Thursday, August 12, 1999
Bearcats to train off campus
Move gives young team chance to refocus, make new start
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
They are not trying to hide, as tempting as that may seem after a 2-9 football season in which the Cincinnati Bearcats surrendered 25 fumbles and 59 touchdowns.
UC is searching for more of a fresh start than an escape in moving its preseason camp from the university's campus to the Higher Ground Conference & Retreat Center in West Harrison, Ind.
“I've wanted to go off-site for five years,” coach Rick Minter said. “The decision to finally do it came at a very important, transitional year for the program. We have five new coaches on board. We have schematic changes. We have youthful players, new players that are being counted on.
“We've got a lot of focusing and concentrating and catching up to do, so if it helps to go somewhere in isolation, to promote that element of toughness mentally as well as physically, then it's good timing for us.”
The camp opens Wednesday, with two-a-day practices running through Aug. 26. The season opener is Sept. 4 against Kent. Bearcats newcomers have been working out since Tuesday to prepare for Division I football.
A UC spokesman said the cost difference between conducting preseason training on campus and at Higher Ground is negligible.
The first reason the move was considered was preservation of the school's one grass practice field, which is just 85 yards long and absorbed enough abuse last season that eventually the Bearcats practiced in the outfield at the school's Johnny Bench Field baseball diamond.
Minter said the reward could be even more significant in several “intangible” categories:
• Breaking the monotony. Because UC does not begin classes until Sept.23, football players in the past were on campus nearly a month by themselves.
• Bringing players down to earth. Higher Ground has air-conditioned dorm facilities, but it's not a country club. “When our guys come back, they're going to appreciate what we do have,” Minter said.
• Forging team chemistry. UC has only nine seniors on its two-deep depth chart. “I think it's good that a young football team, that's searching for so many answers right now, will get a real total focus on concentration and chemistry-building. It's good to say, "All right, it's us against the world, let's bond, zero in, focus and eliminate the outside distractions.'”
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 Bearcats to train off campus
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