In this episode we will find out about the player's rookie experiences, who has influenced the current seniors and find out what the buddy system is.
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00:00 [Music]
00:16 Hello and welcome to Limitless, Rides of the Falcons.
00:20 I'm Naoka and in this week we will be taking a look at the seniors and rookies.
00:25 We'll find out about the players' rookie experiences and who has influenced the current seniors.
00:29 And find out what the buddy system is.
00:31 But first, tonight, joining a new team can be very daunting, especially coming in as a rookie.
00:36 So how does a team like the Falcons make sure that their rookies feel welcome?
00:40 Daniel Ananew spoke to a couple of rookies about their traditions and experiences joining the team so far.
00:46 Coming into a team as a rookie can be both a challenging and exciting experience for any player.
00:51 But here at the Falcons, players are encouraged to come out of their shell and learn more about themselves and their teammates.
00:57 I sat down with some rookies to talk about their experience so far.
01:00 It's been a really good first year. A completely new sport for me.
01:04 So coming into that, learning all the new rules and the help from the coaches and the coaching staff, the players.
01:11 And actually getting some game time in my first year has been really good, really helpful.
01:15 Being a rookie was pretty interesting because it was a brand new sport.
01:20 And then all the senior players, they came out and tried to proactively help all of us out.
01:26 And it really helped us get through all of that stuff.
01:30 I then asked about some of the traditions rookies take part in and what their favourite was.
01:35 One tradition that's a little bit more personal to me is that the social sec, Josh, he picked me to be this year's pumpkin.
01:43 Which is where at one random social, he just gave me a pumpkin out of nowhere.
01:48 And I had to carve the Falcon logo into that pumpkin and then bring it to a game.
01:53 Which was quite good just because it helped me be included.
01:58 Because all the other senior players knew about that tradition and to be picked for it was quite special.
02:03 And that made me feel included in the team basically.
02:07 And that helped me gel in with everyone, which was good.
02:10 I think the welcome drinks really made a massive bond between me and all the other rookies and our senior players.
02:19 So that was really important for us.
02:21 Lastly, I asked about Rookie Yokey, which is a tradition that the Falcons have implemented where rookies on the team sing a song after their first competitive game.
02:30 I had to sing the Barbie theme tune, which was a little bit embarrassing, but I gave it my all and everyone did and it was just great fun.
02:39 So it's clear to see that although being a rookie can be a nerve-wracking ordeal, the Falcons promote character and personality, which as a result can boost morale and performance in games.
02:49 Now that we've seen what it's like to be a rookie for the Kent Falcons, let's take a look at the senior members of the team.
02:55 More specifically, what responsibilities they have and how they got to where they are in the sport.
03:00 Becoming a senior in American football is a rite of passage.
03:04 But what exactly is a senior?
03:06 After your first year as a rookie, you earn the right to become one.
03:10 We sat down with some of the current seniors to find out what their seniors taught them in their rookie years.
03:15 To pinpoint individual seniors would be hard because a lot of seniors helped me throughout my rookie stages.
03:20 If you make mistakes, as our head coach always says, be coachable.
03:23 Don't sit there and turn over from it. Be looking and going, "Right, what can I do to get better from that?"
03:27 And enjoy it because it's a new sport, it's a new experience. It's the best thing they said to me to do and that's how I did it.
03:33 There was a guy called Monté. In my first year, whenever I touch field, I get very nervous. I think most people do.
03:38 So he kind of put it into perspective for me, like how to dull my nerves, how to pave the occasion. So that helped me quite a lot.
03:44 I remember one in particular called James Francis. He would just sort of let me know to not expect us to play my first year.
03:52 And quite a lot of life advice in general, how to get on at university and just sort of how to mature as well. He taught me quite a lot.
04:00 They also told us about a standout memory that influenced them since being rookies.
04:05 My first time playing varsity, because it was my first time experiencing that kind of atmosphere.
04:09 I'd never been in front of a massive crowd. So it was very much a big core memory for me.
04:14 One of the key ones I remember was a game at Cambridge away in which we were winning in the first half and then ended up losing.
04:24 And I remember all of the rookies at the time were blamed and we all had to do a lot of press-ups and a lot of physical exercises.
04:35 And there was a lot of punishment for it. And I remember how disheartening that was.
04:40 But we all pulled through really and carried on with the sport even then because we loved it so much.
04:46 I think for that it was a big turning point because it hit hard. A lot of the seniors, it hit hard.
04:55 It hit rookies hard because obviously it's not nice travelling all the way up to Cambridge and then losing a game.
05:00 So I think that was a good turning point. It was an eye-opener, a proper eye-opener for that team that season.
05:06 As a senior, you have a responsibility to the rookies, such as becoming a positional buddy,
05:11 encouraging them to take part at socials and offering advice on and off the pitch.
05:16 Watching film and watching the people in the NFL do what they do, but obviously at the highest level.
05:24 Watching that really puts into perspective what you need to do.
05:29 To not get too disheartened by, as I had in my rookie year, not playing straight away and not getting as much minutes as you may expect,
05:37 managing your expectations and not getting too angry, and how to speak to the coaches and how to make your complaints in the right manner.
05:45 Being someone who was nervous coming into the sport myself and having no idea how to play,
05:49 I always wanted to make sure that when they did something right, I let them know.
05:52 And when they did something wrong, to not have a go at them, but to teach them how to do it correctly
05:56 and make them know that it wasn't the end of the world, that they made that mistake.
