t afford or don’t know where to start on their own. We will let you know when and if we can.
You have probably all heard, but just in case you haven’t, Football will begin on a modified schedule in March. Even though it will be a shorter schedule the costs for the team will be the same. Please consider donating to the club if you are able or if you work for companies that do charity matching. You can check it out on our site at https://www.friendsofgrantfootball.com/give
If you or someone you know own a business, please consider being one of our team sponsors. Your help with just a contact name and number can really help. We will do all the calling! Please contact our Director of Sponsorship Sean McGloughlin at Sean.mcloughlin@libertymutual.com.
Big Thanks to Our New Sponsors so far
Squires Electric
National Guard
Alpenrose Dairy
Tammy Going with Windermere Properties
American Home Funding
From Coach Beck:
Players and Parents - we have consistently been ranked in the top 10 for high school football GPA in Oregon. To keep this streak going our players must attend in online class consistently - be leaders in the 'virtual' classroom and work to their full potential! It is up to each player and family to make this happen.
#EducationalExcellenceIsTheExpectation
Please know there is help if your player starts to struggle and please contact Coach Beck immediately if the players find themselves starting to struggle in a class so he can get them needed help. This will be a hard few months with lots of changes and we want to really keep track of the players.
Coach Russell Update on his Brother:
Again, thank you all for the support and prayers you have given me and my family. As we go through these tough times with the deaths of one of my first cousins, @soicyyboyy, from Sacramento, CA and 4 days later the death of close family friend Aja Raquell who had been living in Las Vegas, NV, just in town for cousin Virgil. This has been the toughest time of my life and I can’t thank you enough for the support you have given me personally, I literally don’t know where I would be without it. The village has shown me and my family love, and we really appreciate it, but there is still a mission to stop the violence and take back our streets from the violence nonsense going on in our communities.
Mase will be transferred to a rehab center Tuesday, where he will start his journey to a full recovery🤞🏾Mase will be doing 3 hours of physical therapy a day and we plan to be there every step of the way. Mase is in good spirits and knows it’s going to be a challenge but he is ready. Please those close to him keep calling, FaceTiming, and supporting him, he needs us all.
Lastly I would like to say they caught the suspect in Bend, OR this past weekend and we won’t stop till we get justice.
Coach Russell Go-Fund me update
A big thank you to our Football family for supporting Coach Russell during this difficult time. With your help and the help of friends and family, we were able to help raise $7800 for them! There is still time to donate if you were planning on it.
From the District
2020 PIL Open Golf Tournament Registration- October 5th 2020 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club
The PIL Open Golf Tournament is a fundraiser conducted by the PIL Foundation to generate resources to support Portland Public School (PPS) student-athletes. Nearly, one in three PPS students, grades 6-12, participate in PIL athletic programming. Over the past 7 years, the PIL has grown from providing opportunities for 5,500 student-athletes to providing opportunities for over 13,000 student-athletes. With the continual expansion of athletic opportunities, there is a greater need for additional resources.
COVID Updates:
Although many sporting events have yet to restart due to their elevated risk during COVID-19, golf is considered a low-risk sport because it takes place outdoors and social distancing is possible. We are working closely with Columbia Edgewater Country Club to ensure the tournament will comply with all local government and safety regulations, including PGA’s Back2Golf operations.
Thank you for supporting the goals of our foundation and more importantly for potentially changing the trajectory of one of Portland’s youth.
Justin Delaney- PIL Foundation Board Chair
Marshall Haskins- PIL Athletics District Athletic Director
Any questions please feel free to email back anytime.
Thanks,
Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football
New Athletic Director
Christopher (Chris) LaCarrubba – Grew up in New Jersey and Maine where he was heavily influenced by his father who played in the Ivy Light Weight Football League for Columbia and his uncle who was a member of Dartmouth’s fencing team. Together they instilled a love of physical activity, positive competition, and the outdoors.
Sports experience
Athletic Director - Brooklyn Technical High School. Over 40 teams. At almost 6,000 students Tech is the country's largest school and consistently ranked in the top 100 schools in the country for academic excellence by U.S. News.
