Wednesday practice for the Chaminade Varsity Football team was spent a little differently this week. The team warmed up as they always do, ran through the usual drills, and heard the same whistles, but they also huddled-up behind their Head Coach, Ed Croson, as he received the first ABC7/NFL High School Coach of the Week award for the 2012 season.

The players listened in respectful silence as their coach told John Hartung of ABC7 Eyewitness News about the importance of a Marianist education, the family spirit and respect the players and coaches have for one another at Chaminade. At the end of the interview they cheered and clapped for their coach, and then ran out onto the field for practice (they face Arkansas’ Pulaski Academy on Friday, August 31).

The Chaminade family will have to wait until Saturday, September 1 to watch the interview, which will appear on ABC7’s Sports Zone show. In addition to the award, the NFL Youth Football Fund will give a $1,000 grant to the School’s football program.

Throughout the season, ABC7 and the NFL present a Coach of the Week award each week to honor “coaches who not only stand out because of their coaching on the field, but also for their efforts on behalf of the students, the school, and the community, and for their continued efforts to demonstrate the importance of player health and safety.” Honorees are chosen based on nomination letters sent in by the public.