Benefits of Strength and Conditioning by Mr. Lee 

All St. Francis students are encouraged to participate in strength and conditioning as a training component of their personal fitness plan.  For students participating on an athletic team, strength training is absolutely essential to help prevent injuries, improve performance capabilities, and build mental toughness.

Though the St. Francis football team takes full advantage of our state-of-the-art facilities in the Borina Athletic Center, the strength and conditioning class is not just a "football program."  The St. Francis strength and conditioning class is designed to meet the needs of all students and student-athletes. 

Strength training is equally important for males and females, and ⅓ of the students in the program this year are young women.  For all of our student-athletes, it is essential to commit to year round, structured strength training to prevent injuries and reach their performance capabilities.

There are many reasons to sign up for the Strength and Conditioning class rather than rely a local fitness club or private coach.  Some of the reasons include:

1. The student-athlete will get a safer, more effective, and more efficient workout due to the supervision and expertise of our staff.

2. The equipment in the BAC weight room is as good as or better than local fitness centers. 

3. The coaches in our program are experts in the field of strength and conditioning and have the student-athlete's best interest in mind.  Our coaches have trained and played at the high school and/or professional level and know about high school student-athlete safety and performance.

4. The morale built by training together as a group of St. Francis student-athletes cannot be beat!

I had the opportunity to watch the transformation of student-athletes at my last school, St. John Bosco High School. By implementing year-round strength training for all student-athletes, we saw the cross country team win 20 league titles in a row and 5 CIF-SS and/or State titles. Along with their successes, we saw the Bosco football team take a league, state, and national football title in 2013. The wrestling program has had three state and national championships over the last three years with "0" injuries due to Strength & Conditioning participation. Basketball, baseball, and volleyball have also seen tremendous improvement in performance and a dramatic drop in injuries.

Below, Coach Adam Hazel has collected injury data as part of our own longitudinal study on safety and performance. I know you will be pleased and impressed with his data. Whether your student is an student-athlete or not, the benefits of strength and conditioning training are factual. It improves classroom and sport performance and it contributes to better health and sleep. As the parent of an incoming 9th grader in 2014-2015, my son will have 6 academic classes and a study hall in the fall; his mother and I feel this will help with time management and the transition from middle school to high school. In the spring, he will take six academic classes and the Strength & Conditioning class.

Data from Coach Hazel

1. 2013 Football Performance/Injury Data

As a football program, we only had three student-athletes with an injury that kept them out more than one week. Of the student-athletes who were consistent participants in our summer workout program and who participated in this year's inaugural Strength & Conditioning class,  none of them had an injury that kept them out more than one week. All of the research shows that taking part in a year round strength & conditioning program will significantly reduce the risk of injury and increase performance in all sports.

This last season, 18 of the 27 student-athletes in football were regular participants in our summer workout program. With the 9 games we played last year, there were 162 opportunities to play, for a total of 162 opportunities to play.   Only 5 of those 162 opportunities were missed due to injury.

Last season, 9 of the 27 student-athletes in football were not regular participants in our summer workout program. With our 9 games we played, last year there were 81 opportunities to play. Of those, 15 of those 81 opportunities were missed due to injury.

Comparing apples to apples, this means the ones who trained missed only 0.03% of the games due to injury versus 19% who did not train.

2. 2013 Football Concussion Data

There were four diagnosed concussions during the 2013 football season. Three of the four were experienced by student-athletes who did not take part in our summer workout program.  Research shows that when student-athletes get tired, they are not capable of using proper technique and fundamentals. The risk of injury grows when student-athletes are fatigued.

Of the student-athletes participating in football who were regular participants in our summer workout program and in the Strength & Conditioning class, we only had one concussion. That equaled the number of concussions in men's soccer and women's basketball.

3. Freshmen Playing Varsity Football

In 2013, we had eight freshmen participate as varsity football players. All eight saw playing time, and three of the eight developed into starting positions.

Interestingly, none of the freshmen had a football injury that kept them out more than one week. Also, all of the freshmen who played football were able to participate in winter sports. They did not miss one winter sport practice because of a football injury.

4. Summary Statement

Student-athletes participating in a sport-specific summer program and being in the Strength & Conditioning class will exponentially reduce their risk of injury while performance will increase.

The Mother-Son Evening was held this year on March 22.  In its third incarnation, the event was once again held at Neptune's Kingdom at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for miniature golf. The response was overwhelmingly, with over  50 participants posing for photos with Neptune's Kingdom pirates.  Mothers and sons visited with friends and played miniature golf game.  Afterwards, ice cream from The Penny Ice Creamery was enjoyed by all.  Congratulations to the Classes of 2016 and 2017 with the highest attendance for the event.

Spring Festival Reminders

With the Spring Festival just a few days away, we wanted to remind you of the following:

Dinner Tickets - It's not too late to pre-order your chicken dinners. Please turn in your form with payment to the school office by the end of school on Thursday, April 3rd, and your tickets will be ready for you to pick up at will call. Extra forms are available in the school office, or just attach a post-it note to your check. Dinners can also be purchased the day of the festival. In addition you can support the school and those in need in the community by purchasing dinner tickets and donating your meal to the OLHC Church outreach ministry.

Raffle Tickets - This Thursday, April 3 is the last day for students to turn in the raffle tickets they have sold to be eligible for the weekly prize drawing. Just a reminder: the class that sells the most raffle tickets will be rewarded with a pizza lunch. Raffle tickets will also be available for purchase at the festival. In addition to the $500 and $250 cash prizes, you could also win many more prizes, including gift certificates to area businesses and attractions, as well as restaurants.

Silent Auction - This year, the silent auction will feature many wonderful items including golf for 4 at Seascape; wine; an overnight stay at The Monterey Plaza Hotel; Covello & Covello family portrait; wine tasting; and an overnight stay at Chuckchansi Casino.

Help is still needed, especially for the following: chicken prep on Friday, April 4th from 2:00 - 4:00 pm, and in the kitchen on Saturday, April 5th from 2:30 - 5:30. HELP IS DESPERATELY NEEDED FOR CLEAN UP. AS AN INCENTIVE TO HELP, IF YOU VOLUNTEER FOR CLEAN UP FOR 2 HOURS, YOU WILL EARN 5 SERVICE HOURS. And yes, your student can help with clean up. Please contact Linda Ward at lindaward@razzolink.com to sign up.

Also, if you have a canopy that we can use, please bring it to Kennedy Hall during set up on Friday, or Saturday morning.

We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday.

Van Service for 2014-2015