This Utah High School has the right plan for athletic superiority
The Mountain View Bruins have won over 83 state championships in a wide variety of sports.
This Utah high school has the right plan for athletic superiority ince it opened its doors three decades ago, Mountain View High School has made a powerful impact on the Utah sports scene. In 2000, for example, two local newspapers awarded this D4 school in Orem the “Utah Sports Program of the Century.” And the school deserved it. The Mountain View Bruins have captured over 83 state championships and 110 regional championships.
SMany of their athletes in team sports have gone on to play in the professional ranks, such as Setema Gali and Ifo Pili for the NFL and Travis Hansen for the NBA. They also have had their share of stars in individual sports, such as Shauna Rohbock, 2002 Olympic silver medalist in bobsled; and Nik Arrhenius, Olympian and world high school record holder in the discus. The downside is that most of the Bruins’ notable successes were accomplished during the school’s first two decades – the football program especially has been struggling recently. Consequently, last year the head of the physical education department, Chad Blevins, decided it was time for some changes.
And the biggest one was creating unity.
Nik Arrhenius is an Olympian, world high school record holder in the discus, and a Mountain View High School graduate.
Turning the Right Pages “Last spring I got together with the other sport coaches and proposed the idea of getting us all on the same page with a unified strength and conditioning program,” says Blevins, who also serves as the Bruins’ head wrestling coach. Blevins also wanted the coaches to be certified by a respected professional organization, so he did some research and invited Kam Shepherd from BFS’s Salt Lake City headquarters to give a short presentation about the BFS program and answer any questions the coaches had. “About a month later we had Rick Bojak and Kam come down to Mountain View and give 10 coaches an all-day clinic to teach them the program and get certified.”
Asked why he thought it was important to bring clinicians in rather than just trying to implement the BFS program from the book, Blevins replied, “I read the Bigger Faster Stronger book, but I thought it would benefit us to bring down coaches who are considered experts in their fields to help validate my push to get our Over 70 athletes come in twice a week at 6:30 am to get in their BFS workout. athletic program unified. We were fortunate to be able to get someone of the caliber of Coach Bojak.” After the BFS clinic, Blevins said it was now up to the coaches to go to their respective players to sell them on the BFS program. It was an easy sell.
Now, at 6:30 in the morning, twice a week, over 70 athletes show up in the weightroom to ensure they don’t miss a BFS workout. Blevins says they always have at least two coaches supervising the weightroom to maintain a high level of teaching and safety, and that the school also offers classes during the day. Blevins notes that all the weight training classes before school are for both girls and boys, but that during school the training is done in separate classes for girls and for boys. According to Blevins, one of the biggest problems facing high school coaches is that there are so many programs available, with new ones popping up all the time.
“It can be very confusing, and I saw where some coaches were having their athletes doing what I would consider too many bodybuilding-type exercises, rather than focusing more on total body exercises. The bench press is a certainly a great lift, but often it is the focus of too much attention. As for any issues with getting the girls to lift, Blevins says the women’s swim coach, Missy Bahr, was on board right from the start, so that gave the program a big push. To facilitate the BFS program, Blevins reorganized the weightroom after the clinic, moving the bench press stations from the center and replacing them with power clean and deadlift areas.
“That sent a powerful message as to what we believe our focus should be in the weightroom as far as strength training.” He also had dots painted in the middle of the weightroom, and has found that the dot drill is a very practical method of improving agility and also serving as a quick warm-up. Next on his list of things to do is to come up with some motivational awards, such as an Ironman club or T-shirts. “I think that is one area that will help take us to the next level.”
Asked what advice he would give to other coaches who want to put a new spark in their athletic program, Blevins replied, “The biggest thing a school can do to make a positive impact on their sports program is to unify their school, as it creates positive communication between the coaches. Everyone will benefit from unification!”
Happy coaches after a BFS clinic are (l-r) Andrew Blanchard, Jeff Gustin, Chad Blevins, Mike Hunter, Brent Hymas, Brett Andrus.
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From BFS Magazine — March/April 2011. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
