Bayshore Christian head football coach Phil Lazenby called the first day of practice “an event” as the first-year program officially kicked off its campaign on Wednesday, July 26.

“A lot of these guys haven’t put on a helmet and they were all complaining about how heavy it was and how hot it was,” Lazenby said Thursday at Gulf Coast Media Day. “But it was good to get out there on the field with them. It’s a good bunch of kids, they pay attention and have a lot to learn but that’s OK.”

Athletic director Jeff Hauge selected the longtime Bayside Academy head coach to start the program at Bayshore Christian on May 4. Lazenby said Thursday the Eagles would play a middle school and junior varsity schedule this year with the hopes of catching the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 2024 realignment.

Rising junior Nate Crooms, already a standout on the baseball diamond, said he was indeed one of the players complaining about their head hurting from the new helmet on the first day of practice. Still, he said the team is embracing all the headaches associated with a first-year team.

“It’s been a conversation a lot of the boys have had throughout the years and we’ve been thinking when is it going to happen so to finally get it, it was a talk we had,” Crooms said. “Some people were like, ‘Really, you’re getting a football team? You don’t have any kids,’ but I think to us it’s a challenge that we’ve accepted and I think we’re all looking forward to it.”

Brooks Jones agreed he was met with questions by his classmates but knew this had been a possibility in the works. Both Jones and Crooms said they played rec league in Spanish Fort for a handful of years before reaching high school.

“I was super excited, I think that me and Nate have been two of the biggest advocates for wanting a football team for our grade so we were both really hyped and excited for it,” Jones said of his reaction to finding out they got a team. “But like Nate said, everyone was like, ‘How do y’all have enough kids for it,’ but we’re excited to be out there so it was a good feeling.”

That feeling may only be topped by the team’s first win, whenever it may come.

“I think it’s going to be awesome because Bayshore football is something we’ve been pushing for, for a long time and it will feel like a huge milestone,” Jones said.

Until then, Crooms said one of Lazenby’s biggest messages has been to recruit as many teammates as possible.

“Bring everyone you can, we all want to be here as much as we can but if you’re not here you’re not going to get any better,” Crooms said of the head coach’s mantra. “I asked him about somebody else and he said, ‘This year, if he wants to play, just tell him to come on. We want as many kids as we can for next year.’”