It’s early in the morning. It’s late at night. It’s excruciatingly hot. It’s unbearably dry. It’s humid enough to give the Amazon rainforest a run for its money. There is really no set of circumstances that make it ideal, but it is a reality.
With less than two weeks left until school starts back up, summer practices and rehearsals are in full swing for high school students.
“The expectation that guides summer workouts is that students will display maximum effort,” CHS head football coach Terry Gerik said. “Our word for week one is LEARN. Our athletes should be constantly learning during every moment of practice - that stuff adds up.”
Football players report to practice each morning at 7:00 AM. They hit the weight room, practice drills, and work on memorizing this season’s playbook. Most importantly, they learn how to work together as a team.
“People don’t always see the effort and the extra work that players have to put in to get that end product on Friday nights,” senior defensive tackle Issacc Perez said. “This isn’t always fun and it isn’t easy, but the bonds we form out here help us reach our goals.”
The Cadet football team, who went undefeated in district play last year and advanced to the area playoff round, have reason to be excited for this season. They have built a tough non-district schedule in hopes of bringing home another district championship.
“This is about helping us build strength and stamina,” senior wide receiver Keare Riley said. “It builds us up as athletes, but it also sets the expectation about what it means to be a football player here at Connally. The standard that we set throughout the summer is what helps us have a long season.”
Football is not the only sport that gears up before school starts. Outside of the stadium, high school cross country athletes meet at 8:00 AM each morning to begin building their endurance for the upcoming season.
“We have a lot of really good runners returning to the program this season,” head cross country coach Lisa Baucom said. “We are expecting great things and think we have a strong chance of qualifying for the regional meet.”
With races spanning from distances of 3200 to 5000 meters, cross country is a sport that is just as much about mental toughness as it is about physical strength. Summer workouts give athletes a chance to work on both.
“Cross country is all about knocking down mental blocks as they appear before you in the race,” junior cross country athlete Caleigh Raines said. “As a soccer athlete, I appreciate that what I do here conditions me to be tough enough for adversity in any sport.”
CHS head volleyball coach ReAnn Snell would argue that the same toughness needed to motivate an athlete to finish a five kilometer race is required to motivate a high schooler to be ready to workout at 6:45 AM during the summer. Nevertheless, that is what she is expecting of her team.
“We are really excited to see the buy-in and excitement that our girls are showing during these practices,” Snell said. “We have a gym full of 36 girls fighting for spots on our JV teams and 11 dedicated upperclassmen representing our varsity squad. They are all determined to make a name for this program.”
The volleyball team has adopted the phrase “something to prove” as their slogan for the year. It has been 22 years since the team last made the playoffs, but this year’s squad is determined to break that drought and hang up a championship banner in the gym.
“A lot of our summer practice time is spent working on the fundamentals,” senior volleyball player Cyncere McDonald said. “It’s about us building up our strength and preparing for what we need to do to win. We are in a very tough district, so we have to put in the work now if we want to be competitive like we know we can.”
When the community heads to Meet the Cadets on August 21st at 6:00 PM, they will have the opportunity to celebrate all of the hard work that the athletes have put in to prepare for strong showings this year. Joining them in that celebration will be the other activities that make up fall competition season: the cheerleaders, the dance team, and the marching band.
“We spent four days of our summer doing an intensive boot camp with the Universal Cheerleaders Association,” CHS varsity cheer coach Brittni Schmidt said. “Our girls left feeling confident, stronger, and ready to tackle new goals this year. We had six students qualify for All-American distinction.”
While the cheerleaders spent part of their summer working with clinicians from the UCA, members of the Blue Angels dance team spent time building their skills and studying choreography for their routines this season.
“We have a really great group of students on the team this year who have already established strong bonds,” dance coach Kassidy Munson said. “We have spent a lot of time learning new material and are eager to grow as a team throughout this fall.”
While many of the high school teams opt to practice in the morning to beat the heat, the Pride of the Cadets opt to rehearse in the evening, instead.
“We elect to practice in the later hours so that we can ensure that our students can participate in other activities,” CHS head band director Dr. Nora Mosby said. “Kids might show up a little late and exhausted, but I’m always amazed at how hard they work when they’re here.”
With the constant flood of students and coaches entering and exiting the building, new CHS principal Hermann Pereira feels that the school year is already starting off with great energy.
“Connally has some of the absolute best students and coaches in the world,” Pereira said. “I have no doubt that every single game, contest, and performance will be outstanding this season. Our kids are putting in the work to reach some awesome results.”