Age: 15, Height: 6-4, Weight: 230
By Greg Shepard John Godina is big. He’s certainly big for his young age of 15. He stands 6-4 and currently weighs 230, but he has weighed as much as 237 pounds. John has always been big. As a 12-year-old, he was already 5-10 and 210 pounds.
John has produced some big efforts in football and in track and field. John’s got big grades—a perfect straight-A average.
Big lifts are also owned by John. He’s made some big commitments to be the best, along with dreaming big about the future. You might say he’s Wyoming's answer to the legendary folk hero Big Bad John. Bad in this case means good—unless, of course, you're competing against John. He began playing football and throwing the Discus in the fourth grade. While attending school in Lawton, Oklahoma, as a eighth grader, John broke the Great Plains Junior High School Conference Discus Record by 35 feet, with a throw of 171 feet 1 inch (using the one kilogram implement). The Godina family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for John’s ninth-grade year.
With the bigger high school Discus, John threw 138 feet 2 inches, and he threw the 12- pound high school Shot 32 feet 8 inches. At this time, he began to Bench Press a maxed out at 135 pounds. To prepare for football during the summer before his sophomore year, John began a general weight-training and conditioning program. John played offensive guard and became a named as a Honorable Mention All-Conference player.
From this success, a dream was born. A dream of playing pro football with a big contract, and a gold medal in the John’s favorite lifts are the Squat and Clean, which helped him win the State Discus Title...
Discus.
John and his dad, Bill Godina, knew that in order to accomplish these goals and make things happen that John must do some serious training and prepare like a videos. John said, “Il watched Stefan at least twenty times.” In January, 1988, John began the BFS program to prepare for the next track season. Until mid-March, he lifted three times per week and did his speed and plyometric program twice a week. During the season, John reduced the lifting to twice per week while continuing the speed and plyometric program.
John made remarkable gains in strength and performance. In April, he broke the Cheyenne Central High School Discus record with a throw of 166 feet 2 inches. Three weeks later, he broke it again with a 172 feet 5 inch effort. To cap the season off, John won the State 4-A pS ...and also develop great power in football.
Discus Championship and helped his team win the State Track and Field title.
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As John prepared last summer for his Junior year of 88 AGE 15, HIT. 6-4, WT. 230 football, his Bench had skyrocketed to 290 pounds. His favorite lifts were also going great as he Parallel Squatted 450 and Cleaned 255 pounds. John also Box Squatted 650 and Dead Lifted 490 pounds. John’s father states, “As a thrower, John had a good technical foundation, but the gains in strength were directly responsible for the Discus gain of over 30 feet from the previous year. It was even more true with the Shot-put.
The elements of success can be attributed to the BFS Strength Training Program done on a regular, structured basis, along with technical training, regular rest, good diet, and flexibility training.” Academically, John preparatory classes and is a 4.0 student. He deserves his status as a straight-A student. You see, John has never missed a class and is always on time with his assignments.
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John has a dream of one da y playing Pro Football When I asked John about his method of getting A grades, he replied, “I just do whatever it takes to get the grade.” [ like that. After all, coaches continually talk about extra effort as a requirement for a true athlete. Upper-Limit coaches make big efforts to help their athletes take pride in their schoolwork. I think we can all adopt the John Godina philosophy for classroom excellence, “Do whatever it takes!”
In case you think John Godina may not be real, | asked him if he was allowed to date. He laughed, “I've got a drivers license now so, yes, I’m allowed to date.” The whole family is a great support to John’s goals. “My mother and father are behind me one hundred percent,” said John thankfully, “and my sister, she asks me how| do after every practice.” A highlight of John’s summer was being able to attend John Powell's Discus Camp. Powell is one of the all-time greats in the Discus. John Godina looks up to three sports figures, and they’re all throwers: Al Oerter, Mac Wilkins, Fifteen-year-old John has blasted the shot out over 50 feet. and John Powell.
One of John’s goals is to be able to break the 200-foot barrier by his Senior year. As John continues to push all the correct training buttons, he should get that goal—which would place him in an elite group of high school throwers. When asked about peer pressure in relation to drugs and alcohol, John responded, “Since I always say ‘No,’ all the kids know I don’t do it and so they don’t bother me.’ [ asked John if he’d formulated a philosophy on success. He had. “’Don’t ever quit.’ That’s our family motto. We keep going after it—never stop. If you’re going to do something, do it for yourself. I’ve written down all my goals, especially for track. So far it’s worked. I usually get my goals,”
John said.
We thank John Godina and his family for being a great example. We wish them well in attaining success and happiness.
From BFS Magazine — November/December 1988. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
