Westside head football coach Paul Limongi gives out weekly awards to individual players. Every week the coaching staff comes together to hand out five awards to a different individuals. The awards are Toolbox, Shield, Hammer, King of the Trenches and Team First, and all have different meanings and recognize players for something they did that week.
“Team First” is an award typically given to two players each week. It’s awarded to players who sacrifice for their team, and help prepare the team for that week’s game. Most of the work for the team first award is done throughout the practice week. It’s typically given to younger players, or players on the scrappy team in practice.
“They’re trying to make us extremely prepared for our next opponent,” Limongi said. “It’s two young guys who are truly hard working that make more of their teammates’ preparation than themselves. They’re as important to this team as anybody else.”
“Toolbox” is an award given to a player who does it all for the Warriors. The winner of this award puts in time, effort, dedication and sacrifices for the team. The player is the strongest representation of the Westside culture. Limongi describes these players as the poster child of Westside football.
“They do everything we ask, they’re program type players,” Limongi said. “They’re great representatives of our program. They’re like our poster child, they just do everything right, own our culture, are Westside through and through.”
“The Shield” is given to a wide receiver each week. The award is given based on how unselfish the receiver is. It’s not based on catches or statistics, but rather how they block on the perimeter. The receiver winning the shield embodies effort and toughness, the Westside moto.
“It’s about blocking, it’s about running your routes hard,” Limongi said. “It’s an achievement for wide receivers that really show their effort and toughness. To have a great offense you have to have unselfish players, especially at wide receiver.”
The “ET Hammer” is another award for a player that exemplifies the Westside mantra, effort and toughness. The player recognized with this achievement is extremely physical, working hard from beginning to end. The winner of this award will lead the Warriors out of the tunnel holding the team’s hammer.
“It’s the guy who’s extremely tough, that plays extremely hard,” Limongi said. “He plays hard from the start of the week till the end of the game that week. He’s an aggressive kid that will lead us out the tunnel.”
Last but not least is “King of the Trenches”. This award is for a player on the offensive or defensive line. Both sides of the line typically go unnoticed and this award recognizes some of the players up front. The winner is described as putting in lots of courage and toughness throughout the week. The line is recognized as a big part of the team and the “King of the Trenches” puts in unmatched work up front.
“It goes to the unsung heroes,” Limongi said. “The guy who doesn’t get a whole lot of publicity, but played a great game. It’s not the guy you’ll find on the stat sheet but he makes plays and does the unselfish things for the team.”
The winners of each award are recognized at the start of the week. The five or six winners are posted on the teams social media accounts as well. These awards are given to show recognition for all the hard work players put in.
