Marble Falls athletes to begin Summer Forge

CAPTION: Athletic director and football head coach Keri Timmerman has goals for the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs when it comes to their summer preparation. Staff photos by Jennifer Fierro

After a week off, the Marble Falls Independent School District athletic department is inviting athletes in grades seven through 12 to Forge 26, the department’s summer strength-and-conditioning program.

High school athletes and seventh- and eighth-grade girls train from 7-9 a.m., while seventh- and eighth-grade boys train from 9-10:30 a.m. at Marble Falls High School.

“We talk about putting armor on your bodies, protecting your bodies and what we do in the summer,” athletic director Keri Timmerman said. “(Participating) one, should give our kids confidence that they’re coming into their sports season with three months of legit opportunity to be stronger, faster and better at what they’re doing, because we’re adding to that. (And two) obviously the time we get by the (University Interscholastic League) to work skill with their coaches, so skill and lifting – really just the idea that it creates confidence. Strength creates confidence, speed creates confidence that makes you feel when it comes down to a play — that you have the opportunity to be one on one — and get a win. You’re prepping for an opportunity to win your one on one, whenever it shows up,and the confidence that you need to get there.”

Strength and conditioning coordinator Karl “Beef” Bielfeldt noted the importance of each Mustang and Lady Mustang attending.

“As much as we can put technological advancements as far as equipment and the things that we do there, the biggest thing is that all these athletes, no matter what sport they play, that they keep that consistent journey in the weight room as far as the conditioning and speed and everything else that we do in Forge, so their bodies are prepared to take on the challenges of athletics because athletes have gotten bigger, they’ve gotten faster, they’ve gotten stronger,” he said. “We’re seeing all these things by records breaking and everything else, but (only) as much as the technology has allowed us to get a little bit meaner on the physical side of things as far as human performance.”

Those improved human performances were apparent throughout the Marble Falls sports year.

The volleyball team, after sweeping Lampasas, Jarrell and Taylor to advance to the playoffs, won two postseason matches to make school history.

The girls basketball team finished as the District 24-4A runner-up to return to the postseason.

The boys soccer team won the Class 4A Region IV championship to advance to the state semifinals for the first time in school history after winning the District 26-4A title.

The girls soccer team began the season with a 10-0-2 record and lost to Wimberley, the No. 1 team in the state and eventual Class 4A Division II state champion, 1-0 to begin district play. Only injuries to key personnel limited who the Lady Mustangs had in the lineup and the rest of district play.

The baseball team won 24 games this season and a playoff game for the first time in two decades. The Mustangs finished as the district runners-up.

These athletes were jumping higher, running faster and putting balls in places opponents struggled to get to. And none of that, according to Bielfeldt and the head coaches of those sports, was by accident. It all started with weightlifting sessions designed to help the athletes control their performances, withstand the punishment that comes from competition and contact, and ensure success.

“My job is to give them the platform to be able to exercise and show that skill off,” the strength and conditioning coordinator said. “That’s a big thing I remind all the kids about is my job’s not to make them a good baseball or softball or basketball player; my job’s to make them the best athlete possible and then when they get to the coaches, that’s the coach’s job is to bring that skill out, refine that skill and make them the best player in their chosen sport. And so I think we’re definitely trying to work together. I want to give the head coaches the best product possible they can put out on the field for Marble Falls in the community, because the community deserves that. They’re huge supporters of us and we just want to do the best for them and for the school.”

The other part, which Bielfeldt said is “a huge part,” is that the athletes build stronger bonds as they train together and trust one another because they see which of their teammates is putting in the sweat equity that leads to positive results.

“And I think that was something even when I was an athlete in high school we didn’t always get right off the bat just because it’s not something that we think about all the time, it’s not in the forefront,” he said. “But when you look around and your dedicated athletes definitely look around, and go ‘OK, they were here with me and they weren’t.'”

Bielfeldt said he is gets two types of feedback from the athletes.

“I would say the kids that bought into it and found a space for themselves inside the weight room, they’re a little bit more vocal about it,” he said. “But what I always find interesting is that when athletes have the realization, when they put two and two together as far as ‘Oh hey, I’m getting better at this,’ they’ll definitely pull me aside and say thank you. And so I enjoy the side conversations, the thank yous – that’s kind of where I find my fulfillment and not being in front of everybody.”

The other is from those who say they’ll train on their own throughout the summer and genuinely mean it.

“Well, 95 percent of the time we know exactly what’s going to happen when they come back is they’re not going to be ready,” the coordinator said. “Which is a shame because the work is the work at the end of the day. You either move the dirt or you don’t, and so you’re going have good days, you’re going to have bad days. But the biggest thing is that did you do it amongst the community that is there to pick you up when you do have your bad days. When we talk about the track or the turf or the weight room kind of being a testing ground where you get to put things out there and it’s a safe space to fail — and we want you to fail, because you need to know where you can push yourself and how far you can — you have 10 to 15 athletes behind you, encouraging you and that little extra bump gets you over the hill, and now you realize that you can do more.”

CAPTION: Sophomores Addie Martin (front) and Adyson Floyd have gotten stronger and faster under the direction of Marble Falls Independent School District strength-and-conditioning coordinator Karl “Beef” Bielfeldt.