06:01 A lot of people get in their own head sometimes. A lot of people get in their own head thinking that if I do that wrong,
06:07 everyone's going to look at me and think I should be here, but in reality, it's nothing like that.
06:13 I think you just got to play your game, enjoy it, take the experience for what it is and just go on for it.
06:18 Enjoy it and go forward from it, not backwards.
06:21 And now it's time for Tony Teaches, where we learn fundamental manoeuvres of the game with our resident running back, Tony Mazzaneggista.
06:28 This week, he took us through route running with the Kent Falcons wide receiver, Jaden Loyles.
06:33 Hello and welcome back to Tony Teaches. This week, I'm joined with Kent Falcons wide receiver, Jaden Loyle, and we'll be going through route running.
06:40 Now, let's break it down. When it comes to route running, you want to be sharp and precise with your steps,
06:45 so it's difficult for DBs to read the route that you're going to run.
06:48 When it comes to the slant, you want to take three steps out, cut at 45 degrees towards the quarterback.
06:53 Then when it comes to running a post, you want to take five to seven steps out, cut a 35 degree angle towards the field goal post.
07:00 When running a corner, you want to take five steps out and cut at 35 degrees towards the corner of the field.
07:05 Finally, when running a hitch or a comeback, you want to take three to five steps out, then get low and come back towards the quarterback.
07:11 Now, that's how you run routes.
07:13 Also this week, I spoke to Jaden about what he plans to do after university as this is his final year.
07:19 Thanks for joining me, Jaden. So why did you choose to play American football?
07:24 So my dad's always been a fan of American football and he always wanted me to know the rules and how it works and everything.
07:29 So when I got to uni, I basically tried everything around the freshers' fair and this was the thing that really stuck to me.
07:36 So I joined the team and haven't looked back since.
07:38 So you're a senior player of the team. When it comes to rookies, how do you boost their confidence on and off the field?
07:44 So I noticed a lot that when I was a rookie, whenever I got confidence from anyone older than me on the team,
07:49 obviously it would make my day and make me think I'm doing something right.
07:52 So I just try to emulate that pretty much. So whenever somebody has a good rep, I'm always the first one.
07:57 So I obviously hype them up for it because even if it's a little thing, just hearing that you're doing the right thing puts you on the right track.
08:02 So you need a lot of positive reinforcement on the team and I feel like everyone does that a lot as a senior.
08:06 So this is your last year. Do you plan to play American football onwards?
08:10 So I've already looked at playing American football after uni, depending on what team it is. I'm not too sure yet.
08:15 But there's a team in Kent, depending on if I stay here. So I could play for East Kent Mavericks or I could go back home and play for Hertfordshire.
08:23 So I'm weighing out my options, but I do want to play because this is what is my life now, I'd say.
08:29 And finally, we are now joined by Joel Hughes and Frank Stewart from the Falcons to speak with us about the functionality of the buddy system used on the team.
08:38 Guys, I want to say thank you for joining me today. I really appreciate it. I'm going to jump into my first question, which is what is the buddy system?
08:45 It's basically a way for the seniors and the rookies to hold each other accountable.
08:51 So it's like if one person is late for training, they both take a punishment. So it's a way to basically just hold each other accountable.
09:01 And how are you assigned a buddy?
09:04 We did it at the first training session. Once everyone had paid their memberships and stuff and we knew who was going to play for us this season,
09:16 we sorted out the rookies and the seniors and then each senior chose a rookie to become their buddy, basically.
09:23 And Frank, how do you feel like the buddy system has helped you on and off the field as well?
09:28 I'd say it's helped me a lot. I think having that sort of communication with a senior player, someone who's been there and done that in their rookie season,
09:39 someone that you can ask questions to, things of that nature, I think it's very beneficial.
09:44 And can you both highlight any specific improvements you've had from having the US Seniors' guidance or maybe being able to mentor a rookie as well?
09:53 For me, it's at training and stuff when I can really bring out my coaching side of things, where I like to have little pointers and stuff that people might be doing wrong
10:06 and I like to help them through that because I've been through that before with some of my old teams.
10:11 They've helped me, so I feel like it's due diligence for me to help other people.
10:16 And it definitely helps to build confidence, me as a rookie, when some of the senior players give me a pointer or tap me on the shoulder and tell me,
10:26 "You could be doing this better, maybe try this." It's very useful.
10:31 That sounds interesting. How often do you guys communicate with each other? Is it every day or is it when it's needed?
10:36 It's pretty much every day if we can. It's not really personal, like one-to-one. It's more of like we're in group chats, we're saying,
10:45 "Oh guys, who's going to the gym today? Do you want to come with me?" More things of that nature, like we've booked the basketball court,
10:51 who wants to come play basketball with everyone? Just kind of outside of socials to have that social space to communicate with each other and just enjoy being together.
11:02 And when did the buddy system start? Because Joel, when you were a rookie, did you have a buddy as well?
11:08 We didn't have a buddy system. We had more of like a father-son system. So it was more like I had a father who I looked up to.
11:19 And it's a bit different fundamentally to how we were trying to run the buddy system this year.
11:24 Because last year there was no punishments or anything, like if you're late to training. Yeah, so it's a bit different.
11:31 I want to say thank you both for joining me today. I really do appreciate it. It's been interesting talking to you both.
11:36 And now we've reached the end zone of today's episode. Join us next week where we will look at the games, playoffs and the fans.
11:43 But for today, that's all. Thank you.
11:45 [MUSIC]
12:00 [END]