MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Miami Dolphins today hosted the Barbara Goleman Senior High School and St. Andrew's School football teams at their minicamp practice. The teams were given a tour of the Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University and heard from Miami Dolphins Youth Programs Ambassador and alum Twan Russell about the importance of mental toughness. The teams also had the opportunity to watch the Dolphins practice and meet with current players on the field.
"To come out here, be this close to the players, see what the practices are like, see the effort that they're giving, it's great all around," Barbara Goleman Senior High School Head Football Coach Ariel Cribeiro said. "I think Twan's talk was great for our guys to understand the mental side of the game and the effort that it takes to be a great football player and a great football team."
"My guys are unified, but I think this propelled us. We're more together now after watching these guys play," Barbara Goleman Senior High School junior wide receiver Zachary Valcarcel said. "This practice makes me want to model our practices like this. The receivers were moving really fast out of their breaks and I would like to implement that in our practice."
"It's a great experience for myself and hopefully more importantly it's a great experience for the kids," St. Andrew's School Head Football Coach Jimmy Robertson said. "That's something that we preach every practice is intensity. Watching it first hand from the Miami Dolphins, hopefully that carries over for us and we get to build off of that for our upcoming season."
"It was a great experience seeing how the professionals do it, how everything is clean and crisp. How the quarterbacks kept control of the entire offense in the red zone and when they were driving down the field and how they had everything under control will help me a lot with my game," St. Andrew's School sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Young said.
As part of the Miami Dolphins' commitment to the development of high school and youth football, the team will host high school teams from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties at the team's offseason practices. The team visits are a targeted effort to recognize, inspire and increase football participation through personal connections centered on the positive character building aspects of playing the game.
The Junior Dolphins program encourages youth players and coaches to teach, learn and play football in a fun and safe environment. The Junior Dolphins program is designed to give kids access to learn the fundamentals of football using the NFL's top resources. To grow the game, the Junior Dolphins program will work to educate coaches, parents and youth on the health and safety of football with a strong emphasis on character development. Junior Dolphins is building the next generation of Dolphins Fans.
This event is one of the DolphinsHuddlefor100 service projects as part of the NFL's 100th celebration. The NFL has invited fans, players, clubs and employees to join Huddle for 100, an effort to inspire 1 million people to volunteer 100 minutes of their time to make meaningful contributions to their communities. These activities connect to the Miami Dolphins "Teamwork at Work" initiative to level the playing field through the power of teamwork to inspire a healthier, more educated and united South Florida community. For more information on the NFL Huddle and to see volunteer opportunities with the Dolphins, visit **https://www.miamidolphins.com/community/specialteams**.
