With today's technological advances, Chuck Kyle, head coach of USA Football's Junior National Team competing in the upcoming IFAF Junior World Championship, uses video games as a supplemental practice technique.
Six offensive players joined Kyle to play Madden NFL '09 in their downtime between practices on Wednesday afternoon.
"The way this program works is you see the diagram of the pass play or the defense, you see the terminology right in front of you, and you push the button and then it's active in front of you and hopefully using that the players learn it a little quicker," said Kyle, who also leads the football program at Cleveland St. Ignatius High School.
The games were programmed to make sure Team USA's plays could be executed and paired with the terminology as an added memory device. Kyle decided to implement the games due to the fact that time on the practice field is limited.
Game Crazy, with six retail locations in Northeast Ohio, donated Team USA 20 copies of "Madden '09" and 20 copies of "NFL Head Coach '09," which allow for game set-up customization. The retailer also provided USA Football with Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles. USA Football's coaching staff is also able to upload upcoming opponents' alignments and formations to help their players learn in-game assignments and responsibilities.
"We don't even have two weeks to be ready and there are someteams who havepracticed for months," he said. "Obviously, they have this extended learning curve and we have a short one."
The players seemed to enjoy themselves during the game as well. It seemed that playing with their own team on the screen made the competition more real for the players. Even though not all of the players were winners during the video game, they still felt like the time spent gaming will be beneficial during future practices.
"You get to see the plays and formations, and it just helps you because it's an interactive play with your playbook so you get to do what the coaches have been teaching you," wide receiver Erik Lora said.
For wide receiver Aaron Dobson, playing the game will help reinforce practices after they are finished. He already plans to play the video game following practice so he can help to recall plays easier and speed up the learning process.
Coach Kyle recommends this technique to other coaches and may even bring the game back to St. Ignatius to help speed the learning curve for his younger players.
