MILL?HALL? He gathers the troops for a quick talk, and off they go.
To the weight bench. Dead lifts. Squats. Push-ups.
The sweat flies from their brow. The air is muggy inside the Central Mountain weight room.
Vinnie Kishbaugh watches from the door, nodding his head in approval.
There are a variety of kids pumping iron.
That's why the Wildcat football coach is happy.
His entire program - junior high through varsity - is involved.
"It's going to benefit our team," he said. "I've had some meetings at the middle school, and I've invited them to work with us. We started off with three or four kids, but now, we have about 15 or 20 on a daily basis. I don't know if everyone realizes that it's available to them. But hopefully, we can continue to keep adding kids."
Enter the idea of the first Central Mountain Lift-A-Thon, which will be held at 2 p.m. today, at the high school.
Team unity.
Yes, the event will be used as a fundraiser toward the team and it's booster club.
But there is an underlying motive.
Build the Wildcats into one solid program.
Not varsity. Not junior-varsity. Not junior high.
One Central Mountain football program.
"This brings our entire program together. We have seventh-grade athletes in here working out with kids who are going to be seniors," he said. "It has created more of a team atmosphere. Sometimes, the seventh- and eighth-graders are working so hard that it pushes our upperclassmen to work even harder. It's positive."
The idea came to Kishbaugh's attention from volunteer assistant coach Steve Confer, who learned of the event from his brother Tony, a former head coach at Jersey Shore.
"We were looking for ways to increase funds into our program to get our boosters where they need to be," the second-year head coach said. "Steve said they tried the program down at Jersey Shore, and it was 100 percent profit for the team. This was a way for them to see their hard work pay off, rather than just see numbers on a chalk board."
The event pretty much speaks for itself.
Athletes from seventh through ninth grade will participate in events like maximum push-up, air squat and tire flip for distance.
Sophomores through seniors will push themselves on the weights with one repetition maximum in bench, squat and dead lift.
Each kid was asked to go out and earn sponsorships for their hard work during the event.
"This year, we are going to allocate the funds into travel gear from junior high to varsity," Kishbaugh said. "These kids put in so much time into the sport year-round, and then, they have to wait until their senior year to get something. We set a goal of $105 dollars from every player - seventh through 12th grade - to raise the money and buy the travel gear. If it doesn't happen, we'll think of something else."
As Kishbaugh watches around the room, the head coach knows of the old adage.
There is no I in team.
That's why this offseason, it's about the program.
"We want to build our program," he said. "We want everyone to be involved in it. The reaction was very positive because it includes all levels."
Tom Fox is sports editor at The Express. He can be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com.
