- April 25, 2024
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Mainland coach Scott Wilson gives instructions to his team during the conditioning portion of workouts. Photo by Ray Boone
Mainland's K.J. Brathwaite (middle) stretches during workouts. Photo by Ray Boone
Mainland players stretch during workouts. Photo by Ray Boone
Strength and conditioning coordinator Danny Stein leads the Buccaneers onto the field. Photo by Ray Boone
Seabreeze's Javen Griffin does a squat. Photo by Ray Boone
Seabreeze strength and conditioning coordinator Skip Saunier gives instructions to the team on how to lift. Photo by Ray Boone
Seabreeze coach Troy Coke gives advice to a player during the lifting portion of workouts. Photo by Ray Boone
Mainland and Seabreeze officially kicked off their summer workout sessions on Monday, June 4. Here is how each team is preparing for their upcoming season. Summer practice will run until the end of July.
With a megaphone clasped firmly in his hand, Buccaneers coach Scott Wilson paced back and forth as his players — some desperately gasping for breath — sprinted up and down the field at Mainland High School.
“This is were it begins,” Wilson shouted at his team. “This is where state titles are won.”
“The reason we’ve made it to the state playoffs for 24 years in a row is what we do in the summer. The summer leads into how our season goes. The better our summer goes, the better season we have. We build camaraderie. They get their bodies fine-tuned. That’s where everything starts.”
Mainland strength and conditioning coordinator Danny Stein
About 95% of the varsity team showed up for the first day of summer workouts at Mainland, according to strength and conditioning coordinator Danny Stein. Mainland’s workouts run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. They start each day with a mobility session to get loose, followed by 30 minutes of ab work, an hour of lifting and then conditioning to cap off the workout.
Stein is responsible for coordinating the lifts and runs.
“We put them through the gauntlet,” Stein said. “We make it tougher every week. We want them to get used to being uncomfortable.”
Teams aren’t allowed to practice with football equipment in the summer, according to FHSAA rules. The summer is used mainly for getting “bigger, faster and stronger.” But aside from the physical improvement. Stein, who also coaches the offensive line, said he hopes to see the team grow closer together as they approach fall camp in August.
“We want to build our brotherhood,” he said. “The more time you spend together, the more you go through together. In those tough playoff games in November and December, that’s what’s going to pull you through because you’ve already been through adversity together.”
Last season, the Sandcrabs practiced in the morning five days a week. Head coach Troy Coke wanted to shake things up this year. The Sandcrabs’ summer workouts now run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
They spend half of that time in the weight room, followed by footwork and speed drills on the field.
“Some people go overboard and do too much, and some don’t do enough,” Coke said. “We’re trying to find that balance.”
Thirty-three of the 40 boys on the varsity team showed up for summer workouts, according to Coke. Of the 26 total workouts, players are required to make at least 20.
“The more guys you get making over 80% of the workouts, the better off we’ll be,” he said. “That’ll be how I feel about this summer.”
