Despite a break from March until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Glendale Prep football program found a new way to continue the necessary offseason training.
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Despite a break from March until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Glendale Prep football program found a new way to continue the necessary offseason training.
Utilizing an app called ‘Volt’, the team was able to check in with the coaching staff while continuing their workouts individually.
“We had to work hard and self-motivate ourselves in order to stay in shape and get better,” senior wide receiver and outside linebacker Malachi Mizysak said in a text message conversation.
The two-way player and his brother, senior offensive lineman and linebacker Elijah, would work out Monday through Friday, attempting to run two miles every day, or every other day.
“As seniors, we also encouraged everyone to go to a park and practice plays, routes and conditioning,” Malachi said.
Finally, in late July, the team was able to return to team workouts, but with some restrictions.
Second-year head coach Robert Addicott thought that the players held themselves accountable with keeping in shape throughout the tough offseason.
“They [the players] were able to step right in and we were able to kind of get going full speed without too much of a delay,” Addicott said in a Zoom call. “With a small team, and you’re playing both ways, you have to be in pretty good shape.”
Senior running back and safety Joseph “JR” Valenzuela spoke about the tight restrictions the program had to follow in a text message conversation.
"We weren’t able to throw a ball or catch one, we could only have six guys in the weight room at once and only ten athletes on the field at a time,” Valenzuela said.
For most workouts, the team would split into three groups, each group began in either the gym, weight room, or on the field, respectively. Following each session, the groups would then rotate.
One of eight seniors on the team this season, Valenzuela personally focused on becoming more explosive and faster for this fall.
“I did a lot of speed and agility stuff, such as ladders, jump roping, four-cone drills, etc.,” Valenzuela said, “My goal was to workout four or five times a week.”
The seniors have also taken it upon themselves to run extra conditioning after practice, to make up for the lack of bodies on the roster.
The fact that this season was up in the air up until just a few months ago is not lost on the senior class. The players said they would have felt “devastated” without this final year and truly feel “blessed” to be able to play.
“Some high schools aren’t able to have a season,” Malachi said, “I know our whole team is thankful.”
Prior to the first game of the season, the Griffins squared off against Camp Verde High School in a scrimmage on Sept. 25.
With a roster of only 23 players, Coach Addicott expects freshman wide receiver and safety Jason Cullum, as well as other underclassmen, to make an impact this season.
“It was just a chance for us to get more of the freshman involved and get them into live action,” Addicott said, “Probably six of our starting defensive players are either freshman or sophomores.”
The area Addicott expects the biggest jump is on the offensive side of the ball, hoping they can execute at a “much higher level” this season compared to last year.
The Griffins have a total of seven games this fall, three of which are home. The program is set to kick off their 2020 season on Friday night in a home game against the Chandler Prep Titans.
Sammy Rivera is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Glendale Prep for AZPreps365.com.
