The game of football never sleeps; both on and off-season, these players are hard at work. Football is more than just a game to players — they have to train, keep a diet and balance their lives between school work and football in order to reach their full potential.
Miami Palmetto Senior High football is a major part of the school’s culture and social life, not only for students, but administrators and parents as well. MPSH has been 3-1 as far as the beginning of this season, giving us a year to look forward to. As students get hyped up for the season, football players have a different experience as they approach upcoming games.
To maintain a high standard, players have to stay in peak physical condition throughout the year.
“During the off-season, you definitely have to keep up with your workouts and just do a lot of outside work, still staying in shape, running, staying in that heat, always staying active and just really building a body during the offseason cause you’re not really playing as much but you gotta still maintain it though,” junior and Quarterback for the Varsity football team Lucas Goenaga said.
As each player prepares for the season, they have to learn what they must accomplish as far as body goals, diets and training. Along with keeping up their overall stamina, players must commit to a healthy diet in order to stay fit.
“During the off-season, I follow a diet plan, where I basically eat clean Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and Wednesdays and Sundays I kind of just eat whatever I want. I feel like I play better when I don’t feel like I ate too much and I just like to feel fit,” senior and Varsity kicker Jad Rosario said.
When training either during the season or off-season, these players have various responsibilities they must hold themselves accountable for which may affect their season in the future.
Football is very important to these players but, at the end of the day, school comes first. Whether they go to school at MPSH or manage their time with online school, these students keep a tight schedule in order to balance the different aspects of their life.
“I have a schedule from 8 to 12, so I do school from 8 to 12, then I go to football. I used to never have time for myself and now I have lots of time for myself because of online school,” junior online student and Varsity defensive tackle player Davion Dixon said.
In order to manage their time, the players must stay on track and keep up with their school work or jobs. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to balance school life with the amount of required training, so players have to be careful to not overwork themselves.
Though often stressful, a player’s process of finding balance in their life as athletes and dealing with other teenage responsibilities, is rewarding in the end.
