Lions football looks to continue winning together

In his second season with the Trinity Christian Lions, head football coach Darren Bowling likes where the team is this year.

A lot of that positivity comes from the fact that he’s been with the program all offseason, he and the coaches know the players and they know them.

“This time a year ago, I felt like I was still getting to know some of them,” Bowling said.

The Lions spent last week in Columbia at the 4-H camp there for a week retreat, which is something he’s done with every team he’s coached in the last 20 years.

“Every program I’ve coached including Olive Branch [Miss.] and Murray [Kent.], we’ve taken to Columbia for camp,” Bowling said. “And it’s a good thing.

“It’s about team building while also getting ready for the season. We’re getting them away from girlfriends, friends with more time on their hands, parents and everything else in their lives so that for five days they have nothing but each other. When you put them in that situation for that long, they almost have no choice but to get closer as a team.”

Over the 20 years he’s done this, Bowling has adjusted the camp to ensure getting the most out of it. The middle of the day when temperatures were most likely going to be times when it was too hot to practice according to the TSSAA, they had team meetings, film work, team-building activities, devotionals and other indoor things planned.

There was also an indoor pavilion to get some work in if they felt the need.

“We didn’t take their phones away from them for the week, but we made sure they didn’t have access to them during the day,” Bowling said. “So at the end of the day or sometime late they could check in with their families and friends.

“But it’s good that as we’re working around the heat index issues that if we choose to practice at 5 a.m. or 9 p.m., it’s a lot easier to do that if we have the guys with us for 24 hours because any other week of the year we’d be asking parents to either come up to the school late or get their sons there really early.”

Bowling liked their showing against North Side on Friday, a day after returning from Columbia. He said they had a lot of energy and speed compared to a year before when their legs were dead the day after returning from camp.

A week before the Lions host South Side for a preseason scrimmage, Bowling said he feels good about where the team is. They’re further along in building an identity of physical football.

“Last year’s seniors did a good job of buying into that and building the culture, and now we’re trying to build the culture again,” Bowling said. “And we’ve got a lot of returning starters and players coming back that are showing the younger guys how to do things the right way.”

TCA’s season starts on Aug. 23 with a trip to Chester County.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news