FOOTBALL TEAM OF THE YEAR 2009! ALEXANDER SPARTANS

[Green Beagle]

TEAM OF THE YEAR

written by: Jim Phillips

MONDAY, 31 MAY 2010 22:44
Alexander High School’s football team is riding high, on the wave of its first winning season in 13 years last year, a record-setting season point total, and the team’s first-ever trip to the state playoffs.

Now recognition of the Spartans’ accomplishments has spread beyond the immediate region, as the team is featured on the cover of the latest issue of BFS magazine.

The magazine is a publication of Bigger Faster Stronger Inc., which sells weight-training equipment and a variety of other athletics-related products and services. Every year, it profiles a high school and college “team of the year,” and for 2010, as unveiled in the May-June issue, the high school team is Spartans football.

“Each year we do a male athlete of the year, a female athlete of the year, and a school of the year,” explained BFS, Inc. Vice President John Rowbotham.

Each year, he said, many schools apply for the honor, and others are suggested by the company’s sales reps. In choosing a winner, Rowbotham said, BFS looks at a variety of criteria, especially the value student-athletes get from a sports program in terms of both physical fitness and character-building.

He said Alexander’s program stood out for its “unification,” and because “they hold the kids to a very high standard.” (It undoubtedly didn’t hurt the school’s chances that it uses BFS equipment in its weight room, as well as other products supplied by the company.)

The profile story on the Spartans recounts how, when Coach Sean Arno transferred to the district five years ago, he took over a team that hadn’t had a winning season since the 1990s, and whose weight program was largely ignored by athletes. Since then, however, the story says, the Spartans have shown “a remarkable turnaround” in their strength and conditioning programs.

This improvement is reflected in the team’s recent performance in the 2009 season, the story notes, which included the first win against Vinton County since 1984; the first win against Wellston since 1986; the first win against Nelsonville-York in 38 years; and the second time the team had ever had two 1,000-yard rushers.

In addition to football, however, it says, other sports teams at Alexander, such as girls’ basketball and volleyball, have also been doing well, perhaps in part because of improved weight training.

Overall, BFS concludes, Alexander athletes “as a whole… have become much stronger in the past,” quoting Arno to the effect that when he came to the district, not one football player could bench-press 215 pounds. Last season, Arno told the magazine, every one of his linemen could bench at least 250, and one player is up to 350.

Alexander Athletics Director Josh Merckle said he agrees that dedicated weight training has had an obvious impact on team performances in multiple sports.

“I think a lot of it does have to do with the weight training,” Merckle said. “It definitely didn’t hurt to get us in the weight room… The kids have been getting bigger, and you can see the difference. The kids want to go lift now, and it shows up on the playing field.”

Merckle said news of the BFS cover has spread quickly.

“The community’s excited about it,” he reported. “They’re looking forward to (reading) it, and I know people are trying to get some copies (of the issue) around here, because they’re hard to find.”

He also noted that the sports program is currently raising money to pay for an expansion of its weight room.

In 1998, BFS ran a feature on the Ohio University football program, which also told a tale of a low-ranked team turned around by an improved “work ethic” under then head coach Jim Grobe and strength coach Ethan Reeve.

At that time, OU had just finished its 1996-97 season with an 8-3 record, its best in nearly 30 years, and Grobe had been named 1996 coach of the year for the Mid America Conference. Grobe went on to become head coach at Wake Forest.

[Green Beagle]

Should be the team to beat in the tvc ohio, no excuses now with all that talent and strength. Go Alex!

[Orange and Brown]

They should fight it out for second with Athens this year.

If someone else would have spent more money on equipment then they would have made the cover instead of the Spartans. I think it is really cool that people from other parts of the country will get to read about them though.

[boilermaker]

LOL @ O&B

[thirtyonetrap]

WOW TIMMY! Every team they play this fall gets a chance to knock off the Team of the Year. Thanks for the bulleton board material.

[drunkone]

Once VC starts running that Blatz Option against coach arnto, BFS will wanna take that picture off there magazine.

[bigboss]

DrunkOne.

By VC, Do you mean Vinton County?