TicketsAug. 14, 2006
Ten days of lifting, conditioning, and preparing both mentally and physically is what the UC football team has in store when the team departed on Monday for Camp Higher Ground. Higher Ground is where the football team takes time to retreat from the campus scene to help clear their minds and focus on the upcoming year. According to athletics trainer Bob Mangine, "The team is in the best shape to be heading up to Higher Ground."
The team may be prepared to be heading to camp, but the preparation for some was much earlier. Clothing, field equipment, training room equipment, weight room equipment, and many other items are needed at the 11-day camp. The teams learned from last year after making numerous trips due to smaller truck size. This year, the squad will use a 53-foot semi and 15-foot truck to attempt to transport everything smoothly and at once. Equipment Manager Jeff Hericks says that they take everything they will be wearing, field equipment, a dozen trunks, and seven or eight hampers for the trip.
The team still needs to stay fit and healthy, and that is why both the strength and conditioning equipment, and the training room will be up-rooted at campus and transported on a smaller scale to camp. As Strength and Conditioning Coach Tim Swanger stated, "We will take about half of the weight room over for the 10 day stay." He also explained that they will lift on single practice days and days where the team has two-a-days they will focus on the upper body strength due to the players being on their feet all day. That is the reason that all eight student trainers and four athletic trainers will be at Higher Ground all 10 days. The training room has to be able to accommodate 105 student-athletes, so they have been working on the logistics since June. A big help to the logistics is that Higher Ground has done some remodeling this year, so that means that there will be more room. The trainers need to look into the meals, heat and humidity, and keeping everyone hydrated. Making sure they have all that they need is key in keeping everyone in top form during the retreat.
The 11 days away will allow the team to bond and hopefully get the mental and physical mentality to exceed expectations in the future. The team will be able to experience something that most never will.
Swanger explained, "It is a great experience because it is the closest to an NFL camp as you can get."