Behind the Scenes: Hudson Athletics go The Extra Mile to Find Success
by Kylee Sallee| Class of 2021 | Dec. 20, 2018
What’s the difference between being good and being great? Hudson athletes know.
Many high school sports, like basketball and football, practice nearly 15 hours a week to be good. But, the great athletes put in even more time.
√ Weight Room
Three-sport coach Jeff Curley highly encourages his athletes to become “bigger, faster, [and] stronger” by getting into the weight room. Over 77% of Hudson athletes polled are doing just that by regularly attend weight lifting sessions.
“It makes you stronger and helps train your body for the stress you’re going to have to deal with during the season,” said three-sport athlete Ben Kelly, sophomore.
√ Open Gym
Most coaches at Hudson offer two to three open gyms each week, depending on the sport and time of year. These open gyms simply are there to offer athletes more repetitions, helping them to become greater, stronger, and more accurate in their sport.
The addition of a batting cage in January will help enhance open gyms for summer athletes. Many softball and baseball players think this will help to better their game.
“The more swings we get in pre-season, the better we’re going to look when it comes to game time this summer,” said senior Steph Prather, who has been waiting for one ever since she got the opportunity to use West High’s at age 11.
√ Off-Season Play
Football defensive coordinator Keith Harms says the off-season is for physical development for strength, speed and agility training, and to get stronger and faster. Club teams are a way to do this. For example, sophomore Ashlynn Kuhn competes yearly on a club volleyball team called “Six Pack”.
Not only does Kuhn benefit from the extra practice time, she enjoys playing and finds it helpful to have multiple coaches’ perspectives to help critique her skills. Kuhn’s extra time paid off
this year when she was named first team all-conference as just a sophomore.
Rather than just practicing one sport, Harms finds it helpful to be a multi-sport athlete. “I promote going out for other sports to become a better overall athlete,” said Harms. “Each sport develops something.”
√ Camps
On the road to becoming great, many athletes attend camps. Over the summer, the football team attended a two day camp at Simpson.
Meanwhile, other individuals sought out their own camps. For example, junior Jenna Twait flew to Colorado for a one week running camp.
But summer is not the only time athletes attend camps. In January, girls track will be attending a camp at the University of Dubuque.
√ Studying The Game
Being great doesn’t always mean being physically active. Sometimes the extra time great athletes put it is by sitting down and studying the game.
During their season, the football team met on Saturdays for a weekly, mile-long run, then they would sit down and watch film of themselves and their opponents to, as sophomore Blake Johnson would put it, “find key players.”
Still, most football players, like senior Noah Mills, spend an additional 45 minutes or more each day studying plays and watching film during the season.
The girls basketball team is currently reading a book titled The Power of a Positive Team. From this, Coach Curley hopes that all 24 girls and coaching staff be able to speak in a common language using common terms when it comes to the important concepts of being a team.
Said Kuhn, “I dislike reading, but I think it will help our team get better and have a more positive attitude.”