With a new regime and a fresh outlook, the University of La Verne football team conducted its first practices of the 2011 campaign on Thursday as the squad embarks on a 3 1/2-week stretch leading up to the season opener on September 10.
The Leopards squad finally hit the gridiron under first-year head coach Chris Krich who is eager to turn around the fortunes of a once-proud football program.
Based on numbers alone, there is plenty of reason for optimism as La Verne opened camp with 102 players.
"We're very excited about the squad size we have at the start," Krich said. "Quite simply there are strength in numbers, so the fact that we have over 100 players including 50 newcomers is promising."
For Krich, the hard work of preparing for this day was not lost. "This is where the recruiting efforts pay off when you see all the new faces, plus the returnees who are committed to building success," he said. "It's only the first day so we are still finding out about ourselves, and we will continue to evolve as a team in the coming days."
La Verne opens the 2011 regular season Saturday, September 10 against Azusa Pacific.
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