While most students were spending summer building sandcastles on the beach or at a concert, varsity football players Eric Flowers and Stanley Cea were training everyday for the upcoming football season at Birmingham Community Charter High School.

Both varsity linebackers Flowers and Cea have been up to intense summer training in order to come back stronger and more focused this 2014-2015 season.

Unfortunately, both players have sustained some injuries during their first game versus Newbury Park.  Cea scraped his lower left leg, but has since been training for their upcoming game against Norte Dame on Sept. 5. However, Flowers broke his collarbone during the same game and will not be playing for about the next four weeks.

Even with these injuries, these two Patriots won’t let their goals be wrapped under bandages.

The BCCHS football team had an undoubtedly challenging, but successful last season ending with an overall record of 8-4. They also made it to the quarterfinals of the CIF Division I City Section Playoffs where they lost to Narbonne High School with the final score being 21-14 but hope to get  further this year.

The team has been doing a lot of physical and mental  training to prepare and improve for their new season ahead.

“Definitely offense (needs improvement). We’ve always had a solid defense, but we have a lot of young kids this year so it needs to improve to help us get better,” Cea said .

Cea’s teammate Flowers slightly disagrees with him.

“The team is good, especially with the large amount of freshmen coming in this year,” Flowers said.

This is Flowers’ third year on the varsity team and Cea’s first, and so with a bit more experience on the team Flowers believes they can improve on being more disciplined.

BCCHS football team is looking to incorporate some of these strategies for this season on the field, to be fully focused and working well together.

“I think this season will be a success, that we will complete all the goals that we set for ourselves in the preseason,” Flowers said.