WISCONSIN RAPIDS NEWS

Offseason training propels Raiders football into 2009 season

By Brian D. Kalish
August 14, 2009 

Most teenagers experience a sense of impending doom this time of year that seems to grow more palpable with each passing day.  As summer inches toward an inevitable conclusion, thousands of Wisconsin Rapids’ teenagers are forced to confront the fact that sandy beaches and hours spent hanging out with friends will soon be replaced by uncomfortable desks and daily lectures.

However, for members of Lincoln High School’s football team, August is met with anticipation and excitement rather than apprehension.  While practice will officially begin Tuesday, August 11, Coach Tony Biolo and a core group of dedicated student athletes have been hard at work since November with a regimented, voluntary off-season conditioning and training program.
 

Lincoln head football coach Tony Biolo contemplates another exciting season.

“We’re really excited for the season,” says Biolo.  “There’s an anticipation that’s been building, anticipation that now we can begin coaching and teaching after seeing kids put in so much work in the offseason.  We know we have a good group because the kids have been so committed to the offseason program we have in place.”

Biolo has developed a system of strength and conditioning over the past couple of years that he believes gives his athletes an edge both physically and mentally.  The system, Biolo says, also helps to mitigate injuries.  

“We’ve started using a circuit style training.  The workouts change each day, but as an example, you might be doing five pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats, as many rounds as you can do in twenty minutes,” says Biolo.  “With these workouts, it’s really helped with our mental toughness and grit, knowing you can fight through fatigue, be a little more disciplined and push your body harder.  And, the more committed the kids are to it, the fewer injuries we seem to sustain.”

The offseason program begins in earnest shortly after Thanksgiving and continues right up until the official start of the season.  Biolo says that somewhere between 35-40 members of the football squad regularly participate in the training, which, during the school year, starts at 6 a.m.  Because the team has bought into Biolo’s training philosophy, it has become a great tool for building camaraderie among the participants.

Senior Dillon Ksionek credits Biolo with not only helping him become stronger, but also develop leadership skills as a result of the training.

“One big thing is [Biolo] trains right along with us.  So that helps us to believe in the system and believe in each other,” Ksionek says.  “I really think it’s helped me to be a leader by pushing other guys to get better the same way Coach pushes me to get better.”

Collin Cooper prepares for the upcoming football season with regular weight training while teammate David Moser takes a break.

Junior Tyler Hansen says the benefits of the training extend well beyond the weight room.

“It teaches you that if you want to get better at something, there’s no easy way.  If you cheat on homework, you’ll never learn anything—it’s the same thing in here,” Hansen says.

Some might object to students being so focused on football training at the cost of missing out on other valuable high school experiences, but Biolo says that the positives associated with the year-round program far outweigh any potential negatives.

“We actually encourage kids to get involved with other activities, including other sports, if possible.  But the reality is that it’s so much harder to be a 3 sport athlete today than it was 25 years ago.  We can’t coach or train the way we did 25 years ago because if we did, we wouldn’t be competitive.”

Biolo and assistant coach Michael Feuerstahler enter the 2009 campaign with a sense of optimism after a disappointing season last year in which the team won only three games.

“If we stay healthy, I think we’ll have a good chance this year,” Feuerstahler says.

The Raiders will open regular season action at Hudson on Friday, August 28 at 7 p.m.