STRONGER TOGETHER

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he sports teams at Seymour high school are getting stronger together.

In past summers, each respective sports team at Seymour High School conducted strength programs themselves.

Now, all the athletics teams congregate at the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium and Bulleit Stadium to work out.

The Owls have broken their summer lifting program into two groups: male and female.

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Athletes, no matter the sport, meet at the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for one hour and a half sessions.

Cody French, an assistant football coach, helps head the boys, while Jason Longmeier (girls basketball) and Greg Musser (girls soccer) head the girls.

“We feel, more than anything, it gets all the girls here at one time rather than having each coach figure out when they’re going to do it,” Longmeier said. “The girls feel like they are obligated to come. Every year we try to figure out what we can do to make it better. As we brainstormed, it just makes sense to do it all at the same time.”

French, in his first year helping with the weightlifting, said that the workout program from the school year rolls over to the summer.

“It’s good to have a set program they’re doing throughout the entire year,” French said.

“The biggest benefit is that all these kids are working together. They’re building a family feeling among all sports. It helps build respect and a sense of community with all sports.”

For the girls, who had near 100 in attendance on Monday including cheerleaders, swimmers, basketball and soccer players, the main focus is working on a complete athlete.

“For the most part, we’re all focusing on the core,” Longmeier said. “All of our lifts are the same. We’re really focusing on our hips right now. It’s a lot of work to get our hips, glutes and lower body strengthened. What were doing is trying to make them better athletes.

“Girls aren’t interested in bulk. We’re interested in getting quicker, faster and stronger. We’re breaking them into two groups: one lifts and the other does athletic enhancement. All of our stuff is explosive. We’re not worried about conditioning. The coaches are taking care of that with their individual time.”

Longmeier focuses on lifts, while Musser helps with the athletics enhancement.

For the boys, the workout regimen is slightly different with football in the mix.

“The workout is the same for the basketball, soccer, basketball and baseball kids,” French said. “They work off their maxes and core lifts. Their weights are associated with their strength. It’s designed to build an overall athlete.

“Football, there’s a little bit of a difference due to the sport that it is. They will do heavier, lower set type stuff. It is still designed to encompass an entire different skill set.”

Numerous head coaches were in attendance during the workouts along with French.

French said that the boys and girls don’t work out together because of the differences in anatomy.

“This is becoming more common,” French said of the combined programs. “If you go to the bigger schools, you’re going to see something similar.”

Longmeier said that the biggest thing for the kids is the time spent together.

“We’re also trying to build that camaraderie,” he said. “We want to be one group, one team. We’re not just the basketball or volleyball team. We want to bring them together.”

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