KILLEEN, Texas — Chaparral High School in Killeen is challenging the conventional training methods used in high school football. Coaches at the school are taking an inventive approach to training their players. They are focused on building life skills.
"I didn't want to miss the boat once I was a head coach of helping kids be better people, not just players," said Chaparral High School Football Head Coach Alan Haire.
In the 31 seasons Haire has been a coach, he has held Character Camp for 20 of those seasons. Character Camp is where football players begin each day of their seven weeks of offseason training with classroom-style instruction on life skills, including leadership, self-image and goal setting.
"Being able to see him every day is a blessing and being able to see the change every day is awesome and I do attribute a lot to football and his coaches and his support system," said Brian Brenets, a father of a Chaparral High School football player.
Haire depends on his assistant coaches to teach Character Camp in addition to their duties as football coaches and sometimes academic teachers. The collateral duty is welcomed by his staff.
"Football is the game of life, you know, so they go hand in hand," said coach Ethan Mart. "It's great for all our coaches to get to express personal stories that they have in hopes to get these guys on a track to be successful in life."
"It definitely teaches you a lot of stuff so I feel it's a good program to have," said William Ellison, a player with the team.
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