Pride. Pride in yourself, your sports program and your school is what Summer Pride is all about. And never has that been more evident than this summer, during Enid High School’s “Summer Pride” strength and agility workouts that concluded at the end of July.
Enid HS Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Tracy Baldwin says that this year’s Summer Pride program has had the most participation, especially in football players, in the three years that he has been here. Coach Baldwin attributes the increased participation to the increased performance of the teams that have bought in to the program. “Although Enid has its challenges to compete in the highest levels of 6A, we are quickly closing the distance, and showing real growth across all sports that participate in the program.”
While participation is the key to development, results have certainly been increased by the quality of not only the program itself, but the facilities. According to Coach Baldwin, while a few schools in the state may have larger weight room facilities than Enid, none have higher quality. The room is even comparable to some colleges across the state. And Coach Baldwin would know, as he spent 19 years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Oklahoma State University. The room has excellent weights, machines and flooring, and the students are given Ipads that are loaded with weight lifting programs specially designed for each athlete. This program allows Coaches to see how the athletes are progressing, attendance and everything they need to know to get them bigger, stronger and faster.
Coach Baldwin’s influence and focus on strength and conditioning doesn’t just start in high school either. Waller and Longfellow Middle Schools have both started a summer pride program and Emerson Middle School as a weight room that will be available to their athletes starting in the fall.
While strength and conditioning may be the foundation of athletic success, it is also the foundation of success in life. Nowhere else does “Living the Creed” manifest itself more, than in voluntary summer workouts. It’s where champions are made.
Enid Athletics Plainsmen/Pacer Pride of the Plains Brought to You by Slater Mechanical
