On Thursday morning Independence High School kicked off fall practices  with the largest group of young men in several years.

Special teams were out early working on the kicking game.  Then at 9:30 a.m., the practice field filled with 96 young men and ten coaches.

After warm ups, head football coach Mike Natoli broke the team down into positions, and coaches worked with each group on their position skills.

Over on the baseball field head soccer coach Tyler Gibson worked with his soccer team.  He was working on the defense recognizing formations and how to defend each attack.  His assistants worked on passing skills and conditioning.

The soccer team will open on August 21 with a road game at Marvin Ridge.  The football team will also open with a road game.  On August 23 the Patriots will travel to North Mecklenburg to kick off the football season.