Incoming Freshman and Parents: Start Here

On this page you will find information focusing on future and incoming freshman and their parents. Scroll down for the following.

• Links: Incoming Freshman Parent Links
• Registermyathlete.com: CUSD Athlete Registration System
• Hudl: Film, Practice, and Communication App 
• Equipment: Provided, Required, Optional and Donations
• Dress for Success: Pregame Dress Code
• Practice: What to Expect at Practice
• Games: Game Day and the Season
• Preseason: Current 7th and 8th Grade Players
• Clinics: Spring and Summer Clinics
• Volunteers: Joining the Gridiron 

RegisterMyAthlete.com: CUSD district platform for registering athletes.

Hudl.com: Film, Team Communication and More.

What is Hudl.com?  

Hudl allows coaches to present game film as well as coaching instruction through an app and website to the team. The website has more functionality for in depth study, but the phone will be the primary interface for players. It is their playbook and also the team group text app, allowing team wide communication from coach to player, player to coach and player to teamates. Players are allowed to join the Hamilton Hudl once they are enrolled at HHS as Freshman and are on the final roster.

What does studying film mean at Hamilton?  

Through Hudl a player can see film of a teammate, themself, our competition and even study the playbook with clips of the plays attached. Players can then use the app to text their position coach, their positional group or the whole team to ask questions. 

A successful Hamilton player must budget time each week to watch film of upcoming opponents, a positional evaluation of the previous week's game or the person(s) ahead of them in the depth chart.

How does Hudl Texting Work?  

Coaches can message the entire program, team, position group or individual player. In general Hudl group texts are top down, with coaches giving instruction with minimal responses necessary (example: Bus arriving 10 min late). If players have questions they should be directed at coaches or players individually. Otherwise information gets lost in players back and forth chatter. Team group texts by players should be extremely rare and only used for questions that affect everyone. 

Where is the rest of the playbook?  

Freshman will start with a small slice of the Freshman system. As players advance in their understanding of our system, they will have access to more and more of the offense and defense playbook. Coaches reveal portions of the playbook in increments called Installs. Receiving the entire Varsity playbook Freshman year would confuse most players. Also playbooks would too easily drift to other schools. 

Equipment: Provided, Required, Optional and Donations

What Equipment does Hamilton Provide?  

Hamilton will provide the following

• Certified helmet with a chinstrap
• Home and Away jersey
• Game pants (shells worn over girdle)
• Belt
• One set of practice knee pads (can not wear during games)

What equipment is required?  

Parents are expected to provide the following 

• At least one mouthpiece (mandatory for practice),
• Cleats (preferrably black Nikes as we are a sponsored Nike Elite Academy)
•  Black practice shirts and black practice shorts (HHS gear or minimal logo and colors). No colors from the school up the street (Chandle HS blue). More than one set is optimal to keep from nightly laundry. 
• A water jug minimum of 64oz in size. Filled with water for each practice. 
• A padded girdle 

A player must have thigh, hip, and knees covered by pads or they will not be able to practice or play in games. The best solution is a girdle that is worn under practice shorts and game shell pants. Due to hygiene and laundry concerns, parents may want to invest in more than one. 

What equipment is optional?  

The following items are allowed but not required. Receiver or Lineman gloves. Additional pads such as neck rolls or rib protector shirts, knee braces or QB towels. 

It is highly advised to write your player's name in sharpie on all personal gear not provided by Hamilton.

What equipment is not allowed?  

Sleeves must be attached to the shirt worn under the pads. They can not be detachable (like in the picture above). Jewelry. Helmet visors, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Can my player buy his own pads and helmet?  

Yes. If you would like to donate a helmet and/or shoulder pads, you can find the instructions on Registermyathlete.com under electronic documents or follow up with the Team Parent.

All equipment used by High Schools in Arizona must be using certified school equipment. If you would like to have your player use their own equipment, it must be donated to the school. It will be your player's to use throughout their time at HHS, but will remain with the school after they graduate.

Due to the certification process, no used equipment can be accepted. All donated equipment must be brand new and donated with receipts. 

When will I know what my player's jersey number is?  

The short answer is around two weeks before the first game and no guarantees about number requests will be made.

The long answer is that there are a number of considerations to be made before assigning jersey numbers. Numbers are position specific in High School tackle football. Some numbers make a player ineligible to catch passes. It is impossible for Freshman coaches to know who is going to be in a position until pads are on and players have demonstrated their abilities. This usually brings us close to the date of our first game, and past the time some items (like soft helmets) are needed. Another issue is that as a school, we can not carry all sizes of all uniforms with every number. The number your player wants, might be okay for his position, but the jersey with that number is the wrong size for your player. 

If possible, do not buy any gear with your child's number on it until after numbers are official, or leave the number field blank when ordering. Also be aware that when moving up to JV or Varsity, their numbers can change again depending on the players above them. 

Dress for Success: Pregame Dress Code

What is Dress for Success?  

As a program we want to instill pride and a sense of professionalism in what we do and who we are as football players. To aid in this we dress professionally as a team prior to our games.

The day PRIOR to our games (at all levels, Fresh, JV and Var) players are required to Dress for Success. They must wear a button up all white longsleeve dress shirt, black dress slacks and a black tie. If possible, players are asked to wear black dress shoes or something similar to simple black Vans. Please no athletic shoes. 

What do they wear on game days?  

