Performance Course keeps Marble Falls athletes on top of their game

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — The dog days of summer are even hotter for athletes of the Marble Falls Independent School District.

For the second consecutive summer, the Mustangs are participating in Performance Course, a strength-and-conditioning program that lasts 10 weeks.

It’s again led by Performance Course coach David Granson. In many ways, he’s the Mustangs’ head coach. He has more interaction with the male and female athletes from seventh-graders and older. And it’s a role he doesn’t take lightly.

“I do feel like that because it’s my responsibility to prepare them for the upcoming school year,” he said. “There are the upcoming freshmen, the middle school kids. It’s my job as the summer conditioning coach to get them ready. We’re laying a foundation in the summer for what they’re playing. They can’t afford to take six weeks off during the summer.”

And that especially holds true for athletes expected in training camps in August, he said. He calls the summer training imperative for those players simply because of the limited time coaches have to work with the athletes. In 2011, the football team lost nine players to injuries. By contrast in 2012, that number dropped to one.

After the first week of volleyball training in August, players will be competing in scrimmages.

“They need to be training year around,” Granson said. “They can’t afford not to be in shape.”

The University Interscholastic League tells coaches how much practice time athletes are allowed once August training camps start.

By being in shape in time for those camps, coaches can get right into technical training and the playbook, he said, instead of spending time trying to get them in playing shape.

“They are ready to play,” he said. “You can install the playbook on Day 1. Because when you get to fall camp, there are only so many days. At some point, you have to work on the game plan.”

Performance Course offers four sessions Mondays through Thursdays with the weight room opening each day at 6:30 a.m. The first session is for incoming 10th-12th grade boys and has 56 in attendance. The second session is for girls and has 48 enrolled. The third group is middle school through incoming freshmen and totals 82 participants. The final session is in the evenings for all ages and draws 21.

“Our numbers are definitely up,” Granson said.

The top reason for summer training is to prevent injuries, Granson said.

“Something is going to sacrifice for the other,” he said. “When they’re not ready to play, … that’s when kids start getting injured. They get tired and they’re not able to get themselves in position and not able to finish a play.”

The UIL also limits how much contact coaches can have with their athletes during the summer, even though most coaches believe they should be leading summer strength-and-conditioning sessions. And Granson said he understands that point of view – to an extent.

“It makes sense for coaches to work with their kids,” he said. “But if you bring in guys that specialize in strength and conditioning for high school athletes, we know what we’re doing as far as training. We see it, we do it every day. It gives the coaches a break and also the kids get a break from coaches. They need a break at some point. It gets monotonous. It gives them a chance to get away and for the kids to see different faces.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com