Athletes work hard during summer
By John Earp
Often, when summer break comes, athletes’ athletic skills take a back seat to summer vacations and summer fun in general. Coach Billy Laminack has been working hard this summer to help those who are willing to stay in shape and keep their athleticism strong and developing.
The strength and conditioning workouts begin on the football field with a warm up, followed by various workouts designed to develop athletes’ flexibility, explosivity, and sprint speed. In the weight room, Mondays and Wednesdays are an upper body focus, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being lower body.
Laminack says the student-athletes who have been participating this summer have mostly been the younger ones, but any student from 7th grade and up is welcome to participate. He says this year it has ended up being focused on the younger kids, with some days having more girls than boys. He says the training is not specific to football, though there are some football players who participate. There also is a football-specific workout, usually lasting from 30 minutes to an hour, following the strength and conditioning workouts. He says the goal is to make the athletes stronger, faster, and more flexible. He says a lot of the training is focused on developing the athletes’ hip flexors and getting faster off their toes.
He says the group averages 15, with some days having as many as 30 and other days as few as 6 athletes participating. The rapport he has built with the students in his classes during the school year has helped him persuade more students to participate in the summer strength and conditioning. He says, “It makes a big difference,” referring to having strength and conditioning available year ‘round. He believes stretching and improving students’ flexibility is key to developing their ability to move quicker and more agilely. He says when he started coaching, it seemed that everyone had dropped stretching from their programs, but he has always felt it was very important. He also is a big believer in showing athletically the things he wants to teach his athletes, and so his own personal strength and conditioning has always been important to him.
Laminack will be head coach of the junior high football team this fall.