The day of the game, players are allowed to wear their game jersey to school.

Practice: What to Expect

Where do Freshman Practice?  

Generally we practice in the NW corner of the school on the Freshman Fields located directly behind the Tennis Courts. 

What time are practices?  

The Freshman locker room opens at 6:10 am. Players are expected to be in full uniform and on the field by 6:30 am. Practice lasts until around 8:00 and then players are rotated through the locker room to shower and study while waiting for third period to begin.

How should my player prepare for practice?  

Before worrying about football, please ensure your player has completed all school work.

Secondly, encourage hydration! The number one cause of missed or shortened practices early in the season is dehydration. Hydration must start the night before practice, not the morning of. It is still around 80-90 degrees out at daybreak when our season begins.

With schoolwork and hydration out of the way, focus on healthy nutrition, getting eight hours of sleep and then some time looking at Hudl for plays and film analysis. 

What is the schedule for the weight room?  

Incoming Freshman start in the weight room during summer clinics, usually beginning in May. Check the Calendar for times.  In season weight training is usually about maintaining strength and flexibility and the schedule will be announced through Hudl and can vary depending on availibility with other sports. After the season is over, Freshman who remain in Football Academy first and second period will to weight train and do speed work on the track. 

Games: Gameday and the Season

When are Freshman Games?  

Freshman games are almost always on Wednesday nights. Occasionally they may be on Tues or Thurs but usually with significant advanced notice. Kickoff can happen anytime between 4:30pm and 7:00pm.

Where are Freshman Games?  

Home games are on the Main Football Field. Our opponents name and locations can be found on The Calendar

How to buy tickets?  

You can buy at the gate or through the GoFan app . Freshman games do not usually sell out except vs Chandler.

What happens the day of the game?  

Game day begins the night before as players should try to get ahead of as much school work as possible, as they will have little time on Game Day.

In the morning we generally arrive for practice a little later than normal to allow for some extra sleep. We then have an unpadded walkthrough and shower as usual. Please send them to school with an extra snack and plenty of water.

After school, we try to avoid having players go home  then return again for the game, but it some times can not be avoided. This keeps parents from making multiple trips to the school, keeps players out of trouble and gets everyone on the buses and the field on time.

In general, players will meet after school and hang out on the Cafeteria patio. Then we eat a team meal provided by Gridiron Volunteers (see below), get taped (if necessary) then head to the locker room to change in to equipment. Finally, we either head to the bus, or to the field if a home game.

What happens after the game?  

Players are encouraged to leave the field quickly. We ask that parents refrain from pulling players over to the bleachers and instead meet them as they exit. Especially during away games. Players will greet parents, friends and family at the field exit.

For away games, buses will be boarded and all players will be told to send a text to their guardians telling them when the buses leave and an eta for them to be back at home. With Home games, players are allowed to leave with guardians after checking out at the locker room. 

Please do everything in your power not to leave your player stranded at the school after a game. Coaches will not leave players alone and most will have been at work since 6:00am and would like to get home to their families as well.  

How many Freshman Teams are there?  

Usually there are two complete football teams competing at the Freshman level. The A team will play all our scheduled opponents. As a school we work hard to schedule a B team game with all opponents that have enough players to have a B team. This usually is between 3-4 games each season depending on our schedule. 

Occasionally a school will ask for our A and B team games to be on two different days. This is rare and we try to avoid it.

Can my son play on both Freshman teams?  

Each player has a maximum of 8 games they can play all season split between any level (Fresh, JV or Var). This makes the playing up and down a discussion that needs to happen between coaches and players to make sure a player does not run out of eligible games. 

Can my son play on Varsity as a Freshman?  

Varsity slots are earned and not given. A Freshman that can demonstrate the strength, speed, agility, football intelligence and maturity to play at the Varsity level, will definitely earn the ability to compete at the highest level they are able to master. Given the competition at Hamilton, playing Varsity as a Freshman is rare. 

Incoming Freshman: Current 7th and 8th Graders Preseason Info

When can my player start working with HHS?  

Our clinics open up to current 8th graders in the spring and summer. See below FAQ: Clinics or visit the Calendar. Our Freshman coaches run the AZ87 Middle School 7v7 club team for 7th and 8th graders. Our coaches also volunteer with East Valley Pop Warner with the Unlimited Husky Team. All of these options are open to players attending any school and are not limited to future Hamilton students.  

Should my player be working out prior to the season?  

If the goal is to maximize their chance for success, the answer is yes. Every year Sophmore, Junior and Senior players, who were new to football their freshman year, make our varsity roster. Pushing themselves with body weight exercises, light runs, stretching and cardio work in other sports, all set them up for success their freshman year. 

Incoming Freshman: Spring and Summer Clinics

What kinds of clinics do you have?  

We have positional, speed and agility and weight training clinics that run at various times throughout the spring and summer. 

When are the clinics?  

Head over to the Calendar  to see the latest dates and times. Players attending need to be registered through the CUSD site.  

Where are the clinics?  

They will be on either the Freshman, JV or Varsity practice field(s)

Volunteers: Joining the Gridiron

What is the Gridiron Club?  

That is the official name of the HHS booster club. They make sure players are fed their pregame meal, set up team building events, organize fundraisers and help in a variety of ways. 

How do I join the Gridiron Club?  

Head over to the Volunteer Page and see where your skills might fist best. Otherwise, contact the Freshman Team Parent and find out how to help.