Westminster’s football program preparing for liftoff

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Head coach John Davis instructs players from Westminster Christian during football practice. The Warriors are starting a program from scratch. | Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media

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Updated: August 17, 2011 11:22PM

On the morning of Aug. 3, a group of 25 seventh- and eighth-graders gathered with a few coaches on a practice field at Westminster Christian.

Just like that, a new local football program was born.

Years of planning and months of fund-raising led to the moment, but at long last the wheels are in motion for the private school on Elgin’s west side to round out its athletic program with the most high-profile high school sport around.

Westminster, which is home to students ranging from preschool through high school, will make its initial foray into football with a junior high season this fall. Next year the high school will field a junior varsity team, and the plan is for the Warriors to begin competing at the varsity level by 2013 or 2014.

“This is a very big step and very exciting,” Westminster athletic director Rick Palmer said. “Football is really going to bring a different dynamic to the school like it always does.”

Westminster is most well known for its baseball program, which in the past decade has developed into a powerhouse that won the Class 1A state championship in 2010. The school’s boys basketball and boys soccer teams have also won postseason titles, so a solid athletic foundation exists as the football program begins to take shape.

With a high school enrollment of 204 students, the question has long been whether Westminster would have enough interest to field a football team. That question is being answered by the 25 junior high students who since that initial gathering earlier this month have been showing up for practice every morning leading up to the first day of school next Monday.

At the head of the program is John Davis, who brings close to 10 years experience coaching youth football to his role as Westminster’s head coach. The plan is for Davis to move up to the high school level next year with the current group of eighth-graders and eventually hold the title of varsity head coach when the Warriors reach that status.

For now, everything is a work in progress as Davis tries to prepare a team that is extremely short on organized football experience for its first game against Aurora Christian later this month.

“It’s pretty exciting to see things starting to come together and to see the learning curve,” Davis said. “We’ve mostly got kids that have never tackled before, but to see the strides they are making every single day is encouraging.”

It isn’t cheap to get a football program off the ground, but Westminster is finding a way to make things work. Davis said he is already counting the blessings that have been bestowed upon the program, including helmets that were donated to the team. He also said the program’s fund-raising campaign exceeded its goal by raising close to $25,000.

The Warriors will play their home games on the field at the old Hampshire High School this fall. The home opener is set for Sept. 9.

Palmer said the plan is for Westminster to eventually play its home games on campus. The school’s soccer field doesn’t drain well and thus isn’t ready yet to handle both football and soccer, so the junior high football team is currently practicing on a field to the south of the school’s baseball diamond.

A spot in the Northeast Athletic Conference awaits Westminster’s high school football team in the coming years. Until then, Palmer has utmost faith in Davis to shepherd the program through its infancy stages.

“The school is excited, I’m excited and the parents are excited,” Palmer said. “I’ve watched a couple practices and John is phenomenal with kids. I’m really excited about his leadership, not only with football, but also his spiritual leadership for the team. He’s going to be a great fit for the Westminster family.”