Cameron High School's Girls Basketball Team is proving that you can never be too strong

The Heat Up the Court Cameron High School’s girls basketball team is proving that you can never be too strong In his first two seasons as head coach of the Cameron High School girls basketball team, Chad Clutter finished with a combined record of 28-19. Not bad, but this coach knew that he could expect much more from his Lady Dragons if he took their strength and conditioning program up another level. He was right. In 2004, under the direction of strength coach Eric James, the Lady Dragons from Cameron, West Virginia, began using the BFS program. That year the Class A team finished 194, a record that included 11 straight victories and earned them the title of Mason-Dixon Conference Champions.

The following year they won the sectional tournament for the first time in 24 years, a feat they repeated this year along with another conference title. And since they are losing only one In the past three years, the Lady Dragons have had a combined record of 50-19 and have won two conference championships and two sectional tournaments. player to graduation, 2008 looks even more promising. Does it get any better than that?

Besides seeing the payoffs on the scoreboard, Clutter knew that his strength training program had scored other big dividends: this year, even though only one player averaged double figures, the team was so athletic they averaged 15 steals a game and simply wore down their opponents. “Our team MAY/JUNE 2007 is able to play full court, run-andjump pressure defense, as well as several other full-court attacks, thanks to the conditioning developed from the BFS system,” says Clutter. In fact, freshman Megan Yoho was in such good shape after the season that in her first track meet that she already beat her state qualifying time of last year!

Dragon Power The motto of the movie Eragon, a mythical tale about a dragon, is “You are stronger than you realize. Wiser than you know. What was once your life is now your legend.”

Teamwork and superior conditioning are keys to the Lady Dragons’ success on the court.

This might also be an appropriate summary of how Coach James approached his conditioning program for his Lady Dragons, starting with the seventh graders and the BFS Readiness program. “Starting our athletes with the Readiness program gives our athletes an extreme advantage over our competitors,” says James. “As a matter of fact, I’m even thinking about involving the incoming seventh graders and the sixth graders in the Readiness program this summer. It’s amazing how much they pick up in a short amount of time, and it’s The Lady Dragons lift hard, but they also lift smart with close attention to proper spotting techniques.

also a wonderful transition to see when young kids do the BFS program and progress until they’re seniors ready to take on anything.” James says that when he first started his high school girls on the BFS program, it took quite a bit of work to convince his players to really buy into the new workout. “The turning point was winning that conference championship.” Clutter agrees: “The BFS system enabled our girls to perform at their highest level.” To help administer the program, James uses the Beat the Computer Pro system to design their workouts and to track their progress. And that’s a good thing, because James has all his athletes, and a PE class of 42 students as well, on the BFS program.

He says that besides reducing his administrative workload, the software program is a great motivational tool. “On a weekly basis I print out the Top 10s in bench press, parallel squat, power clean and Hex bar deadlift, and then I post them in the weightroom.” To encourage his athletes to excel not just on the court but also in the classroom and in life, James also implemented the Be an 11 program. In the fall he would have his athletes train Monday through Thursday, and then on Friday he would teach the Be an 11 program. “Friday was our Be an 11 Day, and I would use the Guidebook to teach weekly lessons,” says James.

“The kids enjoyed the inspirational stories and learning how some of the greats have made the right choices in life, and obviously how some of them made the wrong choices.” In fact, Cameron High’s principal, Marilyn McWhorter, was so impressed with the program that she championed the funding for a Be an 11 seminar for all their athletes, which the faculty and administration voted unanimously to support. “When you talk about unification, that’s it – we’ve got everybody involved in this,” adds James. As for advice he would give other strength coaches, James offers, “Try to keep things in the proper perspective – realize that you are working with young kids and they are going to make mistakes.

But if you’re willing to go that extra mile when one of them is having a difficult time, I believe that you’re going to get the best you can out of those kids. And 10 years down the road when they are a success and come Head Strength Coach Eric James (left) and Head Girls Basketball Coach Chad Clutter make quite a team. back to you and you get that ‘Thanks, Coach, for helping me out,’ that’s worth more than any amount of money they could ever pay for this job.” In looking back at his championship teams, Clutter recalls, “Our strong point wasn’t so much running and shooting; it was our strength, quickness and conditioning that have really helped us out.

And although it’s hard to put things in perspective sometimes, there’s nothing more important in basketball than the fundamentals – it goes all the way back to weight training and conditioning.” MAY/JUNE 2007 • Total Program Video For Women • New Exercise Instruction DVD Book • Womans Set Rep Log • Record Card • Be an 11 Manual • 1 Year Subscription FLEXIBILITY MANUAL THE COMPLETE BFS FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM BY DR. BILL CORNELIUS, PH.D. & ROBERT ROWBOTHAM, M.ED.

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Toes are straight when sprinting, jumping, lifting, and even stretching.

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Keep your eyes on tagret straight ahead (generally) when lifting, sprinting, jumping and even stretching.

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Computer-aided workouts for maximum results Forms for weights and field testing Enter the lifts into the computer, which calculates the precise weights for each set and creates individual, sport-specific workouts.

At the beginning of each week simply print out the athlete’s BFS Set-Rep Program weekly workout schedule.

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From BFS Magazine — May/June 2007. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).