Building Their Regular Season Foundation—

Newtown High Football Players Work Out Throughout Summer

By Andy Hutchison

What do oversized elastic cords, parachutes, dry-land sleds, weights, and medicine balls have to do with football? Everything. Just ask members of the Newtown High School football program, who have been working out with such offseason resources, along with NHS Head Coach Steve George and speed training coach Cody Foss.

The Newtown High School Team Training Program, designed for injury prevention, strength building, and to provide speed training to athletes, has challenged members of the Nighthawks throughout the morning hours of each weekday throughout the summer.

Coaches are not allowed to coach and full equipment and balls are not permitted in the summer months, but they can instruct their team members with fitness-related drills and exercises, as George does in the summer conditioning program both on the field at Blue & Gold Stadium and in the high school’s weight room.

After the season ends in late November, the players have a little time off before getting into the room for some heavy lifting in January, and they workout as a team — minus players who are busy with other sports during part of the school year — almost year-round. The level of offseason preparation intensifies in the summer as the season draws closer.

“Football’s such a difficult sport on your body, so the kids obviously need to be in shape in order to survive the season,” George said.

Foss is the director of speed training at Newtown Youth Academy, and says it’s important to find an edge to keep the Nighthawks a step ahead of the competition.

“The understanding we have is that every other opponent that we have is doing the same thing and they’re trying to prepare their athletes the best that they can. So, it’s our job to do the research, to be creative, to come up with as many new things as we can to get this team to be faster, stronger, more explosive,” Foss said.

Parachutes and elastic cords are used for resistance as the high schoolers test their strength, and players work in groups to slide sleds across the field. An emphasis is put on teamwork and commitment. Groups of teams are established, and end-of-week strongman competitions are held for fun and bragging rights. Throughout the summer, teams earn points based on attendance and performance. Players are penalized and have to run laps if they’re late. When it comes to the strongman competition, they work hard, but enjoy drills such as tug-o-war with tires.

“Tying or tapping into their competitive nature is one the best things that we can do to motivate them,” Foss notes.

Among the participants are some former NHS players, including Max Nacewicz, who graduated this year and is headed to Springfield College to play football this fall. “They’re always welcome,” Foss said of former NHS team members.

The program may be a combination of fun and hard work, but it’s primarily the latter, Foss says. It’s not easy. Sessions get underway at 7 am when the temperature is cooler, but players find themselves out in the heat by the end of the daily sessions (fortunately for the athletes, Mother Nature didn’t put too many hot, sweltering days on the summer calendar this summer). It’s all designed to make the players that much stronger, faster, tougher, and prepared for hard-hitting game action that begins in September.

“It’s definitely very important. It gets us conditioned and it gets us strong for the season,” NHS fullback/middle linebacker Lou Fenaroli said.

“It feels like it’s getting harder every year and that’s good,” defensive end/guard Jamie Horosko added.

The Nighthawks are scheduled to have their first scrimmage August 30 when New Fairfield visits Blue & Gold for a 5 pm kickoff. The first regular season game is set for September 16 at Joel Barlow and NHS has its home opener September 23 against Immaculate of Danbury.