Woodbridge football team gets ready for season in Catalina

Woodbridge players listen to instructions from their coaches in Catalina.

When most people go to Catalina Island, it’s for fun and relaxation.

But that wasn’t the goal when the Woodbridge football players got aboard a boat and headed to Two Islands, not far from the main island for a conditioning trip last weekend.

Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson takes his team to one summer location each year to improve conditioning and build morale. He estimates he’s been to Catalina with Warrior teams about 15 times.

The team stayed at Little Harbor Campground.

“We did some physical activities,” Gibson said. “It was a conditioning type of thing. The idea is to bring them together by working them hard and go through things. And we play games, team building games.”

Football is not part of the weekend.

“It’s a lot of cooperative learning things and we just kind of compete a lot. I break them into five teams, because we had 50 kids go,” Gibson said. “Each coach has a topic of interest for the weekend and we always have the same one topic that we always stay true to and it’s an off-shoot of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. We just put our own little subject matter into each of the boxes of the Pyramid.

“This is all about team and learning than just football. I think it’s the one thing I do that I’m proudest of. Because we do try and talk about life instead of just the football season. We have talks around the campfire at night and the subject can be almost anything.”

Gibson said the entire weekend is full of activities and programs. He said players were able to spent a couple hours swimming during the weekend.

“The last competitive thing we do are the skits and it’s terrifying to watch them make fun of the coaches and make fun of their teammates in a very respectful way and just have fun.

“That’s the last competition we do and the winner gets fed breakfast on our last day there and the two that lose out of the five (captains) have to clean up the camp and clean up the breakfast (area). There is a reason we want to win, but it’s all in fun.”

Gibson ends the weekend with a talk.

“It’s the one time I talk thanking them for all being there, because it isn’t easy,” he said. “It’s very difficult but I thank them for their participation.”

Players then put together a puzzle on the board, signing each piece and committing to each other, “and I talk about what commitment is and I talk about what I think is important as far as qualities that people have that they can always work on, like integrity and character and loyalty,” he said.

Gibson said four fathers made the trip and contributed greatly to the success by cooking meals and handling other duties.