Sklyine High School in Idaho #66

SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL IN IDAHO #66 Editor's Note: BFS has an extraordinary record with high school football teams after their BFS clinics. Sixty-six teams have won a state football championship or gone as far as their state allows after their BFS clinic. Everyone (coaches, athletes and sometimes even administrators and/ or parents) is focused in on a common goal. Since the presentation is all-encompassing, a BFS clinic has a dramatic effect on people not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

Stefan Fernholm at Skyline High School during BFS Clinic. They went on to be Idaho State Champs.

Coach Guilford had his team lift on the BFS In-Season Program. You increase. Don't think maintain.

Skyline was the underdog for each playoff game. Oddsmakers didn't know but the Grizzlies were getting stronger each week.

Stefan Fernholm did a clinic last year for the Skyline Grizzlies of Idaho Falls, Idaho. They became our 66th State Champion. Dale Guilford did it in his first year as head coach. Coach Guilford had been an assistant for 11 years and played an important role in winning a state championship the previous year in 1985. He was undecided about replacing retiring Mahlon Rassmuson, a coaching legend in Idaho? Coach Guilford was close to completing certification as an administrator. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and Dale accepted the head coaching position. Anyway, who would want to be in administration when you could coach?

Dale Guilford stated, "The group of people we had returning were not very good athletes, but they were very good people." Coach Guilford wanted to work with those kids and develop an entire unified athletic department program geared to helping all kids from all sports reach their fullest potential. This meant a new weight room and everyone believing in an in-season off-season concept. "Our first step," remembers Guilford, "in developing our program and probably our state championship literally came from a sample copy of the BFS Journal. Players began working out following the BFS set rep system outlined in the magazine. The first thing I ordered was a subscription."

The Skyline Grizzlies worked out all spring which involved 30 players for the 1986 season. Five players dead lifted over 500 pounds. Coach Guilford observed, "This wasn't really THAT big of a deal because last winter (1987) we had four sophomores do it, but at the time we thought it was great. And, I guess at the time it was'" "We knew what we had done was not enough, however, and it was then that we began to make plans to have a BFS clinic. After overcoming a few obstacles, we had Stefan come up the first of July. Basically, we decided that all the equipment and facilities in the world weren't any good if we didn't know how to use them. We had a great day with Stefan.

There was a lot of individual Continued on Next Page SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL IS THE 66th STATE FOOTBALL CHAMP!

The team experienced strength gains of between 20-30% in the four core lifts over the 14-week season.

We diligently recorded our lifts and pushed ourselves to new total amounts lifted and new milxes on our rep records.

Everyone from ,dl sports became involved. Even the girls. Notice the greilt position of the lower back. .

Recording the Standing Long Jump. vVe Learning ho\ov to run correctly was very tried hilrd every day to get better at important. Ali these things helped everything. develop confidence in our ability to get Stretching was done daily and flexibility things done. tests were given. The whole progra m "After many calls to BFS, ",'e decided to lift four days waS hard and time-consuming BUT the a week in-season and do two lifts per "vorkout day. Many re\"'ards \overe clearly worth it. people thought "ve ,verI." doing too much. Even the coaches Preparations for the J987 season began the week after our State ChilInpionship game. instruction and informed conversation.

It provided an excellent springboClTd for the rest of the summer. We had more people participating than ever before." Skyline, kept doing the program in-season. Coach Guilford knocked on wood as he remarked, "We had no muscle pulls or players lost to injuries of any kind during Two-A-Days. We compared that to another school in our Mea. They had 16 players out with injuries during the same time period." at BFS cclutioned LIS to be careful. The program instjlled and reinforced good work habits. It gave us a never quit a tti tud e.

n The Skyline Grizzlies had a rough start ilS they lost 2 of their first three games, But, the team steadily improved week by week and qUCllified for the State plClyoffs. Skyline plilyed the underdog role in each playoff game. They were victorious by a slim margin each time and emerged as the 1986 State Champions. C)ilch Dale Guilford who illso garnered Coach ot the Year honors concluded, "[ firmly believe the weight trl'lining \NilS among the biggest elements in our victories. It helped us with our best effort L1ntilthe very Iilst second. The kids believed. I gave them a dily off before our Chilmpionship game. They wouldn't take it. They lifted rt was that big a part of them."

The other sports began to become involved in the program. The baseball team, for example, had a batting average of .167 the previous year. Last spring they hit .380 and finished 3rd in the State, Thus far this fall, the Skyline Grizzlies are headed for glory. At this writing, they should once again llwke the playoffs. We thank Coach Dale Guilford and his Skyline .teams for "Making It Happen" after their clinic and being an inspiration and an eXilmple to all.

From BFS Magazine — November/December 1987. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).