HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team hit the practice field for the first time Wednesday morning at Strawberry Stadium.  
 
Southeastern, the preseason Southland Conference favorite and one of six FCS teams to be ranked in the top 25 in each of the past three years, heads into the 2022 campaign looking for its third playoff appearance in the past four seasons. SLU fifth-year head coach Frank Scelfo was especially impressed with one aspect of his Lions' performance.
 
"The most positive thing was our conditioning," Scelfo commented. "We were anxious to see how all the hard work that we put in over the summer translated to the field. Our guys were able to come out here and go full speed throughout the first practice, which was exciting to see."
 
Wednesday marked the first of the four initial days of fall camp that will be split-squad workouts with one group practicing at 9 a.m. and the other half working out at 10:30 a.m.
 
"Splitting the practices for these first four days allows us to give everyone ample reps," Scelfo said. "We're able to properly evaluate how our younger players are taking what they learn in the meeting rooms and translating it to their performance on the field. With these increased reps, we also see a lot of growth from day one through four."
 
Southeastern will practice Monday through Saturday at 9 a.m. until the first day of fall classes, set for Aug. 17. Starting with the beginning of the fall semester, SLU will practice Monday through Thursday at 3:45 p.m. and Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. until the week of the Sept. 3 season opener at UL Lafayette.
 
Southeastern opens the 2022 season at the Ragin' Cajuns in a 6 p.m. contest. The home opener is set for Sept. 17 versus Central Connecticut State.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2022-23 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.