PASCO COUNTY THE BOX

Wesley Chapel remains confident in tough rebuilding period

Wesley Chapel WR works on route running during practice
Wesley Chapel WR works on route running during practice

WESLEY CHAPEL – There is a major rebuilding project starting in southern Pasco County this spring.

And for the surprisingly, it doesn’t have to deal with traffic jams or another road work project.

Instead, coach Ben Alford of Wesley Chapel High School faces a major challenge in overcoming the fact that only 6 starters combined on both sides of the ball are returning to suit up as Wildcats in 2012.

“We are only returning three starters on offense and three on defense,” Alford said. “So, our main goal is to get back to the basics, scale back the playbook, and make sure that our guys are getting a ton of reps,”

The first step in achieving the team’s goals, according to Alford, is to work with the players game-by-game in order to build up their faith in not only the program, but themselves too.

“We will have small goals set up for each game on offense, defense, and
special teams. If we are able to achieve these goals during each game the
out come should be a win for us,” Alford said. “I firmly believe in setting these goals for each game. The goals will help build confidence in our players by them
being able to experience success each game rather than having one goal of
winning a district title or state championship.”

The most important thing right now, however, isn’t on the field. It’s in the classroom, where Alford said his team must remain competitive instead of slacking off.

“Grades are very important at this time,” Alford said. He then added, “The year is starting to come to an end and kids tend to get lazy in the classroom. As far as football goes we
want to be able to see improvement in the weight room.”