How today's coaches get the facilities of their dreams
What’s the most satisfying aspect of coaching at the high school level? If you’re a coach, you know it’s not winning or even seeing your athletes move on to college and then the professional ranks. All that is exciting, but there is much more to coaching. Ultimately, the best part is watching the young men and women you work with develop into mature adults and leaders who contribute to the world around them, and knowing you’ve played a part in their success. That’s what attracts you to the profession, and that’s what you want to do. What you soon discover, however, is you’ve signed up for a lifetime of fundraising.
Fundraising is intrinsic to coaching at the high school level. T-shirts, car washes, raffle tickets and lift-a-thons are tried-and-true methods that generate cash for your program. Of course, one of the problems with these methods is that other schools are doing the same promotions, making the fundraising process even more difficult. That’s why when the physical education department at Wauconda High School (in Wauconda, Illinois)
Students in Wauconda’s before-school weight training class, known as The Grind, were big consumers in the milk money project that raised money for new weight training equipment. decided it was time to upgrade the Bulldog weightroom with BFS equipment two years ago, they figured they’d need a fundraising idea that stood out from the rest. Physical Education department chair Andrew Burton and the other teachers involved in strength and conditioning had big plans to replace damaged equipment and expand the gym’s ability to accommodate more athletes, but with school budgets tighter than ever, the project needed a fundraiser with an irresistible pitch.
So they came up with a variation of a popular slogan: “Milk . . . it does a weightroom good.” Although soft drinks sold from vending machines are proven moneymakers, it’s wrong to continue promoting these sugar-packed beverages to young men and women. But milk – now that’s a drink with a lot of promise and pluses. After all, what do athletes need after a workout? Nutrition – and flavored milk is a quick, simple and affordable way to get it. Backed by studies published in such prestigious The first step in getting a new weightroom was planning, starting with whiteboard drawings and leading to the completion of a BFS weightroom evaluation form.
The next step was a fundraising campaign of selling bottles of healthy milk to the students.
This is what it’s all about: young athletes training hard and breaking personal records!
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT journals as the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism and Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, chocolate milk appears to be an ideal post-workout recovery drink. Milk is packed with protein and carbohydrates, electrolytes such as sodium and potassium that athletes lose as they sweat, and minerals such as bone-building calcium. Milk delivers all these nutrients with the bonus of rehydrating the body. So Coach Burton, assistant football coach Shawn Rudolph and physical education teacher Bill Silker set about selling flavored milk to help raise money for new equipment at Wauconda. They launched their “milk money”
project at an early morning weight training program they nicknamed “The Grind.” One thing led to another and then another. A few hundred milk bottles later, the department had enough funds for a new BFS squat rack, then another, and then another. Equally rewarding was that athletic performance shot up. Other programs around the school started to take notice and decided to help out. The junior wrestling program chipped in funds for new equipment, and the boosters came in to lend their support. It wasn’t long before the vision of a new Wauconda weightroom was a reality. With shrinking athletic budgets, independent fundraising efforts have become a key aspect of a high school coach’s job.
The coaches at Wauconda High School came up with a unique method of getting the new equipment they wanted, and needed, to bring their athletic program to the next level. Just as important, their efforts helped unify the school and resulted in a weightroom that everyone, school staff and athletes alike, could be proud of.
With the increasing interest in quality weight training equipment, such as these two pieces from the BFS Elite Line, fundraising has taken on greater importance at the high school level. The Bulldogs got their dream weightroom by selling milk – perhaps milk will also do your weightroom good?
I0ERFORM ALL CORE LIFTS IN ONE STATION s "OX 3QUAT s 0OWER #LEAN s (EX "AR $EADLIFT s "ENCH 0RESS Solid steel construction with non-slip diamond tread footplate DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976 :::%,**(5)$67(567521*(5&20 :HVW6RXWK6DOW/DNH&LW\87 THE ABSOLUTE LINE Unlike anything you have seen from BFS the all new absolute line is a complete set of free weight training racks and benches. Built with state of the art metal working techniques right here in the USA the Absolute Line is refined and tough.
Racks and benches for every situation make the absolute line a complete free weight solution for the new gym or weight room looking get their students and clients inspired to train hard!
Absolute Olympic Incline Bench Absolute Counter Balanced Smith Machine Sleek and modern these pieces of weight room equipment are built with the high demands of commercial facilities in mind.
RESULTS BY DESIGN Call Your BFS Rep to learn more Absolute Multi Use Rack Absolute 4 in 1 Olympic Bench DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976 LEARN MORE CALL 800-628-9737 WWWBIGGERFASTERSTRONGERCOM s INFO BFSMAILCOM 7EST 3OUTH 3ALT ,AKE #ITY 54 s &AX
From BFS Magazine — March/April 2014. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
