By MIKE MALTAIS
A group of hard-working Liberty Bell High School football players have been spending the summer getting in shape for the upcoming season with weight training and strength drills at Winthrop Physical Therapy and Fitness.
Last Monday (July 22) Milo Holston, Bergen Patterson and Chip Jones turned out in 85-degree heat to lift weights and build stamina at Winthrop PT’s outdoor facilities.
LBHS varsity football assistant coaches Brent Walker and Brian Wilbur have been getting together with players five days a week throughout the summer to supervise endurance training and hold passing clinics.
The players have been weight training at 3:30 p.m. every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at Winthrop PT and gather at the high school every Wednesday afternoon for passing drills.
Wilbur will serve as coach Sy Bannick’s offensive coordinator for the varsity again this season. Wilbur also plays quarterback for the Montpellier Hurricanes in France.
“Peter and Janice Dickinson have been so supportive by letting us use their facilities,” Walker said, gesturing at the outdoor weight equipment.
That includes the adjacent parking lot, where the players capped off an hour of weight work with some “toss the tire” drills in the high afternoon heat.
On this particular afternoon each participant, coaches included, took turns lifting a large Goodyear 18.4-R38 six-ply Power Torque tractor tire – some 200 pounds worth – end-over-end across the gravel. Naturally, being athletes they had to make a contest of it, so the object became to see who could complete the most flips in 30 seconds. The best score was Wilbur’s 12.5 flips in the allotted time.
Varsity football practice will get under way on the LBHS campus on Aug. 21.
