Battlefield’s Spring sports programs

How BHS coaches are looking forward to the season and what they expect of athletes

Photo+courtesy+of+Creative+Commons+via+Pixebay

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons via Pixebay

At Battlefield High School many athletic teams are preparing for the new spring season. In the spring, the school hosts a baseball, lacrosse, outdoor track, soccer, softball, and tennis team. In the spring,the teams will have a long journey ahead of them. Preparing the athletes and making sure they are in shape to perform their best for their school is a must. Each coach has their own personal methods to get students in top-notch condition.

Battlefield’s girls lacrosse coach, Mary Kugler, shares that she, “wants the girls to love the game of lacrosse as much as I do.” In order to get students excited for their respective sport, coaches will plan their trainings to benefit the athletes the most in the short time they have together. According to www.stack.com, dedicated athletes should spend more time on the field, participate in strength training to supplement sport specific drills or trainings, lift weights after practice, taper for important events, try unloaded speed work, do dynamic exercises, and use a lower training volume. During the spring season Coach Kugler says, “Practices change due to upcoming opponents strengths and weaknesses, [and] we will tailor certain drills to emphasize these issues. We will always run the defense against the offense full speed, 7v7, and it can get lively and competitive.”

If one did want to get on one of the spring sports teams, off season training is just as important. The spring season is very short to prepare all of the athletes, so coaches emphasize doing outside of school work. Head baseball coach, Jay Burkhart, states that, “playing games on a travel or rec league is very vital.” He also says that, “As long as these kids are getting outside help is strongly encouraged.” During the fall, summer, and winter, players should do heavy lifting, build functional muscle, acclimate their body and joints to carry heavier loads, work out longer with a higher volume, and avoid too much specialty training. On top of this, Coach Kugler shares she is, “a big believer in participating in multiple sports.”

Both Coach Kugler and Coach Burkhart want to give their players the best opportunities possible in their sports. During the season Coach Burkhart has a philosophy to, “instruct mental toughness and hard work ethic. Because whether in life or in sports, not everything will be given to you. You have to go out and make things happen… and my goal is to give the opportunity [to play baseball beyond high school] to these guys that I did.” Likewise, Coach Kugler wants to, “try to get everyone involved in the games and practices, and as a goal we want to make the girls walk away after the season is over feeling like they contributed to the success of the team… I want them to be able to look back at their time in our program fondly, glad they worked hard to be a part of our lacrosse family.” All of the Battlefield sports programs are excited for students to show up for their programs, and can not wait for a great upcoming season.