Our football players that are out for wrestling are Jayce Malone, Matthew Niebuhr, Dalton Spencer, Kyle Giese. All of these guys are working their tails off to become the best they could and we wish them the best this season.
The WMU basketball team has started out hot this season with only 1 loss. Garret Baker has a couple of dunks this year that are putting exclamation points on wins by these guys. All-State Linebacker Sam Jennings is among the top scorers for the Wolves. This goes to show that players should never "specialize" in one sport and that playing multiple sports is not only good for you but beneficial for the school and the athletic programs.
On a different note our weight lifting has not been what we were expecting. Our numbers are down and guys that we thought we would look to for leadership, experience, and dedication are not giving the program what it needs. This might sound blunt but we need more. What I mean by that is we are making the first step of coming into the weightroom. The question now is what do you want out of it? We can't continue to do what we've been doing at the pace and lack of urgency that we've been going at and expect to compete next year. I would think that as a kid that didn't play much last year you would want to come in the weight room and attack it to make yourself better. We have kids that are going through the motions and skipping lifts/sets/reps. This is not at all what WMU football is about. The thing about football is that you can always find out who works and who doesn't. We are putting an emphasis on core strength and speed/agility when we come back from Christmas. I am not going to name any names but all of us, coaches included, need to step up our intensity in the weight room and the gym. We have to remember that yes you are coming in to the weight room, but are you getting out what you think you should be? We are at a critical point in the workout phases where a guy can make major gains if they put the work into it. We are scaling back our workout so that we are working towards being more explosive and better all-around athletes as opposed to a group of guys that can move a lot of weight. The coaches are going to get after you some and as an athlete you have to be able to take the coaching and strive to do your best all the time. Right now I don't think that we have that. The JH kids that are coming in two days a week are working hard and we are seeing a lot of improvement from them. Their form and attitude towards lifting is uplifting and makes coming in as a coach fun and rewarding. The high school kids need to learn from the younger kids about this. To the athletes, you have the two weeks of Christmas break off from lifting. Use this time to do some self-reflecting and decide what it is you want to get out of lifting. There is a quote from NBA Hall of Fame Coach Pat Riley, "The thing about commitment is that your either all in, or you're out." That is what we are looking for, be all in, be present, work your tail off, get better, have some fun, leave the "room" drenched in sweat knowing that you are doing everything you can to become the best athlete and the best you that you can be.
For those before us, those of us now, and those that follow, WE ARE WMU!