Photos by Greg Ford
Garrett Kraus gives Chris Ross a spot during a benching session.
.jpg)
Pitcher Matt Harper shows that off-season workouts are not the exclusive domain of football players. The Sachse graduate will be attending Texas A&M University.
Defensive lineman Tyrone Melton performs some crunches.
By Greg Ford
Sports Editor
Decades ago athletes often waited until preseason camp to get in shape.
That was not only true in professional sports, but often at the collegiate and high school level too.
Not any more.
Today, playing a sport requires year-round commitment.
When it comes to prep sports, that not only means suiting up for your school but also for a select or club team.
It also means working out.
Right now is the time for the latter, especially for those participating in fall sports.
“You better be in shape by the time we start in August, because you don’t have time to get in shape. You play three weeks into it,” said Sachse running backs coach Richard Rogers.
He said, “It’s year-round. You better not show up the first practice and not have done anything during the summer. You’re going to be in trouble.”
There are plenty of Sachse athletes making sure they aren’t in “trouble” when August practices commence.
Presently, many can be found inside the weight room at the Sachse fieldhouse going through a series or strength and conditioning exercises.
It’s all part of Sachse’s attempt to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. In this case, the neighbors are the rest of District 10-5A, which for the next two seasons will include the other Garland ISD schools plus McKinney Boyd.
The 2010-’11 sports season gets under way in less than a month when Sachse’s volleyball serves up its regular-season home opener Aug. 10 against Plano.
A number of Lady Mustangs have been in offseason workouts, head coach Rikki Jones said. The Lady Mustangs also begin a team camp starting July 26 and running through July 30.
Football two-a-day practices start in early August, with the regular season kicking off Aug. 27 at Williams Stadium against Wylie.
“Summer is summer, and kids need to have some time off,” Sachse defensive coordinator Marcus Bachtel said. “Every chance they get, they need to be up here, especially right now. After the Fourth of July it’s really important that we see many faces.”
To comment on this story, go to www.sachsenews.com.
