If you were near the sideline at Kelleytown Stadium during the 2008 prep football season, you may have heard some chain rattling. If you saw a member of the team, you may have seen a chain link around the neck of that member.
The chain is what connects the Hartsville Red Foxes.
When Hartsville head coach Jeff Calabrese began his head coaching career seven years ago at West Florence High, he began with a record of 1-10 in his first season. After such a long season, he tried to think of a way to bring his team together.
Enter the chain. Calabrese first saw the chain as a member of the Newberry College football team during his own playing days. He brought that chain to Hartsville when he returned.
For the Foxes, the chain represents the team.
“It’s a message,” Calabrese said. “All of the links are the same. Each link has a different job.”
The team has one large chain for the team, and each individual member of the team has his own link on a string around his neck. This includes players, coaches, trainers and assistants.
Calabrese said the chain represents the job that each member of the team must do.
“No one link is more important that the other,” he said. “Everyone has to do their job.”
For example, the coach said he represents one link in the chain as coach, and the team’s trainers and assistants represent their respective links, but neither link is more important than the other.
The chain also is a symbol of the old adage, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”
This season the team added something new to the chain.
New defensive line coach Tony Moore saw the chain and liked the idea. He even suggested an addition.
The large team chain is broken down during the week, the coach said, and each position group is given a section of the chain.
On each day of practice, the player who performs the best in practice gets to keep the section of chain for the day.
The sections are then put back together on Friday to form the large team chain.
“The chain shows the kids they’re part of something bigger than themselves,” Calabrese said. “And that there are no stars on the team. Everyone is equal.”
The coach said the smaller sections that are awarded to one player daily are a great motivator for the players. Since they see it everyday, he said, it adds a sense of competition to practice.
Calabrese said several players on the team who have been on the team for four years will where all four links at the same time. “There’s a sense of pride in it,” the coach said. “I think the kids really love it.”
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