By Bart Moss

For the FCT

Vina football coach Luke Childers knows that in order for his team to enjoy the sweet taste of success they will have to work hard in the off season.  To put the Red Devils in the best position for success Childers has employed a variety of summer conditioning exercises to move his team forward.

“We have done a lot of conditioning this summer and we are only at the halfway point,” noted Childers.  “We are working at being more explosive off the ball and doing some crossfit workouts as well.”

Childers says his players know that to win in September, October and November they have to work hard in June, July and August when nobody’s watching.

“I believe they understand that to win games they have to put in hard work during the summer and it will translate to the field in the fall,” said Childers.

“Once they started seeing progress they begin to buy in to what we were doing.  It’s hard in the early stages of the summer.  But once you see the effects of the work it gets a little easier.”

Childers says he been able to see who is leaders will be through the summer.

“You can really tell who your leaders are going to be during the season just by who shows up to summer workouts.  They are the committed ones and it will show up in the fall on the field.  I have really been impressed by some of our juniors and seniors this summer.  They push each other to show up and get stronger.”

So, how does Childers know if the summer workouts were a success?

“It comes down to goal setting,” said Childers.  “We set goals for out players to reach.  We chart their progress.  We will know where we are when we see how many of our guys reach their goals by the end of the summer.”

Vina will participate in a 7-on-7 team camp at Mars Hill High School on July 28th.