Forge ’25 prepared Marble Falls athletes for August camps

CAPTION: Senior Gregory Lemon jams senior Joaquin Aguilar at the li e of scrimmage. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

Long before the Marble Falls High School football team took to the field at Mustang Stadium for its Midnight Madness Aug. 4, the players had physically and mentally prepared for what was coming because of their commitment to Forge ’25.

Forge is the summer strength and conditioning program led by strength and conditioning coordinator Karl “Beef” Bielfeldt.

Bielfeldt was pleased by a number of factors this summer, his second to lead the program. Top of the list is consistency – in attendance, work ethic and determination to be in shape for fall training camps.

“I think we definitely had more consistency,” he said. “I have a quote on the white board ‘Did you get by or did you get better?'”

Bielfeldt said the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs got better throughout the summer.

He credits athletic director Keri Timmerman and the head coaches of each sport for that. The upperclassmen also encouraged their teammates to attend. Every sprint drill on the turf at Mustang Stadium was designed to force athletes to compete with one another. When they did agility drills, it was about following a pattern of stops, planting and going again. The weight room also had a natural rhythm as athletes went from lift to lift all designed to force them to pump iron that strengthen them and was meant to be done in a timely manner to get the most reps in before the session ended.

All of that helped the athletes get ready for the high intensity training they were experiencing on the opening weekend the University Interscholastic League allowed programs to begin formal practices.

Bielfeldt said he saw an increase of an average of 10-20 pounds in the weight room and one to three-inch increase in the broad jump from where the athletes left off in the spring.

One question that coaches will ask their players is “what does it take to break you?” For this Marble Falls staff, it’s not enough they challenge their athletes to be physically tough, Bielfeldt said. They also want to help them be mentally and spiritually tough, too.

“It’s the whole athlete,” he said. “Physically and mentally.”

Programs every where are doing the physical, he said. But the Marble Falls athletes must decide if they believe and trust their teammates, their coaches and themselves. For those who went through Forge during the summer with their teammates and coaches, the answer is obvious because they put in the sweat equity together.

“Those are questions we ask,” the coordinator said.

The other piece is that players in multiple sports took on the responsibility of inviting their teammates to compete in spring and summer leagues with them in what appeared to be a conscious move by the coaching staff in an effort to move the athletic department from being coach-fed to player-led.

“I believe that’s where we need to go,” Bielfeldt said. “It has to be the players.”

He pointed out a scene in “Miracle” after Herb Brooks revealed who he wanted on the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team without “some of the best players” or input from the advisory committee.

“I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right ones,” Brooks said.

“If we don’t prepare and do what we need to do,” Bielfeldt said, “it’s on us.”

Like Timmerman, Bielfeldt was equally upbeat about the Lady Mustangs’ numbers.

“We saw a huge influx in freshmen and sophomores,” the coordinator said. “And our juniors and seniors are here. Last year we had 15 to 35. This year we averaged 35 to 40.”

That illustrates the mental change in the girls program where the Lady Mustangs know that if they’re not on vacation or at a camp, they need to attend Forge.

Bielfeldt emphasized Forge was designed to help the athletes get stronger, faster and more agile. But it can’t overcome lack of sleep, dehydration and a poor diet. Athletes who don’t make choices that help their bodies in those three areas “are not going to see those benefits” from Forge.

“We find out who the real leaders are,” he said. “We want to build championship mindsets. It’s going to lift all boats. The edge comes in when everybody buys into it. It’s that identity that gives them the edge.”

CAPTION: Senior quarterback Atreyu Machacek throws a long pass. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro