Two Items of Note

There are two events coming your way this week that we wanted to post a reminder for:

1. On Thursday, July 14th is the annual Colts Leadership Challenge Blood Drive. We have historically collected a lot of blood for this worthy cause, and would like to keep it up. The blood drive is at Westfield Middle School from 3pm-8pm.
2. On Friday, July 16th, the Rocks will be washing cars to raise team funds at the First Merchants Bank in Westfield from 10am-2pm. Stop by to support your Rocks and leave with a shiny car.

Hope to see you there!

Stacked Shamrocks

Our community is growing by leaps and bounds these days. Grand Park is bringing in a ton of new businesses, and one of those has partnered with our Gridiron Club to tie a fundraiser to their grand opening. Food is free (!) and free-will donations will go to our Gridiron Club. It will be a limited menu, but what a cool way to open! Please consider stopping by to support both the Stacked Pickle and your Rocks.

Here's the full flier:

Celebrating 20 Years

We shared this information via social media yesterday, but I also wanted to follow-up with a post on the blog here. Next year marks the 20th year in the current high school facility, and a celebration is planned to honor all athletes that have played during that time period. The link below will direct former athletes to a google form that can be filled out, letting the Athletic Department know you would like to attend and some information about your time as a Rock. If you are a former Rock athlete, please consider attending and marking the special occasion for our community.

CLICK HERE for the link.

Life Lessons

I was able to get the game schedule added to the calendar today, so that is up there now as well. Check it out, and plan to come support your Rocks. (Of particular note... two Frosh Saturday games this season!)

In addition, Coach G wanted me to share an article today that talks about the life lessons learned from football. I 100% agree with the author's assertion that, with so much negatively publicity on the sport, it seems that a lot of the positive aspects of football are being overlooked. This is us doing our part to shine a light on those aspects. Please consider checking out the article here.

Summer Calendar Posted

Summer is on the horizon, and the summer football calendar came across my desk this morning. I took the time to put it into our online area, so you can find a digital version on the site here. Not everything is set in stone, but it should give an accurate idea for planning purposes. I try to keep it as up to date as possible throughout the year. There will always be the paper copies handed out by Coach G, but in case you misplace yours or do not have it handy... feel free to check out our calendar on here!

#ALBookClub

Just a few days ago, I came across an article that really got me excited. I'm both a football lover, and a bookworm, which doesn't seem to be a common combination. It was pretty cool to find a kindred spirit in Indy's own Andrew Luck. Here's the explanation, straight from Andrew in the article:

"I've been called the unofficial librarian of the Colts, which is kind of cheesy," Luck said. "But the truth is that I love to read both fiction and nonfiction and I feel strongly about the power of reading. So I thought, 'Why not start a real book club?'"

We couldn't agree more with the power of reading, whether it be fiction or nonfiction, and are wholeheartedly on board with Andrew's book club idea.

It's pretty simple to get involved. Just head over to his website to find the books. He has something for both "veterans" and "rookies." Start reading, and then post on social media. There is no sign up or login. You can interact by using the #ALBookClub tag on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter.

It's a pretty cool idea, and from time to time, Andrew will be hosting live Q&A sessions through his website. If you're also a bookworm, or even an aspiring bookwork, consider checking out this opportunity. It's pretty cool to be able to interact with the unofficial librarian (and quarterback) of the Colts.

Jim Belden

We tweeted out this article yesterday, but I wanted to make a post on here so it will show up on the blog and Facebook as well. I had the good fortune of meeting and learning from Jim Belden when he volunteered his time helping out at Westfield during his son's tenure as head coach. From personal experience, I can say that the sentiments expressed in the article are absolutely true. He was a great man and a Hall of Fame coach who dedicated his life to making Hamilton County a better place.

It has been said that a coach will impact more young people in a year than the average person does in a lifetime. Jim's impact, then, cannot be measured in years, but in lifetimes. His leadership and vision will most certainly be missed.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Belden family, along with a deep sense of gratitude for all of their contributions to our football family.