Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WHS athletes Matthew Sanchez and Kyle Lamb go through their workout at the Chopper CrossFit gym in Worland Thursday morning.
WORLAND - On Monday the Worland High School volleyball, football, girls swimming, golf and cross-country teams will begin practicing for their 2016 fall campaigns. And for the past three weeks Chopper CrossFit owner Randall Homan has lent his expertise and gym to those athletes looking to take an extra step in preparation for their seasons.
Due to Wyoming High School Athletic Association rules, two weeks prior to the beginning of practices coaches cannot conduct camps or workouts with their players. This is where Homan saw an opportunity to help the Worland High School athletes and put on a strength and conditioning camp for the athletes leading to the start of their respective seasons.
Eighteen WHS athletes, mostly football players and a few volleyball players, consistently worked out at Chopper CrossFit.
"I am tremendously proud of all of them," said Homan, "They have pushed themselves and each other in an encouraging and positive way. Our motto for the camp was to 'Knock the dust off the summer' and all of them lived up to that motto. Our focus was to improve their strength and conditioning and get them ready for the start of their seasons."
In the short three weeks he had the WHS athletes Homan wanted to build their strength and conditioning not only physically but mentally as well. "We want to be a positive influence and bring a healthy mindset to their life and community," said Homan. "I told the kids what we're striving for is excellence, and excellence isn't some unattainable goal. If you come into the gym and give it 100 percent every day, that right there is excellence."
Along with improving the WHS athletes, Homan wanted to show that CrossFit can be another positive tool to use in an athletes development. "Some are weary of CrossFit training because of what I call the YouTube reputation. What I mean by that is if you do a CrossFit search on YouTube you will either see the elite of the sport, you know the men and women who make you think 'There's no way I could do that.' Or you're going to see the clowns who are always hurting themselves. And that's the reputation we have to overcome."
"To counter that reputation, I show these workouts were designed to safely and effectively increase a person's strength and conditioning in an environment that builds character, self-esteem and team chemistry," said Homan.
When asked if a WHS athlete could train at the gym while in-season Homan was not a fan of the idea, "Being in-season and training like this is too draining and it's why I would not allow them to while in-season. Having school, athletics and training would drain even the best of athletes," said Homan, "Giving 80 percent to your workout does not help anyone."
Next offseason Homan would like to start earlier in the summer and add more WHS athletes to the mix. "Hopefully the coaches, like Coach (Todd) Weber, will see the positive strides these kids have made in the short three weeks I had them. Then next season we can look at starting earlier and really maximizing their potential," said Homan, "This year was more of a preview of what they can do and how this will benefit them. For myself I'm just excited to see how well these kids will produce on the field or the court this season."
