Familiar goals for summer strength training
Bigger, faster and stronger are the primary objectives during the summer strength training program.
But the Scott Community High School coaching staff is also looking for a fourth element from their athletes - something less tangible.
“It’s about developing a work ethic . . . teaching the kids they are accountable,” says SCHS football and basketball head coach Glenn O’Neil. Along with Jim Turner and John Zilla, the trio has also supervised the summer strength training program for high school and junior high athletes in the district.
“We feel that during the summer program we help instill in these kids the importance of being someone your teammates can count on during a game. Are you willing to make the commitment that it takes to make a team special?” says O’Neil.
There’s no doubt the strength training program - aided by gains made during the summer months - has been at the core of Scott City’s sports success over the years.
Of the approximately 60 high school boys who were in the weight room this summer, most will also be on the football field this fall. These are athletes who understand the value of the strength program.
“We had 25 to 35 boys who were consistently in the weight room this summer and we’re real happy with their gains,” says the head coach. About 15 boys finished the summer with perfect attendance.
Sean Tuttle, a 212-pound sophomore, has seen his leg squats improve from 240 pounds a year ago to 375 pounds at the end of this summer. O’Neil says the team has more boys capable of squatting 300-plus pounds “than we’ve had for a long time around here.”
Sophomore receiver Brenner Wells has also caught the attention of SCHS coaches with his improvement over the past few months. The 150-pounder was squatting 270 pounds when the summer strength program wrapped up last week.
“Pound for pound, he’s probably the strongest kid in school,” O’Neil says.
While the coaches haven’t put extra emphasis on leg squats, Wichita Collegiate’s power on the offensive and defensive lines didn’t go unnoticed during last season’s 19-17 playoff loss to the eventual Class 3A state champions. It’s definitely an area where the Beavers were hoping to make gains this summer.
“The boys came in with a good foundation and we’ve built on that,” O’Neil says. “We were jumping 15-25 pounds in the first six weeks.”
And while maximum lifts may not be eye-popping in some instances, that’s not a primary focus in the weight room.
“We want to see how well the boys can do with four or five (repetitions) at 85 percent of their max. We’d like to see high maxes, but we’re more interested in seeing what kind of endurance they have to go with that,” notes O’Neil. “That’s what pays off in the fourth quarter.”
Not All ‘Buy In’
Unfortunately, not all athletes - or those who want to be athletes - have bought into the value of strength training for one reason or another.
“The boys who we expect to see on the football field as starters made a real commitment to the weight room, which we expect to see. They’ve bought into what we’re doing,” says O’Neil.
“The big disappointment is with those 25 percent we’re expecting to go out for football who didn’t spend time in the room this summer.
“These younger boys - primarily freshmen - still have to buy into what we’re doing. Football and weights haven’t been their priority.”
While these are boys who will be playing freshman and junior varsity football, they still represent the future of SCHS sports. These younger boys who could be facing some huge challenges in the upcoming years as SCHS enters its first season as a member of the Great West Activities Conference.
Looking around the landscape at their new league, O’Neil says Hugoton and Goodland each have freshmen classes they are expecting big things from in the next 2-3 years.
The lower-than-usual participation among junior high and freshmen athletes can possibly be attributed to several factors, including lower enrollment at those grade levels along with the implementation of a $60 fee for all strength training participants this summer.
Only about 20 junior high boys were in the weight room this summer and just three middle school girls. Participation by SCHS girls in the weight room this summer was also poor.
O’Neil is concerned that the strength training fee implemented by the board of education may have had an impact on participation by junior high students.
“I think it made a difference. It’s something we really need to look at,” O’Neil emphasizes. “We have a great facility that needs to be used. If we see a drop-off in participation, especially by junior high kids, it’s really going to put us behind the eight ball if we want to continue competing at the high level that everyone expects.”
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Sometimes it’s good for a prospect to start bad. It takes a toll on you, but it also makes you tougher. It can make you a better player in the end.
Justin Miller
minor league pitcher