Marble Falls booster club donate $19K for weight room upgrades
Athletes at Marble Falls High School (pictured here) and Marble Falls Middle School can anticipate major improvements to weight room facilities after a generous $19,000 donation from the Marble Falls Athletic Booster Club. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
The Marble Falls Athletic Booster Club donated $19,000 to upgrade weight rooms at the middle and high school campuses during the Monday, Sept. 19, meeting of the Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Among the planned additions are new weight bars, kettlebells, weight plates, dumbbells, and other equipment to be used by hundreds of young athletes.
Athletic director and head football coach Brian Herman said teams with solid a strength-and-conditioning system often have an advantage.
“We truly believe if two teams are equal, the stronger, more prepared, and well-built team will come out on top,” he said. “If the skill level is equal, the talent is equal, that strength and power and explosiveness of our athletes will be the winning advantage.”
The donation comes after Herman highlighted a need to improve the weightlifting facilities as the athletic program continues to grow at both campuses.
“We have really pushed the weight room usage for all athletes, boys, girls, regardless of sports,” he said. “We even have pre-athletics at the middle school, so we now have hundreds of kids using the weight rooms all the time, every day. So our weight room needs have grown over the years.”
To better understand what should be included in the improvements, Herman created a committee of coaches from his staff along with middle school coaches to help identify needs for each of the facilities. Rather than focus all available resources at the high school, the group recognized the middle school facilities demanded upgrades.
“The one that’s really kind of been dilapidated over the years is the middle school weight room,” Herman said. “It’s very spacious and has lots of functional room to get things done, but it has super-old, rusty equipment.”
Only the first phase of weight room improvements, Marble Falls Athletic Booster Club President Shannon Roberts hopes to raise additional funds for a second installment at a later date.
“The goal is to have a second stage,” she said. “I’m not really sure when that will happen, but we’re hoping we’ll be able to add on later.”
The donation comes from months of booster club membership drives and rollover from last year’s fundraising efforts.
“We don’t want to hold onto money,” Roberts said. “We want to give back so that all of our athletes can benefit along with their coaches.”
Plans for another fundraiser are currently in the works, she said.
Herman commended Roberts’ efforts in helping to raise money for the programs.
“Shannon is a rock star,” he said. “She has done so much for our booster club. I’m very appreciative of all she and everyone else in the booster club has done for the entire program.”