With a new head football coach, Great Bend High School is also trying out a new event.
The Panthers will be hosting the First Annual Great Bend Alumni 7-on-7 Football Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 16, at Memorial Stadium at 6 p.m.
There will be a registration at 5 p.m., followed by a rules meeting.
The deadline for sign up for the event is Saturday.
The issue new head coach Tony Crough is fighting against is the need for more players.
“We’re struggling to get teams signed up for it,” Crough said. “We just decided to do this back in June. This was something that I wanted to do when I took over, but since I was hired so late in the school year, I was going to hold off doing this for a year.
“But then I thought, why not?”
The event is considered a fundraiser for the football team, though Crough said he was unsure just how much money will be raised.
“We’re really not going to raise a lot of money for us,” said Crough. “More than anything, we’re just trying to get some of our alumni back and interested in the new program here.”
The entry fee is $30 per player, which will go toward a t-shirt and food for the participants.
“Anything left over will go toward the team, you know, toward things we’ll need during the season,” Crough said.
Each team needs to have at least seven players and can have a maximum of 12. Non-alumni can also join a team. A minimum of four former Panthers must be on the field at all times.
Admission for the tournament is free.
Crough is hoping that this will be an event that will grow each year.
“It’s something that I’ve seen other programs do,” Crough said. “After the first year, people start to hear about it and want to join in. I’m hoping it builds on itself.”
There will be two games going at once on the field, one of the north side and one on the south side. It will be touch football
Entry forms are available online at the Great Bend Panther Football Facebook page. They need to be returned to Great Bend High School by Saturday, Attn: Tony Crough, 2027 Morton, Great Bend, KS, 67530.
 
Mother’s football clinic
Also on Saturday, Aug. 16, Great Bend will be hosting a Mother’s Clinic in the morning.
This clinic will allow mothers of the varsity and junior varsity players to learn what their son does on the field.
This will include position drills and a classroom setup to break down what each player’s responsibilities are.
“We wanted to do this as a kind of recognition for the players’ moms,” Crough said. “A lot of the mothers don’t fully understand what their sons put into this program because they haven’t played before. We thought it would be a nice and fun way to give them an idea.”
Deadline to sign up for this is also Saturday. Those who sign up will get a jersey.
Walk-ins will be accepted, but will not receive a jersey.