Blackhawk coaches urge: 'Feed the machine'

Blackhawk athletes are learning to "feed the machine" at their Blackhawk Pride this summer.

During Blackhawk Pride, football coaches Stephen Neal and Cody Alexander and trainer Jaime Mann are teaching the athletes about nutrition and hydration as well as muscle building and football skills. The athletes have been working with weight lifting and speed development since school dismissed and will be off for two weeks for "dead weeks" before returning for more skill development. Blackhawk Pride is held early in the mornings, from 7:30 to 9:15 a.m. The first day of permissible football practice, Neal said, is Aug. 1.

In mid-July, football athletes will help with Blackhawk Pride II, a football camp for third- through seventh-grade athletes.

"Feed the machine" is a mantra all coaches are repeating to athletes.

"It's education. We talk to the kids about putting them in the right amount of hydration, the right type of hydration, the right time and nutritional value," Neal said. "I tell them 'You cannot expect your bodies to perform to its capabilities without eating something in the morning or properly hydrating the night before. Take care of your bodies.'"

Athletic director Kevin Ramey concurred.

"We take the hydration of our kids very seriously -- before, during, after," he said. "We really work hard with our parents at the pre-season meeting so everybody is informed about proper hydration."

Mann is at the multi-purpose facility from 8 a.m. to noon overseeing the student athletes and available to assist with injuries or questions. In addition, there are half a dozen managers who constantly fill and serve water bottles, Neal said.

"We don't restrict water at all," Mann said, adding that sometimes the coaches have to push the students to drink water.

"We never want a kid to work at capacity without water," Mann said.

"That is also the responsibility of the athlete. Young men don't necessarily have the experience necessary to adjust to certain conditions and that's why we constantly harp at them, 'make sure you feed the machine," Neal said.

Mann said soft drinks, energy drinks, tea and coffee all provide the opposite of hydration and will actually dehydrate an athlete because of the caffeine. She said fruits provide both hydration and good nutritional value and recommended watermelon for its high water level.

"I told the kids this morning," Neal said, "you can't wake up at 7 a.m. and eat and expect it to fuel your body. Get up 10 to 15 minutes early to eat and allow time for the food to digest."

Neal and Man recommended students drink water, eat fruit, peanut butter or an egg to provide protein and carbohydrates. They also emphasized that the athletes must eat well after practice. They said hydration is a lifestyle and is not just for the hours of practice.

"During spring practice," Neal said, "I've told the kids if I'm walking down the hallway, I should see football players with water bottles in their hands."

"When they leave our program, we want them to have learned all sorts of skills and one of the many, hopefully, will be nutritional values and taking care of their bodies, as well as the right way to train, eat and drink," Neal said. He said getting eight to nine hours of sleep every night is also essential.

"The muscles can't recover from these types of workouts," Mann said, "if they're not sleeping enough. That's when muscle grows."

Mann said too often students get dehydrated and don't sleep enough on the three-day weekends they have away from Blackhawk Pride.

"They've already lost 25 percent of their athletic function," she said, if they're beginning to be dehydrated. "You can't expect to make that up on Monday morning."

Mann said she tries to educate the athletes that their urine should be clear and if it's the color of apple juice, they're not taking in enough water.

"We monitor the heat and humidity levels to be sure they're getting the breaks they need," she said. "It's about the athletes' health and well being as much as their development in sports."

It's a shared responsibility, Neal emphasized between the athlete, the parents and the coaching staff.

Ramey recommended parents educate themselves with information from The Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation. In 1995, a Rogers athlete, Kendrick Fincher, died from the result of a heat stroke after football practice. The foundation was founded as a result.