Blair Armstrong remembers when he was coaching in the 1970s summer workouts consisted primarily of lifting weights.
“We would award T-shirts for players who lifted a certain amount of times,” the Banks County High School head football coach said. “That was the extent of what we did during the summer.”
Approximately three decades later sees much has changed in how football players, and high school athletes in general, spend their summer months. Gone are the so-called lazy days of summer. In their place are workouts and summer league play.
“There’s really not much of a summer now,” Armstrong said. “I think that’s why the state mandates a week in July where nothing can be done and coaches can have no contact with players. At some places parents felt their kids were being pressured to always be there with no vacation time.”
The Leopard coach said he is careful to balance the needs of his players. Armstrong realizes there must be a balancing act between preparing for the next season and allowing kids to be kids and enjoy their summer.
“If you don’t work during the summer then you aren’t going to be able to compete,” he said. “We work our schedule out where our football players can actually miss three weeks and still meet our summer goals.”
As athletic director, Armstrong also encourages his players to participate in other sports. Therefore, he plans weight lifting sessions for the morning so players can have the rest of the day for basketball camps or summer league baseball games.
Football-wise, Armstrong also doesn’t have his players go to passing camps. He knows of incidents where some schools go to numerous 7-on-7 camps during the summer which place a financial burden on players as well as a premium on time.
“The kids do have to have some kind of summer,” the coach said. “You have to be careful. You have to work but you don’t want to over due it.”
Perhaps Armstrong’s outlook on summer can best be described with this quote:
“I tell my players if they are going to see Grandma then have a good time seeing Grandma. However, if they are in town they then need to come see me and work.”
BCHS football players will continue weight, speed and agility training throughout the summer leading to preseason practice.
