I’ve been a strength coach, weight equipment entrepreneur and speaker for 30 years now, and I consistently get told by high school coaches, “I can never have a strength program like yours”. Well, the following story is about a real time “work in progress” at Randolph High School in Randolph, Minnesota, and football/strength coach Aaron Soule. Randolph has a town population of 436 and graduates around 40 kids per year. They play nine-man football in the Southern Confederacy Conference, and won one football game in 2012.
I worked with Aaron in building the Randolph program. Some interesting and unique points in his program are that he insisted that he be the head strength coach and, with input from the other coaches in the school, developed the only workout that would be used by the students. He also picked 6:15 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for workout times. He has had tremendous growth in the one year he has been in charge.
By June of 2013, he had 46 athletes training at 6:00 am, which was an all-time record. From the 4-5 kids per morning when they started a year ago, the growth has been incredible. The following are many of the important points that Aaron has implemented or experienced in the past year, many of which can apply to your program.
Here is some background on the Randolph High School strength program:
1. Randolph was very fortunate to get a referendum passed in 2012. They were able to get a new weight room with new equipment (4 platforms and 4 multi-racks).
2. The school does not have a lot of athletic tradition. The football team has one winning record since the early 1990s.
3. Coach Soule selected the time from 6:15am to 7:30am for workouts because of no real conflicts and it was his chance to build mental toughness. He started with four kids per session.
4. Coach Soule wanted to have the gym closed down on Tuesday and Thursday after school to ensure that all the kids were on the same workout on the same day.
5. Coach Soule talked to a number of area coaches about what to do to get all players on the same program. His goal was to create a complete athlete – not focusing exclusively on football because of the size of the school.
Building the Program
1. Coach Soule’s first goal was to make the weightroom a place to hang out. If they come into the weightroom, he thought maybe he can get them to work?
2. Coach Soule’s motto is, “Always be positive with your kids. It doesn’t matter what you know or what program you have.”
3. Recruit, recruit, recruit. During Coach Soule’s prep times at school, he would walk down to the cafeteria and talk to the kids about a variety of subjects but always mentioned something about the morning weightlifting program.
4. It was important for Coach Soule to find out who Randolph’s leaders were - the kids that were respected and would commit to a program. He pulled those kids together and taught them how to be leaders.
5. 6th graders were invited into the weight room. They were taught safe and proper lifting form.
6. Coach Soule celebrated any time a record attendance was set with a group picture on Facebook. He also emailed weightroom photos to head coaches, the athletic director, the high school principal and superintendent and encouraged all of them to thank the kids for coming in that morning.
7. Coach Soule bought treats for his lifters as attendance grew. He believed in rewarding the athletes for their efforts.
8. Coach Soule wrote hand written notes and mailed them to the student athletes and their parents, thanking them for their work. He also continued to tell them how they can be a leader, resist drugs/alcohol, and respect both teachers and coaches.
9. Coach Soule used an iPad and embraced today’s technology using video from the weight facility and placing it on Facebook.
10. Randolph held a Lift-A-Thon to raise money in order to buy extra equipment.
11. Kids were encouraged to get donations. If an athlete received over $125 in donations, they were given a $25 gift card to a local restaurant. If they received $10 in donations, they received a T-shirt.
12. Coach Soule organized a weightlifting awards breakfast. Qualifications for the various awards included 50% attendance and active participation in the Lift-A-Thon. The school’s first ever Ironman was named. Coach Soule also invited a senior to talk about how the weightroom has helped him in athletics. Too many times athletes heard the excuse, “I wish I would have lifted and now my time is over,” said Coach Soule. “I didn’t want to hear about sob stories anymore. I want to hear from someone who showed up and did it”.
13. In the first year, attendance went from 4-5 kids per morning to around 23 kids per morning. Many of our lifters were junior high student-athletes. By early summer, that number reached 46.
So, if you are looking for a framework to start your program and are sick of excuses why you can’t, here is a great model to work from. I feel Coach Soule did a great job getting coaches and administration on board and supporting the program. He also had the parents together, and I think his hand written notes had a tremendous impact on the program. With many students starting at the junior high level, the foundation is certainly set for success. It is truly a “work in progress!”
About the Author: Scott Safe has more than 30 years of experience in weightlifting, coaching and business ownership. He is the founder and owner of the Safe Strength Training System and can be reached at scottsafe@footballpower.net.