Burnet athletes invited to summer strength and conditioning

CAPTION: Head football coach Ben Speer talks to his players about maximum effort in their sprints, which are part of the summer strength and conditioning program before a whistle is blown for them to start sprinting. Staff photos by Jennifer Fierro

The Burnet Consolidated Independent School District athletic department will host its annual summer strength and conditioning program beginning Monday, June 1.

The high school athletes, boys and girls, will meet at 7 a.m. and the junior high athletes, boys and girls, follow at 9:30 a.m.

When one group is going through its weight lifting session, the other is participating in the conditioning program on the turf at the Burnet Student Activity Center.

Football head coach Ben Speer said the benefits of participation are numerous. He pointed out this is the time when athletes are adding to the gains they’ve made in the offseason and are getting their bodies ready for what’s coming in the fall. It’s also a time when team leaders emerge in the locker room, position rooms and training rooms

“You’re prepping for August and whether it’s offense or defense, strategies and techniques, that’s always good as well,” Speer said. “That’s a great idea that one may come and show up to practice and know what’s expected. We’re going to teach it.”

The lifting sessions mirror much of what the Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs have done in the offseason, and Speer didn’t sugarcoat the significance of continuing to do that.

“The strength is important,” he said. “In everything we do, we have to be strong. And the discipline that comes with that is the strength part. We have to be disciplined in everything we do to give us a chance to compete, no matter who we play, and it’s important for them to understand that.”

Equally important to the program is the conditioning portion, he added.

“You get into the speed agility, and those are important, especially just for injury prevention, the same as your strength,” the coach said. “Right now you’re in shape, but your body’s not prepared for what’s fixing to come (in August training camps). The hardest part for the kids is they’ll go away and we won’t see them again until August, and then they show up and they’re out of shape, and then they’re putting themselves behind an eight ball by doing that. And you throw all that in with trying to get back in shape, taking on contact, doing those things and man, more than likely you’re going to end up injured, and that’s mainly due to you’re not acclimated, you’re not ready for the heat, you’re not ready for the running. You’re going full speed and crashing into people more likely to get hurt. And that’s really the reality of it.”

The football program will implement the accountability teams again. This summer 12 teams have been created with two seniors serving each one as a co-leader. Those seniors are to be in contact with their accountability teammates throughout the summer. So if a teammate is not at strength and conditioning, the leaders are told why and can convey the reason to the coaches.

“It’s their responsibility to communicate with every team member on their team, and that team member also has to communicate with them – if they’re going to be gone out of town, on vacation, baseball tournaments,” Speer said. “It’s their responsibility to communicate with their team members, and they’re going to be held accountable. If somebody’s gone, they have to know they’re going to be gone, they’re going to notify their team members before they miss. It’s kind of just holding each other accountable and placing it not solely on the coaches’ shoulders. It’s using some of those seniors to take ownership.”

Speer said he is looking forward to seeing and being around the middle school athletes.

“It gets the kids around the coaches and for some of these coaches, especially the young (student-athletes), we don’t get to see a whole lot,” he said. “It’s great for us to get eyes on them and learn names, and they know who we are, so that’s valuable.”

Before taking the week off, Speer left his players with something to think about.

“This is your team. This will be your legacy,” he said. “The record of what you guys do will be next to my name, but it’s always going to be your team, no matter what happens, so you’re responsible for it, for this and for the accountability of it.”

CAPTION: Cross country head coach Simon Hairston demonstrates one of the drills the Lady Dawgs implement to their summer strength and conditioning program – jump boxes.