Summertime is usually for relaxing by the pool, vacations and trying to stay cool for most kids, but not those that are dedicated to playing sports for Enid High. Those that want to excel participate in “Summer Pride,” Enid High’s summer strength and conditioning program. And this year, there is a new co-leader in town – Lane Hendricks. Coach Hendricks officially started on June 5th, and he was so excited, he said he could barely sleep in the days leading up to the first session. “This is a dream come true for me,” said Coach Hendricks, “I grew up playing football in West Kansas, and ended up on the team at Dodge City Community College and Ft. Hays State. I always loved working out, and really knew that coaching and helping kids was going to be my career path from a young age. I have coached football and track, but really loved the opportunity to be involved without the same kind of pressure that comes from being a direct coach.”
Hendricks said he has always had a love for strength and conditioning, and likes to read and study about the new trends. “It’s not like when we were kids,” he said, “now we know a lot more about how to workout and improve. I want to focus on all aspects of sports performance, and not just throwing weights around. Each movement has a purpose, and will help our athletes perform the best they can.”
Watching the first day of Summer Pride, it was impossible not to be impressed with how many student-athletes showed out (more than 300). “It was way more than the staff and I expected,” said Hendricks, “the numbers were crazy impressive across the board and in almost every sport and I was just glad to get started.”
Every sport’s head coach, and a few assistant coaches, are helping out with all sports and each sport is divided up into one of three start times (7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 am.) and entail both conditioning workouts outside on the track and football field, and weight training, with each sport having a sport-specific workout. Coach Hendricks really likes having the coaches help with everyone, and not just their individual sport. “I think it is really good for the kids to hear voices and opinions from other coaches and maybe a new perspective, instead of just their sport coach. It can definitely be more motivating sometimes,” he said.
Enid has not just limited Summer Pride to the high school, they have encouraged the middle school student-athletes to attend sessions at each of the three middle schools, which each having their own coordinator. Even elementary school kids can get in on the fun this year, and for a small fee, they will teach 2nd through 5th grade kids how to run and stretch and lift with good form, hopefully developing good habits in the future.
While this story focused on the new coach, we don’t want to leave out Coach Jana Robertson, who has been at Enid for almost a year. She has really been a huge help connecting with student-athletes, and has done a great job with sport-specific training while building general athleticism. For every success on the field next school year, remember all the hard work these kids and coaches put in over the summer to give themselves the best chance at winning.
