Sixteen years after his induction into the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame, Team USA offensive coordinator Gary Swenson is still getting the job done.
His teams have advanced to the state playoffs in each of the past 22 seasons, and he has five state championships to show for it. Four of the victories have come with his current team, West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley High School, with the most recent being in 2008.
Swenson hopes to have the same success at Fawcett Stadium, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, for the 2009 International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship being played from June 27 to July 5. The tournament is the first of its kind to bring together eight junior national teams (ages 19 and under) for international competition.
And while winning is always nice, Swenson said he really sees how football can have a positive impact on a young man once the former high school athlete is all grown up.
A former player himself - Swenson suited up for Buena Vista University as a wide receiver in the 1970s - see what else he had to say about practice planning and what a youth coach's main focus should be.
