Calhoun head coach Hal Lamb shows his displeasure at a official’s call. The Dalton Catamounts visited the Calhoun Yellow Jackets in GHSA high school football action on August 25, 2017. For the 15th consecutive season, Mark Mariakis took his football team away for camp. For the 15th consecutive time, the players learned much more about each other than they did about the sport.
Sure, there were some drills involved, but most of the two days at Camp Skyline in Mentone, Alabama – normally a getaway for girls – was spent building a bond among players that Mariakis believes will make them better people off the field and better teammates on it.
“It’s probably the one thing the kids look forward to more than anything every year,” said Mariakis, the Chattanooga Christian School head coach who previously helped build Ridgeland into a playoff team.
“It’s an incredible place, and what our kids get out of it is bonding together by getting away from parents and all the distractions of being on campus. We do a little football, but most of it is team building, spiritual building and trying to discover how young men are supposed to act.”
Football is a tough sport played by tough people who enjoy hitting each other, so how does team bonding actually translate to winning on the field? Just ask Calhoun coach Hal Lamb, who has multiple state titles.