Wrestling Coach-Brooklyn Tech (Boys Varsity Team and Girls Varsity Team)
Reached finals every year and won 2 NYC Championships (over 60 teams competing), coached several All-State wrestlers and an All-American
Awarded Assistant Coach of the year in 2012 by the US Olympic Team and Beat-the-Streets
HS: Wrestling, All-District as individual, 2 time State Sectional Champions as team
Youth: Football, Baseball, Soccer, Wrestling
Age:44
Post-Secondary Education
MA in Educational Leadership - Montclair State University
MEd in School Counseling - Lewis & Clark College
BS in Political Science - Portland State University
Education-High School
George Stevens Academy, Maine (12)
High Point Regional HS in NJ (9-11)
Spouse:
Stephanie Camelio LaCarrubba, from Santiago, Chile but a graduate of St. Mary's Academy here in Portland, Rower and XC runner, JD Brooklyn Law
Children:
Sofie – 20 – Rock Climbing
Francesca- 14 – Wrestling, Rock Climbing
Petra- 8 - Soccer
Hank – 6 – Soccer, Futsal, Cyclo-cross
Hobbies: Cycling, camping
Favorite foods: I like them all!
Favorite motto: Work hard and be nice to people.
Dear Grant Football Family,
Tragedy has hit Coach Russell’s Family and we are hoping our Grant football family can help. He has touched everyone of our kids lives and we are grateful to his family to have brought someone so great to our lives. Coach Russell’s cousin was killed outside a bar (he was on vacation here and a make a wish foundation recipient suffering from lupus his whole life ) and coaches brother was shot 6times and is in ICU and will not make a full recovery. Possibly paralyzed. There is not much we can do about everything else going on in Portland but I am hoping you will feel compelled to help out these families. Seven children are now without fathers and costs will be out of control. Any amount will help so much and show Coach Russell how much we support him.
GoFund me link
Any questions please feel to contact me.
Thanks so much.
Karmen von Arx
Friends of Grant Football
Dear Grant Football Families,
We are so sorry to do this to everyone again, but the July 27th start date will not be happening because we are still in phase 1. PIL is doing what they can to make sure sports are safe for the kids and are being extra careful.
OSAA (Governing sports body for Oregon) is closely following protocols set by the Governor and the Oregon Department of Health.
They issued the latest info yesterday, I have posted the article below. Here is a summary for football information as follows.
From OSAA:
Football is considered a full-contact activity per the Governor’s and OHA guidelines and is currently prohibited. No definitive date has been established by the state for a review of this prohibition. Based on strategies provided by the OSAA Football Contingency Group it is necessary that any Football restrictions be lifted by September 28 in order to have a modified regular season this Fall that would include some type of restructured postseason.
If Fall activities aren’t able to be held in the Fall, the OSAA Executive Board is committed to working with its contingency groups to exhaust all options for these activities including shifting, condensing, or stacking seasons, like our neighbors in Washington and California, with the fundamental objective of providing participation opportunities for students. These changes may ultimately force schools into choosing which programs they will offer and students into choosing between activities, but the Board believes that a potentially difficult choice is better than no choice.
http://www.osaa.org/today/article/1780/view
In Short, they are waiting to see how this all plays out and want to be careful in not deciding a “for sure” plan. Once we go to phase 2 PIL will allow us to begin workouts. Before the September start date.
We will keep you posted on all new updates as they happen. Get your athletes moving so that when they begin it won’t be so rough!
Thanks,
Friends of Grant Football Board
Dear Grant Football Families,
We have received a new directive and starts dates for our football workouts
Players and Parents: District Administration has now set July 27th as a tentative workout start date. Instead of setting further firm dates to start...we will send out communication after we get confirmation on a definite start date from District Administration, along with PPS stakeholders. Please be flexible as we may only get a day or two notice of a start for non-contact and social distancing workouts.
We are in a very unique and interesting time in our city/county/state.
Thanks so much for your patience with all the uncertainty.
Grant High School Football
Dear Grant Football Families,
As you know, there are many questions and plans regarding this upcoming football season. We have heard from the district and have a NEW start date, but one which may also change again. As we get more information, we will keep you updated.
Note from coach:
Players and Parents: PIL Athletic Administration has set a "tentative" start date for summer workouts for Monday July 13th. All players MUST be registered on Family ID -Family ID BEFORE they come to any summer workouts. Please refer to the Below link to sign up for football/summer workouts on Family ID before practices start ASAP
www.familyid.com/organizations/grant-high-school
Please stay positive and continue your individual workouts. More information as we get it.
