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For Sebring, Discipline Is The Name Of The Game

COACH HAMLIN LOOKS TO CUT BACK ON COSTLY MISCUES

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Sebring coach Jared Hamlin works with his players on Thursday during the Blue Streaks' first spring practice.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: May 2, 2008

SEBRING — As the Sebring football team filed out of the locker room and toward the field for Thursday's spring practice, they couldn't help but notice a familiar sight.

Sebring receiver Sam Robinson, who made a name for himself and earned a college scholarship on Firemen's Field, was running around the track in preparation for the upcoming track state meet.

As the players watched, one question hung over the group: Could there be another Robinson in the bunch?

The answer started on Thursday.

Sebring head coach Jared Hamlin joked about wanting to clone Robinson for use on both sides of the ball, and was a bundle of energy waiting to hit the field for his first practice.
"I can't wait to get out there," he said. "This is when the fun begins."

Hamlin knows that the playoffs are too far away to even think about, but if the Blue Streaks are going to make the postseason, he knows the preparation starts at spring practice.

"Everything that we do on the field in the fall begins right here on day one," Hamlin said. "Discipline is the key to spring practice. This is when we let this team know what we expect from them and how they're going to act.
"It's all about fundamentals right now."

Walking through, the new kids and the veterans got a hint of what to expect in the coming weeks at practice, as Hamlin and his staff have been working diligently on offensive and defensive alignments, starts and stops and all types of drills to see what kind of football players they've assembled.

"We've got a lot of pieces of the puzzle to find during these next few weeks," Hamlin said. "All the kids are going to get good looks and the sophomores will get a chance to get their feet wet, and hopefully we'll find a few of them to fill some of our holes."

A key to the success at practice according to Hamlin is his core of veteran players who've taken the reins as leaders on this young team.

"The veterans help us a lot in schooling the underclassman," said the SHS head coach. "They're my coaches on the field and it's critical that they help us get these kids up to speed."

The fifth-year Blue Steak skipper is 22-8 during his tenure and has been on the cusp of the playoffs for the last two years, coming up just short at season's end.

But Hamlin knows what it takes to turn the corner and make a serious run at the district title and the playoffs.

"It all starts with discipline," Hamlin said. "We have to become a very disciplined football team. Too many times last season, we would get called for holding or offsides in the red zone that took away scoring opportunities from us. We seem to shoot ourselves in the foot with the mental mistakes.
"A football game comes down to four or five plays and you don't know when those key situations that'll determine the outcome of a game will come. You have to be disciplined and play the game the right way and be prepared to make plays."

With Robinson ending his practice, the Blue Streak players were just breaking a sweat running through drills and getting into their first practice. The football season is four months away, but there was little doubt that but the future begins today.

The Streaks' Blue/White game is set for May 23, while Sebring's spring game is slated for May 30 at Bartow.

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