Mustangs start conditioning program with nice long stretch
Marble Falls High School junior receiver and defensive back Eric Cauble lowers his shoulder under his knee to help stretch his hamstring and loosen his hips. New head football coach and athletic director Matt Green said flexibility helps lessen the odds of injury. Staff photos by Jennifer Fierro
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — The sounds of discomfort from Marble Falls High School athletes doing new stretches were easily heard, along with the voice of new head football coach and athletic director Matt Green.
“We want you to be able to run from side to side,” he said as he walked around and corrected their forms.
The athletes started a conditioning program June 9 with a total of 51 high schoolers and 13 middle schoolers participating.
While most are familiar with toe-touching stretches, these new ones come from yoga.
And Green is a huge believer.
“I’m real big on flexibility,” he said. “It makes you move and prevents injury. If you’re muscular and flexible, you reduce your odds of injury.”
The coach told athletes it’s not enough to be able to run fast in a straight line. In just about every sport, it’s important to be able to change direction in a short amount of time, he said, no matter the position.
He smiled when told it sounded like the linemen struggled the most with the stretches.
“The muscles you have, sometimes that flexibility is reduced,” Green said. “We don’t want just muscle bulk; we want to line up and be agile and flexible.”
The Lady Mustangs seemed to be able to handle the stretches easier than their counterparts. Green said that’s not unusual.
“I think by nature girls are more flexible,” he said. “But they’d still have a threshold.”
The coach said he wasn’t surprised by the low number of athletes, noting the original schedule called for starting summer strength-and-conditioning programs next week. Some parents told him they had vacations already scheduled.
The players’ efforts have been tremendous, he said. Now it comes down to getting more Mustangs participating and everyone giving all they have in getting ready for the upcoming season.
“Only time will tell,” Green said. “Commitment is not something you can prove to me in two days. We’re making great changes. We’re making long-term deals. In the immediate, they seem very receptive, they’re in engaged in what we’re doing.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com