Coach Beck
#PositiveMentalAttitude
Other changes that will be very important:
-Athletes MUST bring their own water bottles. No community drinking areas will be offered AT SUMMER WORKOUTS.
-Don’t forget to invite any Male athletes that want to workout with the football team, all are welcome, with no commitment necessary. MUST SIGN UP ON FAMILY ID ALSO, EVEN IF THEY DONT END UP DOING A FALL SPORT. NO COST. 
-We may need parents help to maintain the standards needed for temperatures and sterilizing during practice and workouts.
-It is highly recommended for each athlete to carry their own hand sanitizer. We do not have water on the field.
-We will not be doing team meals of any kind while training and may be limited once the season begins.
-Fundraising from area businesses has been at a complete standstill and the program still has all the same costs. We won’t be sending players door to door for card sales which is also a big part of our budget. Some ideas we have include:
⁃ doing an auto-pay campaign and asking families to donate $10-25 a month through the year.
⁃ Email/text campaign by athletes
⁃ Some sort of workout-a-thon
Please reach out to us if you have any other ideas or company’s you feel we could contact and the best contact name, number or email.
We are excited for the season to start and get these guys finally moving!!
-FOGF
Hello All,
We have had lots of activity to get everything together for the Football season! After many meetings and guidelines info, Coach Beck is ready to start. There have been lots of questions from families, about how all this will work. We will keep you updated as we get info.
Football workouts will start on Monday July 6th at 8 am...meet in the Grant Bowl to warm up in pods. Please bring your own water. 9-12 grades.
#BeAVoiceForActiveChange
While in Phase 1 and 2, we will be training in small groups, taking temperatures, and cleaning equipment often. Every date is Covid19 sensitive, and as of now we are planning for the season.
We are welcoming 2 new coaches to the team: Campbell Summerfield and Byron Hammick.
-From Coach Beck:
The Grant Football Program wants to echo the thoughts and words of our Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero. The senseless taking of a life is tragic and heartbreaking. We must all work together to demand that racism ends, that senseless acts of violence and murder stop, and we all work together to demand change.
"We can not remain neutral about racism. We are ready to stand together in solidarity with our community in the fight against anti-black racism." "Reflect on how we can proactively create conditions so that every black student at PPS (and elsewhere) is seen, heard and supported."
#InSupportOfOurStudentsOfColor-GrantTogether
-Football will be inviting all men’s sports to train with us (including spring club sports.) Many athletes had no season and we want them to have opportunities to get active. This is also an opportunity to show other athletes how fun the team is and maybe get some new recruits! Actual football practices will not be until mid August. Please pass this on to any Lacrosse, Rugby, Soccer, Basketball and Baseball players you may know. Workouts will start at 8am M-Th.
Must be Grant Athletes or Students
-No Team Camp at Linfield this year. We are disappointed but will have the opportunity next summer. If approved our players will help host a camp for our youth program. Potential date is August 3-7 and is done in the evenings.
*First day of Football practice (different than training times) will start August 10 @4pm
-Family ID for fall sports is OPEN! Please refer to the below link to sign up for football on Family ID before practices start.
https://www.familyid.com/organizations/grant-high-school
You will not be able to make payments yet on school pay, it will not be open until August 17th and we are asking that no payments (checks, cash or schoolpay) be made until after teams are formed.
-Fundraising. We are really going to need help this year!
Since we are in a very unique situation with the pandemic, many of our business supporters are unable to help out the team this season. Costs are still the same, so we will be trying to get creative with how the team will raise money. Let us know if you or the companies you work for have any options, ideas, or extra money laying around that you would love to give us!
-Missing uniforms
We have lots of missing uniforms, especially the white jerseys.
Please email us soon if you have a uniform that was not turned in, so we don’t need to call. Any school equipment and uniforms can be turned in at the official turn-in day and locker item pick up on June 15-16.
Online Team Store-
We are offering two types of team stores:
The 1st Online Grant team store has shoes, gloves, girdles, and workout clothing at a great discount. Please consider getting your shoes and gear from our online store so we can continue to offer great deals.
https://eastbaystore.com/OFTS5868?reload=true
The second team store will have team Grant Logo items available and will be available next week on our website and throughout the season. We will send out that link in the next newsletter.
Go Grant Football!
Friends of Grant Football
Go to friendsofgrantfootball.com for more info and team calendar.
