January 19, 2008
Dear Prospective Rams Football Parents and Players,
“One Team, One Mission” is the motto that drives the Rockville Football Program to work as a single unit whether you are a Fighting Ram or a Varsity Ram. Our belief is that more minds and hands working together gets more accomplished overall. As we have reached the end of the first semester of the school year and begin to look at what the second semester brings our off-season in football also begins to take shape and the demands begin to increase with weight training and conditioning, fundraising, and team-building activities just to name a few things.
Our weight training and conditioning program currently runs Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30-4 pm. It includes the necessary components that will aid our Rams into becoming better prepared to make the team in the fall and be a viable part of the program. The Middle School students will begin a program in late January which will be under the guidance of one of the Middle School teachers who will lead the student-athletes in workouts that are tailored to the needs of the younger players but are in direct correlation to what the high school players are using. In March our high school program will change over to 4 days a week and include more speed and condition work. This is an area that the team collectively recognizes as a need and wanted more emphasis to be placed on it. T-shirts will be made available to those who are in the weight room at a cost of 12.00 per. This is one way in which we place the focus on us all being one visually. Included in this letter is copy of the order form for the T-shirt. Please return this ASAP to the indicated individual(s).
We will be holding two fundraising activities over the next five weeks. First a letter writing campaign will be conducted. This is to reach out to friends and relatives of Ram Nation who are not local but would like to support the efforts that are occurring. The players will be bringing home or have brought home a sheet that is to be filled out with the names and addresses of up to ten people whom they feel will be of support to the program. They then will return the form to school and will personalize letters and First Team Sports will; take care of the rest. All monies will be sent directly back to RHS Athletics and will be used towards purchasing things such as new JV and Varsity uniforms, equipment and other pertinent materials that will help to keep the program working towards being one of the best in the county. The second fundraiser will be our annual Lift-A-Thon which will take place February 19th through the 21st in the RHS Weight Room. Donations will be collected based on pledges made per pound lifted by the high school players. All proceeds again will be funneled into RHS Athletics but will help to support what the football program is trying to achieve.
“One Team, One Mission”
Team Building Activities are a great way to bring all the Rams together in a fun way and allow them to strengthen and build relationships far in advance to the season. Our first activity will be an overnight event at Shadowland in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Our players will be locked in to play laser tag games throughout the night. They will be the only ones inside and will not be able to leave unless there are extreme circumstances. Cost is based on the amount of players who are going to attend and will include food and drinks. The charge to us is 1,649.00. At 75 players it works out to be around 22.00 per player. The projected date is February 23rd from 12 midnight to 7 am. We will be asking parents and or guardians to help chaperone if they can. Only players who have been attending weight room and conditioning, taken part in the fundraising activities and are maintaining their academics (which are checked regularly at the high school) will be invited to attend. Middle School players will need to attend the weight room and maintain their academics as well as display good character in order to be able to attend.
All information for fundraisers and the team building activity will be distributed to the student-athletes with time lines on when things are to be returned.
I am looking forward to a GREAT year of Ram football and want to thank you all now for your support and efforts as we begin the 2008 campaign.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
With Ram Pride!!!
Mark Maradei
Head Football Coach
Rockville Rams
Work: (301)517-5584
Cell: (301) 792-5635
“One Team, One Mission”