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Albany Firebirds Notebook: Training Camp
Training camp is underway for the Albany Firebirds as they get ready for their opening game. They’ll take to the road to take on the Orlando Predators in Week 1 on March 14th. With two weeks to go before the opener, we checked in with head coach and general manager Damon Ware to get the latest on the team’s prep work.
THE COMPETITION
With time to go before the first week, there is still time for the Firebirds to whittle their roster down a bit further. While that’s a stressful time for some people, Coach Ware is on top of the world with the process.
“Recruiting and training camp are just two of my favorite times. We bring in 35 really, really good guys and we battle it out to get down to that 24,” he said. “We made a lot of changes this year to just address some issues. When you lose in the championship game and just how bad that hurt - we had to go with a fine tooth comb through every process and everything and just be realistic about where we were at. So we're really excited about who we brought in this year, the caliber of players, just some of the coaching changes for this year.”
THE MESSAGE
And with that sour taste in their mouth from last season, Coach Ware is being clear with the message early in camp. He knows what it takes to get back to the big game - and he’s ensuring that everybody is on the same page for what’s most important.
“It's just to execute good football. Early in the season, it's just imperative that, again, we get better every single day. It's just about execution and the teams that can execute the best, are the teams that usually win,” Coach Ware explained. “And, you know, for us, like I said, we've got championship aspirations and so we want to be great in execution that first week and we're working real hard in training camp.”
THE OUTLOOK
With a revamped lineup and eyes on the prize, you have to like the Firebirds’ chances to get back to the big game. You can catch their first step towards that goal on March 14th at 5:30pm EST and will stream on EvergreenNOW.