Athletics at Iola High have been on hold since boys tennis competed in an away tournament on March 12 at Independence. The COVID-19 pandemic may have ruined the spring season for athletes, but on the bright side, athletes still had the summer in sight.
Summer workouts started June 1, and Mustangs head football coach Davd Daugharthy couldn’t be more excited to see what June and July have in store.
“Being cooped up in quarantine is pretty rough,” Daugharthy said. “Just to be able to see the kids faces, and interact with them is more valuable to me than any workouts we do — but obviously workouts are fun.”
Even though the 2020 summer may be different than previous years, Daugharthy is still keeping his number-one priority — speed.
“That is always what it has been about,” Daugharthy said. “If you play football, speed is a priority, and speed wins.”
Along with speed, athletes will also focus on plyos, agility circuits, and reaction drills while also incorporating the weight room. On Monday, athletes worked on their straight-line speed by running 40-yard dashes with also some band-work directly after to improve hip flexibility.
“We are just trying to build hip flexibility and hip stability,” Daugharthy said. “We have a lot of issues with kids, when they are sprinting, not getting in a good sprinting position. So being able to hold that position, will help them out.”
Workouts last for an hour. Daugharthy plans to extend the timeframe an extra 30 minutes to incorporate some football activities for those planning to feature on the gridiron in the fall.
On each day, athletes are split into two time slots (upperclassmen and lower classmen), allowing for some variance in workouts depending on the group.
“For the younger group we did some stuff with balance,” Daugharthy said. “Most of the upperclassmen already know that stuff, so it is just a way for me to gauge what additional training they might need.”
Daugharthy has developed teams for those headed for football. He says the teams create much-needed competition.
“I think that has really helped with attendance. We had one group that didn’t really show up last week so I had to get on them a little bit,” Daugharthy said. “Kids are starting to feel the sense of accountability, and are starting to figure it out.”
Daugharthy admits that it will be tough for athletes to make large gains from their previous maxes in the weight room. Months at home with no place to lift weights for many has put Iola back at square one with its weight training.
Daugharthy plans for the Mustangs’ new strength coach, Jarret Roy, to have an impact in the weight room. Roy brings a load of knowledge in weight training from his time playing football at Emporia State the last four years.
“I am 100% excited. He is a perfect fit for the program,” Daugharthy said.
