Sports
Record numbers show up for Tiger camps
Saturday, 23 June 2012 by David Tuma
Local athletes in Belton were all ears Monday morning under the instruction of former Belton Tiger football player Al Maxwell who is a coach at Belton High School. Maxwell was a two-time All-state linebacker for the Tigers.Belton athletes showed up in force Monday morning in a variety of camps. To be successful in 5A, athletes have to work on physical conditioning in the summer months. Monday morning 290 boys worked out in the weight room, stretched and ran conditioning drills. The purpose is to increase speed and overall strength.
The 6 a.m. time slot that was started four years ago had 93 boys working out when the sun came up Monday morning. "We are trying to build better athletes. Each week is different with a different set of workouts set for that day. Some of the core lifts are the same but we mix those lifts up with other. It is never the same each day," said athletic director Rodney Southern.
The workouts are two hours in length with a 15-minute warm-up, stretching, 30-45 of weight lifting in eight stations and running. There are 24-UIL work outs under coaches supervision in the summer months.
This summer the emphasis is on increasing speed. The workouts usually take close to an hour and a half. The girls time slot is at 10-am and 65 athletes were on Tiger Field working on conditioning. "They do a similar to what the boys do. The big thing is working on that first burst of energy to become more explosive. Increasing overall strength is a big part of their workout. This summer with both the girls and the boys the workouts and new lifts we are doing is to make the athletes quicker and stronger," said Southern.
The junior high time slot is noon and many of this year's varsity football team were working out at the high school when they were in junior high. The kindergarten-6th grade football came had the best turnout in school history this week.
The coaches had their hands full with 200 young athletes dreaming of one day becoming a Belton Tiger football player. Last season they had 130 at the K-6th grade level. They should hit the 600 mark in overall attendance when the second camp takes place before football season starts in the summer.
