Burnet Lady Dawgs making most of opportunities to improve

CAPTION: Lilyann Johnson (left) and Arayah Mabry quickly step in and out of a ladder that helps them work on footwork and fine-tune a pattern. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Burnet Consolidated Independent School District’s athletic department continues to conduct its weekly summer strength-and-conditioning sessions for all of its athletes, including the Lady Dawgs.

Girls athletic coordinator Crystal Shipley, cross country head coach Simon Hairston and other assistant coaches have been conducting the sessions for the girls.

The program has 60 high school athletes and about 41 seventh- and eighth-graders. The Lady Dawgs meet in the district’s Student Activity Center to warm-up then head to the weight room for one-hour lifting sessions and end with 30 minutes of conditioning and plyometric or jumping exercises.

While the head coaches in girls basketball, soccer and softball may have changed, the Lady Dawgs’ goals and tradition of success has not.

And that can be credited to the girls athletic coordinator.

Shipley, who has been with the district for two decades, is the constant. The reason many are showing up for the sessions is because the athletic coordinator made it clear the standards of the department do not change, no matter who is on staff.

“Our girls know me well and what my expectations are for all sports,” she said. “I have been encouraging accountability for the summer weeks since April. We have goals in place, and many of them are bought in and understanding what these weeks can do to prepare for the coming school year. This is the first summer for me as girls coordinator so I am just starting the first steps of growing consistency and accountability for summer. It is a process, like anything else, and it takes buy-in from our coaches. However, we are building a team that I believe will do just that.” 

The school district recently hired Kim Duncan-Payten as its girls basketball head and promoted Burnet Middle School coach Jayci Craig, a Burnet graduate, to softball head coach.

Shipley commended the athletes for committing themselves to getting better and for continuing to push themselves to ensure success.

“It shows they believe in what we are doing – the direction we are going to get better,” the coordinator said. “To be better than a one or two-round playoff team, we have to make changes. We have to put in the work to earn some state runs.”

Shipley has planned out the sessions, and they are not easy. The Lady Dawgs use jump boxes, mini trampolines, jumping ladders, and exercise bands. There’s a no a wasted second as coaches encourage the right way to jump and land and then compel the athletes to do it faster once they get the hang of the drill.

And they did all of this after a challenging lifting session in the weight room.

By 9:15 a.m. June 16, the Lady Dawgs were done and made their way to The Doghouse gymnasium at the high school for open gym.

On top of offering these sessions, the athletic department hosted its softball, volleyball and girls basketball camps already and some of the instructors were some of the high school athletes.

Shipley pointed out the positives that came from having athletes help out.

“Having the older girls help out is amazing as the younger ones look up to those athletes,” she said. “It not only allows the little ones to be around their ‘role models,’ it also allows our older girls to see how they are admired. It also helps develop them as a leader.” 

Shipley, who also serves as the volleyball and girls track and field head coach, had 74 third- through eighth-graders attend volleyball camp.

While instructors taught the fundamentals of the sport, Shipley pointed out that wasn’t the No. 1 focus.

“Honestly, our camp is more about developing a love for the game,” she said. “The game bringing joy to our younger kiddos. If we can develop that kind of passion early, they will be hooked and want to learn (and) improve. We love teaching the basics with the younger kids. We try to give them skills (and) drills they can do on their own to get better.” 

Craig was present to conduct the softball camp and Payten’s hire happened after the dates for the girls basketball camp were set. She had a conflict and couldn’t attend.

Still, the coordinator praised Craig and basketball assistant coaches Drew Baker and Treasure Ellerbe, a new hire, for conducting their camps and teaching the basics of their sport to the campers as well as having fun.

The basketball camp had 50 campers.

“I would say it was a success,” Shipley said. “I was around the entire time and there were a lot of great things going on those three days. We did have some of the older girls helping out and that was a huge hit. (Craig) did an incredible job, stepping up and planning a well-run camp. She was pleased with the number of campers and excited about the future for Burnet softball.”