Camp Confidential: Sachem East Football

MONTICELLO, N.Y. - Sachem East held its football training camp about 145 miles away from Farmingville at Camp Kennybrook in upstate, New York last week.

The Flaming Arrows have gone there since the summer of 2005, the second year the program was around. 

There has been talk of better leadership this year, and, of course, a coaching change with Mark Wojciechowski replacing Brian Harvey as head coach, has allowed for change in various aspects of the program. 

"We’re together 24/7 for six days," Wojciechowski said about camp. "You get to see who you’re working with and how hard they’re working. When you're away from your family the focus is all on football, there are no distractions. All that stuff is eliminated."

Woj’s favorite camp memory: Asked what his most fond memory was when he played football at Sachem in the 1980s and had training camp in Fishkill, Wojciechowski said he loved hanging around the pool with his fellow offensive and defensive linemen in between training sessions.

“Guys you worked with,” he said. “Just hanging in the pool, talking about what was going on.”

New helmets/uniforms at East: Though still tied to Sachem traditions, Wojciechowski said a change of uniforms can help aid in the start of something new.

“Sachem football has been around for a long time and we’ve been very good,” he said. “Just because one side is different from the other, don’t ever get cut off from the traditions that have been here. Tough kids, kids that will do anything for their coaches, kids who will run through brick walls.”

Those tough kids at East will be wearing uniforms and helmets with a different shade of red.  for the new helmets, but stay tuned to Patch for images of the new jerseys.

Position battles: East goes two deep on the depth chart at almost every position. “The stuff is in Velcro, so it’s easy to move,” Wojciechowski said. “Kids know that. Everyday it’s posted and everyday there are some changes because of injury or someone’s sick. It’s good for competition. No one is comfortable, everyone is fighting for their positions and working hard.”

QB for 2011: Anthony Riggi is a senior and has done everything asked of him thus far. He was voted a team captain and will start the 2011 season as quarterback.

Captain selections: Joining Riggi as a captain is Stephen Casali, Joe and Tom Ryan and Billy Merone.

“I worked hard this off-season,” Casali said. “When you got 0-8 you can’t do the same as you did last year, you have to go harder. We don’t want to just win one game, we want to win as many as we can. I expect more than just one game.”