By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Football practice begins Monday afternoon at Junction City High School with Randall Zimmerman starting his 30th season as Blue Jay head coach. "We are very much looking forward to getting going."
Zimmerman has been a coach for 39 years overall with stops at Sacred Heart in Salina and in Phillipsburg before coming to Junction City. He still enjoys being involved in athletics. " I do. I love every minute of it. Opened up school on Friday, just good to be around young people and the energy that they bring. I've got a lot of years in me, I hope." The coach added that he is hoping to be in Junction City for a long time.
The Blue Jays host the Hays Indians in the season opener on Sept.1. Other regular season home games on the schedule include Bishop Carroll, Washburn Rural and Emporia. There will be road trips to Dodge City, McPherson, Manhattan and Topeka High.
The Blue Jays will culminate the first week of practice on Saturday with a practice from 8 - 10 a.m., and then Future Blue Jays for K - 6 youth from 10:30 - 11, followed by a 7th-8th grade practice run by the high school staff from 11 - to noon. From noon to 1 p.m. there will be 7th and 8th graders practicing on the east end of the field at Blue Jay Stadium and 4th through 6th graders on the west end of the field. There will also be a family picnic in the stadium from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The Blue Jay football squad will participate in a three-team Jamboree hosted by Shawnee Heights on Friday Aug. 25th. Washburn Rural will also be in attendance there.