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February 4, 2016 at 8:20 pm #38598
znModeratorRams pick Oxnard for mini training camp
Bob Buttitta of the Ventura County Star
The Los Angeles Rams have chosen Oxnard as the training site for their upcoming Organized Team Activities and mini camp.
Oxnard Assistant City Manager Scott Whitney said Thursday the city is negotiating with the Rams and both sides hope to strike a deal soon for the team to train at the River Ridge fields starting this spring. The Rams would use the River Ridge fields and the locker room facilities located adjacent to the playing fields. Those are the same fields the Dallas Cowboys use when they train in Oxnard.
Any deal must be approved by the Oxnard City Council.
In addition to negotiating with the city for the use of the fields and locker room, the Rams must also reach an agreement with the Marriott Residence Inn, which is located next to the fields and would provide housing and meeting space for Rams personnel.
Artis Twyman, the senior director of communications for the Rams, said he’s not sure when the team would arrive in California, but added the team’s offseason program begins April 18.
“As far as the offseason training program goes, it involves our coaches and players, but most of the organization will be probably be moved at that time,” Twyman said. “There are several phases to the offseason program, some of it will be just players and some of it will involve players and coaches.”
A National Football League team’s offseason organized team activities, called OTAs, are separate from training camp. They are practice sessions that concentrate on technique, basic personnel packages and repetition. A typical session starts with players meeting with position coaches or coordinators to watch tape and talk about areas to focus on when they are on the field.
Once out on the field, the session generally starts with a special teams workout. No pads are allowed except for a helmet. Most of the time is spent on technique, foot placement, use of hands and so on. It’s a teaching period more than anything, as playing special teams without pads is a challenge.
That is followed by an individual period where each group spends time doing drills specific to the players’ positions. From there they move on to a seven-on-seven drill where quarterbacks, running backs and receivers compete against linebackers and defensive backs.
Finally, there’s a period where both the offense and defense come together for team sessions. Work is done at half-speed, with the emphasis on learning plays and understanding individual responsibilities.
Then there is post-practice, where players head to the weight room for a lifting session, work on conditioning on the field or study tape in the film room. The entire practice is under two hours.
Under normal circumstances, players commute from their homes to the team facility for these practices. Because the Rams are moving from St. Louis and most players don’t have homes here yet, the Marriott would provide housing and meeting space.
It would likely be very similar to the structure used by the Dallas Cowboys when they hold training camp in Oxnard. The Cowboys use the River Ridge fields, the locker room and hotel facilities. The Cowboys bring several large trailers to the site to hold equipment and put up tents for weight room facilities and the media.
February 5, 2016 at 12:15 am #38603
ZooeyModeratorOxnard?
Did you say…Oxnard?
February 24, 2016 at 8:34 am #39505znModeratorLos Angeles Rams close to finalizing deal to hold spring practices in Oxnard
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sn-rams-oxnard-20160222-story.html
Nathan Fenno and Sam FarmerContact Reporters
After weeks of weighing their options, the Rams are beginning to finalize plans for their first year back in Los Angeles.The Oxnard City Council will vote Tuesday on an agreement with the team to hold spring practices in the city – on the same site where the Dallas Cowboys stage their training camp.
The River Ridge fields would host the Rams from April 18 through June 17, according to the proposed contract between the team and city.
“We have zeroed in on Oxnard for our initial off-season football operations as it is the most turn-key site available given the field access and the adjacent hotel space,” Kevin Demoff, Rams executive vice president of football operations, told The Times. “The goal is to allow our coaches, players and football staff to be able to concentrate on football without having to worry about an environment that has never hosted an NFL team.”
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Because the Cowboys are coming back to Oxnard this summer, the Rams need to go elsewhere for training camp. Demoff said the club has talked with a number of universities in Southern California “to find a training camp site that meets the needs of both our team and our fans.” He hopes to decide on a site by the end of March. He said the franchise has had discussions with UC Irvine, which previously hosted the Rams.At the end of training camp, the Rams plan to move into what they will call their “permanent temporary facility,” which will serve as their base for football operations for the next few years while their permanent football facility is being built. That is not expected to be located in Inglewood, where a new stadium is on track to be constructed by 2019.
“The searches for both the temporary facility and permanent facility are underway,” Demoff wrote in an email. “The most important consideration for our organization from a relocation standpoint right now is finding a training site that can become a home community for our players, coaches and staff for years to come.”
At the moment, the Oxnard agreement is closest to completion. According to the contract with the city, the Rams would use the locker room facilities from March 28-June 24. Oxnard would receive $510 a day from the Rams for use of the grass practice fields, $680 a day for use of the locker rooms.
The agreement calls for the Rams to maintain the fields and provide bleachers and security. The cost of fencing in and around the fields would be split by the team and city.
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Scott Whitney, Oxnard’s assistant city manager and point person on the deal. “It just really worked out for [the Rams].”
Whitney said that language about one or more practices being open to the public was put in the contract in case the Rams elected to do so. He isn’t aware of anything that’s planned at this point.
“The Rams really don’t have anything scheduled yet,” he said. “If they’re able to do something, we’re ready.”
The Rams participated in two days of practices with the Cowboys in Oxnard last August. Whitney does not anticipate a long-term relationship between the Rams and Oxnard.
“They’ve indicated this is going to be a one-year agreement,” he said, “but I don’t know if they’ve found a permanent home for spring practices, so you never know.”
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February 24, 2016 at 10:28 am #39514znModeratorOxnard approves temp site deal with Rams
by Vincent Bonsignore
link: http://www.insidesocal.com/nfl/2016/02/24/oxnard-approves-temp-site-deal-with-rams/
The Los Angeles Rams will hold a one-day team meeting March 4 in Manhattan Beach to update players on the relocation process to Los Angeles, with a heavy emphasis focused on where the Rams will set up a temporary site for minicamps and OTA’s through midsummer and identifying a training camp site.
At least one of those sites is close to being official.
The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday night approved a deal with the Rams to set up temporary headquarters at the same site the Dallas Cowboys hold training camp. If everything goes as planned, the Rams will set up shop in Oxnard in early April and stay through the middle of June. Soon after, the Cowboys will return for training camp.
“It’s a turn key facility with what the Cowboys have done up there,” Rams president and CEO Kevin Demoff said. “From there — the Cowboys will be coming back in July — we need to find a new training camp home and we’ve talked to a number of different universities about that opportunity.”
Although nothing is official on training camp, the Rams are leaning strongly toward UC Irvine.
Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks remains a possibility, though.
In addition, the Rams are scouring the Southern California for a temporary headquarters and practice facility site they can use throughout the 2016 season.
“We’re looking for what I call permanent/temporary space all around Los Angeles, with a focus on the (San Fernando) Valley area, and trying to get a handle on what that might look like and where that might be. And from there, where can your get office space.” Demoff said. “And of course, finding the permanent practice facility is an ongoing process, which will probably take most of 2016 is my guess.
“But hopefully by March 1st, we’ll have nailed down most of this.”
The Rams’ long-range plans for a team headquarter site is in the West San Fernando Valley region around Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills.
The agreement with Oxnard calls for the Rams to lease the fields for $510 per day from April 18 to June 17, a total cost of $31,110. The team will also lease the locker rooms at a cost of $680 per day from March 28 through June 24, a total cost of $59,840.
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