Cougars crowding gyms, field and golf courses

It’s moratorium week in the world of Indiana high school athletics, which means coaches and athletes can have no contact with each other and no athletic activities — training, conditioning, games — can be conducted.

So this is a perfect time to catch up with Hancock County schools to see what their sports programs have been up to this summer. First stop: Greenfield-Central.

Heat doesn’t faze Dodson, football team — except for one sweltering day

Even as temperatures soared to near-record highs last week, the Greenfield-Central football team continued with its normal outdoor workouts.

Coach Roger Dodson commented that the heat “wasn’t an issue” up until last Thursday. On that day, the hottest day ever for many Indiana cities and towns, the Cougars stayed inside and worked out away from the sun and in the comfort of air conditioning.

Aside from standard offseason practices, a G-C contingent went to the Franklin College team camp earlier in the summer. The blue-and-gold have also participated in a few 7-on-7 competitions, or football’s version of AAU basketball.

Dodson doesn’t put much stock into such contests.

“7-on-7’s are hard to measure. Offensively we wanted to put in four or five good routes,” said Dodson, entering his seventh season at the helm in Greenfield. “It was good for our kids to go out there and work.”

With the first official non-contact practice scheduled for July 30 and the first day of school on Aug. 1, Dodson conceded that more value has been placed on summer workouts and that a dearth of available coaches will likely prevent G-C from having two-a-day practices.

“We’re on the clock a little bit more this summer in regards to the balanced schedule that the school has now,” Dodson explained. “That’s something we’ll be dealing with.”

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