There's more to BFS than strength, size, and speed

BY BEAU JOHNSON ead football coach David Bell knew something was missing at Southwest Georgia Academy in Damascus, Georgia. This private high school has a wonderful football tradition; they’ve won six state championships, with the last coming in 1998. But then the Warriors started to struggle, and that’s when Bell, a longtime friend, called me to help. The problem was that the Warriors just couldn’t finish strong. For three straight years the Warriors had entered the last regular season game with a Hchance for winning seasons and a shot at the regional title, but they kept coming up short.

Coach Bell knew he had talented players returning in 2009 and he had a solid coaching staff, but something was missing. I told him that what was missing was BFS. I’m a certified BFS weight training instructor, and I’ve successfully installed the BFS program at two other schools in this area: Edmund Burke Academy and Piedmont Academy. After talking with Bell, not only was I able to convince him to use BFS, but last May I accepted an offer to come to work for him to help implement the program. What was lacking at SWG was an organized program.

Sure, the kids were going into the weightroom and they were working and they were really good at the bench press, but they weren’t doing much in the way of parallel squats and Olympic lifting movements such as the power clean. They weren’t doing much running or stretching or plyos. I saw that it wasn’t so much that they were not working hard as it was that they needed some direction. MARCH/APRIL 2010 Head football coach David Bell lead his team to a 10-3 season, their best record in six years, and a share of the regional title.

The Warriors hit the ground running with BFS, and I made certain they used the BFS system by the book, just as I had been taught in the certification seminar. We trained three days a week with weight training classes during the school year and additional sessions during the summer, starting at 6 a.m. We also did the BFS speed Nile Knapp put up 2,197 yards rushing for the second-highest result in school history. and plyo program, used the Beat the Computer Program to keep up with records, and also used the Be an 11 program to build character. In fact, in July we hosted a Be an 11 clinic by Roger Freeborn, which was great for our school and was attended by more than 60 male and female athletes.

It was such an awesome seminar that we decided to adopt the Be an 11 slogan throughout the school.

The BFS Factor BFS immediately had a positive impact on Southwest Georgia Academy. The Warriors went 10-3 on the gridiron, which was their best season in six years, and were region co-champions. We had over 4,600 yards of total offense during the season, headed by Nile Knapp’s 2,197 yards rushing, the second highest record in school history. The Warriors averaged over 30 points per game on offense and definitely seemed to be the most conditioned team on the field every Friday night. But if you ask me if there was one big factor that set us apart this year, it was our speed – BFS is about more than just getting bigger and stronger.

As another bonus, nine of our Warriors players were selected for the All Region Team and four for the All State Team. Also, for the first time ever, The Warriors averaged 30 points a game on offense and had a strong defense. two of our SGA players, Austin Boyd and Parker Rentz, were selected to play in the Georgia/Florida Border War All Star Game on January 9, which included a combination of South Georgia’s best public and private school players. The SGA coaching staff were rewarded for their successful season with an opportunity to coach the White Team in the GISA All Star Game, held the first weekend in December. With three players from SGA, the White Team won a thriller game 14-13.

But it’s not just football that benefited from BFS. Case in point: The Lady Warriors’ softball team. Our softball team also had lifted hard during the summer and as a result had a record-setting season. The team had 22 wins – a school record – and finished tied for the region lead (but lost in a tie-breaker for the region title). The Lady Warriors also broke numerous school records, including 253 team hits, 192 runs in a season, 210 strikeouts, and 15 shutouts. Further, six Lady Warriors were selected All Region, one All State and two for the GISA All Star Game. Two standouts were Jana Sizemore and Bailey Ponder.

Sizemore had 105 hits in her career, 99 RBIs in her career, and 36 hits this season. Ponder had 148 strikeouts in 142 2/3 innings pitched this season with 10 shutouts. In addition to our high school program, we are giving our middle school athletes a head start with the BFS Readiness Program. It’s our experience The Lady Warriors Softball Team lifted hard during the summer and as a result had a 22-win season, a school record! that if you can get your middle school excited and rolling with a sound strength and conditioning program, that will feed your high school program. We even have some of our elementary school kids doing aspects of the BFS program, such as the dot drill and the stretching.

And we have kids in our regular PE classes doing BFS who don’t play any sports. BFS talks about the importance of being unified, and we have done exactly that because this is a program that has been proven to help you win. Coaches are always taught to encourage their teams to play like a family, but at SWG we really are an extended family: We have our high school, middle school and elementary school all in the same location.

The support you get in BFS is one of great things about the program, because when you get a kid coming in as a seventh grader and they are puny and don’t have a lot of self-confidence, once they start breaking records, you see them light up and really start getting after the weight program – it’s awesome to watch! Since we started BFS in May, the number of personal records has grown to over 10,000, so the outlook here for upcoming sports team is exciting. What made the difference at Southwest Georgia Academy in the fall of 2009? If you ask our coaching staff and players, they will give you one answer: BFS! MARCH/APRIL 2010 “The most inspiring night of my life!” ~Kyle Meyers, Rutherford B.

Hayes High, OH “Reaffirmed the reason I entered coaching 25 years ago.” - Coach Al McFarland “Be An 11 has “Every school in the nation should schedule a Be An 11 Seminar today! school.” changed my life! It is without a doubt the best thing that has happened to-our Coach T. Cox I WILL BE AN 11!” - Katie Heinlen “This is exactly what our school - and community - needed.”- Coach Fox u The cost is only $1,700 A BFS Presenter will come to your school and will spend up to up to 50 athletes. Add’l three hours inspiring, motivating athletes only $20 each. and educating your athletes how Includes the Be an 11 to become true elevens! Guidebook!

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From BFS Magazine — March/April 2010. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).