KFDM COOP Posted June 30, 2008 Report Posted June 30, 2008 Gridiron heroes preparing for upcoming season By Dave Rogers Published June 28, 2008 The boys of summer don’t just play baseball anymore. Four days a week, about 200 football players for Baytown’s three high schools are on campus lifting weights and running sprints under the direction of their coaches. “This way they maintain what we built in the spring and they come in in August in shape and ready to roll,†Lee coach Mark Crooms said. “We didn’t have this when I was playing. I wish we had.†Of course, it’s illegal to hold summer football practices before the UIL’s official preseason start dates (Aug. 11 for those who held spring training, Aug. 4 for those who did not). These workouts fall under the UIL title “Summer Strength and Conditioning Program†and may be held Monday through Thursday from the end of school until the fourth Thursday in July. For Lee, Sterling and Goose Creek Memorial athletes, the voluntary two-hour workouts include a mix of weightlifting and running designed to make the players stronger, faster and quicker. “Basically we spend an hour in the weight room with them, then we go out and do some agility drills and running, work them into shape for August,†explained Memorial head coach Bret Boyd. His players are working out at Gentry Junior School while waiting for the new school to open. Rules forbid any football specific instruction and it’s not just football players doing the workouts. “We started off with athletes in all sports,†Boyd said. “We had several girls. But consistently, day in and day out, it’s primarily football. A lot of the other sports have started comparable programs.†Sterling assistant coach Adam Moseley said it’s the same at his school. “We have some girls’ basketball players and others come through every now and then, but 99 percent of are football,†he said. Each school offers two two-hour sessions a day, to accommodate their players’ availability. Players may legally attend only once per day. Crooms and fellow Lee assistant coach Milford Stephensen oversee sessions that run from noon to 2 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Moseley and Mike Garcia oversee Sterling’s strength and conditioning sessions from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. “Usually, attendance is a lot better in the morning,†Moseley said. “Usually, the afternoon is for kids going to summer school.†Crooms said Lee also plans its sessions with summer school in mind. “The ones in summer school can come right over (at 2 p.m.),†he said. “The ones not in summer school come at 12. The ones who are working can come on their own (after 4 p.m.). I usually don’t go home until 6.†At Gentry, Memorial coaches hold strength and conditioning sessions from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to noon. “Next year, we may do times differently,†Boyd said. “We may do one from 8 to 10 in the morning and another from 5 to 7 in the evening. But we took a poll of kids we were working with in the spring for the best times and this is how it ended up.†The times are good for the Patriots, based on turnout. “We’re probably averaging 65-70 kids during the day,†Boyd said. “We started off with about 90 and then everybody started taking their family vacations.†“Attendance has been great†at Lee, Crooms says, with about 60 players coming to the noon session and 30 more at 2 p.m. Moseley said Sterling averages about 50 players for its morning session and 25 in the afternoon. “You’re obviously going to have kids who use the summer to take family trips,†Sterling head coach Herb Minyard said. “We also try to impress upon them that if you’re here, in town, you kind of need to be here. “Obviously, we can’t make it mandatory. It’s a voluntary deal, if they want to prepare themselves.†Preparation is what it’s all about. “Football and volleyball are the only two sports that begin before school,†Minyard said. “Kids have to prepare themselves through the summer months to be ready to go.†Exactly, said Boyd. “Coaches have always been in the weight room for safety reasons, but it’s just been four or five years they’ve allowed the conditioning programs,†the Patriot coach said. “It’s definitely good with today’s world and the heat. It’s hard for kids to go out on their own and work out. Having them together helps everybody
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