- By: Will Proctor,
- in Uncategorized
Santa Ana, California (March 15, 2021)-The LA KISS’ training camp, in preparation for the 2016 Arena Football League season, opened last week. Players reported to camp last Thursday and the first day of practice was the following day. After two days of non-contact practice, the team’s first day of fully padded and full-contact practice was held this past Sunday. The 14-day marathon is being held at Santa Ana College, the practice facility of the LA KISS.
During the offseason the AFL front office restructured the league to have only eight teams for the upcoming season. Now, with four less teams in the league, every spot on the LA KISS roster will be exceptionally valuable.
“It is definitely going to be an extremely competitive training camp this year,” explained Head Coach Omarr Smith.
Currently, the LA KISS have 30 players on their training camp roster. After the first week, the roster will be cut to 28. Each player will be competing for one of the 24 spots on the regular season roster, which is due to the league office on March 26th.
During the first week of training camp, the new coaching staff will focus on teaching their system to the players and will ensure everyone is learning the terminology. The second week of camp will have an increased attention to detail and will focus more on the ins and outs of football. The players will learn the intricate components of the offense, defense and special teams.
There will be an inter-squad scrimmage after each week of the training camp, which will try to replicate in-game situations as close as possible. The first inter-squad scrimmage will be held at the Honda Center on Saturday, March 19th, where the LA KISS will be holding a Select-A-Seat event .
“The purpose is to evaluate the players in simulated game situations,” said Coach Smith. “The number one thing in the scrimmages is to stay healthy.”
Since Arena Football is dissimilar to outdoor football in many aspects, training camp is even more valuable for players with no AFL experience.
“Rookies need to show us that they can quickly pick up the formations and the other little things that differentiate our game from outdoor football,” added Coach Smith.
The LA KISS’ 2016 season opens at home versus the reigning American Conference Champions, Jacksonville Sharks, on Saturday, April 2nd at the Honda Center. Doors will open at 6:00 pm and kickoff is set for 7:00 pm.