Warrenton Activities Director Craig Frazier spent most of Monday morning perusing the athletic fields at the high school. Fall sports practices officially began on Aug. 10, as athletes filtered onto the campus in mass for the first time since school dismissed in May. "It's neat to be back at it," said Frazier. "It's a great time of year." Entering his second year on the job, Frazier likes to watch over the first day of practice, as sort of the "coach of coaches." And on Monday, he was thrilled with the attendance at each practice. "Everybody has got good numbers so far," said Frazier. "I'm really pleased with that." He is also curious to see how a couple of programs will handle transitions. "The volleyball girls are all excited and have got a new coaching staff," noted Frazier. Drew DeManuel recently took over after former head coach David Evans took a position with the soccer team. DeManuel reported that 34 girls showed up for the opening practice. The soccer team is practicing on its new field just north of the high school parking lot. Coach John Schulte had 42 players report, including 22 freshmen. "The boys are excited to have their own field and not have to share facilities anymore," said Schulte. "I think this will increase attendence at our games too." Most of the coaches were pleased with the numbers and all were ecstatic about the cool temperatures. Warrenton football coach Ken Moore says if more players show, he may have to order more equipment - a problem he wouldn't mind having. "We've got great numbers right now," said Moore. "It's really exciting. We looked through the locker room and out of 85 lockers, it looks like there's about 20 that are not taken." The Warriors reported just over 60 players to Monday's morning practice. Moore spent much of the day working his team through timed drills and conditioning. The Missouri State High School Activities Association does not permit football teams to don full pads until Thursday, so the Warriors were limited to shoulder pads during their outdoor afternoon session. "We're doing a lot of forming up and a lot of fit drills," said Moore. "Maybe do some walk-throughs and fit into where we're supposed to be. Certainly, we're going to work on fundamentals." While the Warriors went through several 7-on-7 and team camps over the summer, Moore says there are still unanswered questions. "There's still a lot to find out with this team," said Moore. "Our biggest thing is are we going to become a team? Right now we're building on that. We've got a lot of individuals that do a good job and we've got to try to mold into a unit." Warrenton has seen positive time from its skill positions but is working with inexperience in the trenches. "We did have some success this summer in the 7-on-7, but we are more concerned with our lines because we are very inexperienced," said Moore. Moore says the team is anxious to build off its breakthrough playoff bid from last November. But it would also like to compete more strongly in the GAC North conference race. "As a team, we've certainly have to look at our conference and figure out how we're going to get better in our conference," said Moore. "And until we do that, I feel like we really haven't achieved what we want to do." Warrior softball coach Andrea Hawkins was also full of energy on Monday, returning for her second year at the helm. She was pleased to report 30 players showed up for Monday's practice - an increase over last season. "I'm back for my second season with the girls, and we both learned a lot about each other this past year," said Hawkins. "It's been a quick summer, but I'm anxious to get going." Hawkins admits that she was a little more comfortable opening practice with a year under her belt. "This year I understand what's to come, but I'm still excited to see what happens," said Hawkins. The Warriors spent Monday working on defense. Many of the players spent their summers competing on select teams, so there isn't much catching up to do. "We're just trying to get everybody acclamated with the high school again," said Hawkins. "They've been with their summer teams and off doing other stuff, so we want to get them back in Warrior mode." Also beginning practice on Monday were the cross country and cheerleading teams. Cross county coach Mike Spoede says he had 10 boys and nine girls report, about average for the program.