Stephanie Steiner | Assistant Photo Editor

Summer is around the corner and Buena Vista University (BVU) athletes are about to leave their teams for a few months, along with their scheduled strength and conditioning workouts.

There is a common piece of advice that all of the athletes should know while they are away for the summer. Lane Gries, Strength and Conditioning Coach, explains the expectations that athletes should set for themselves.

“They need to keep up that consistent work that they’ve been doing and make sure that they continue to build that up, as far as keeping themselves disciplined when it comes to training and keeping themselves physically and mentally prepared for when they come back,” said Gries.

Since each sport is a little different, there are some varying expectations for the individual athletes throughout the summer.

For football, volleyball, and soccer, the summer is their preparation time since their seasons start right away when they get back in the fall. The summer is the most important time of the year for them because everything they do needs to be tailored toward coming back in immediate in-shape condition.

Junior Shelby Wiederhoeft is a two-sport athlete in volleyball and basketball. When she goes home for the summer, she keeps these sports in her mind and knows that she has to be prepared for when she gets back.

“I’m going to focus on doing the workouts that are given to us. I plan to participate in sand volleyball leagues and help out with the high school volleyball team in my town. Just continuing to exercise is my main goal,” said Wiederhoeft.

For basketball and wrestling, they have a small window of time when they get back before their official season starts. They need to have a solid baseline of strength and conditioning in order to be prepared to come back and start heavy workouts.

Janet Berry, Head Women’s Basketball Coach, explains that she simply wants her athletes to stay busy.

“It’s important for me that they get home and take a couple days off to get their body caught back up, and then just get in a healthy routine where they’re getting some exercise every day,” said Berry.

For track, tennis, softball, and baseball, the summer is their time off. It is the time for their bodies to recover from their seasons, but they still need to stay active so that they don’t fall out of a routine of being well conditioned.

Some athletes even choose to stay on campus or live somewhere close so they can get the best training possible. Football player Tanner Heckt, who will be a sophomore next fall, explained his plans for the summer months.

“I am staying in the area and living with some of my teammates in an apartment. We will be working out with Coach Gries four days a week. On top of that, we will be doing extra drills, footwork, and other things outside of the workouts to be the best we can be,” said Heckt.

Coach Gries sends packets to all of the coaches to give to their players as a guideline for the summer months. For the athletes that go home for the summer, he sets pretty good standards for them while they are gone.

“What I hope from the summer athletes that go home is that they come back in condition enough that we can jump right in and hit the hard training,” said Gries.

Graphic by Aaron Burns