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Softball Goes Hardcore at Glenelg High
Following the lead of its successful football program, the GlenelgHigh School girls’ softball team has found the BFS secret to success
By Cameron Rahnama
Published: Winter 2003
Three years ago Dr. Greg Shepard came to our school and gave the “Be An 11” program to our football team. As a direct result of his clinic and our commitment to the BFS program, our football team won 34 consecutive regular season games. We posted back-to-back undefeated seasons and won the county and region titles three years in a row. We were also featured in a BFS article “BFS Soars across the Country” (Spring 2001). As the defensive coordinator, I saw the results that the BFS program gave us.
Two years ago I became the women’s varsity softball head coach and decided to put my girls on the BFS program. Since the inception of the program my girls have made huge strides in the weightroom and on the field. Last year we improved our record from 13-7 to 20-1. The only game we lost last season was the state semi-final. I credit BFS as a major source of our success.
We tested all our players in four core lifts: parallel squat, bench press, power clean, and deadlift. After the pre-workout testing, I implemented the BFS program and put all the girls’ numbers in the BFS “Beat the Computer” computer program. I let the computer and the girls do the work from there. During the off season we lifted three days a week and two days a week during the season.
My two best players are my pitcher, Stephanie Sims, and catcher, Karyn Curley. Stephanie pre-tested last fall at 400 pounds for the four-lift total and Karyn at 550 pounds. This year they both have blown those results through the roof! Stephanie raised her four-lift total to 750 pounds, an increase of 300 pounds; and Karyn shot up to 805 pounds, an increase of 245 pounds. Both of them made it into our exclusive Power Club. The standards for the Power Club are 1,200 pounds for four lifts for men and 700 pounds for women. Stephanie and Karyn are the first women in the history of the school to make it into the club.
I saw the most impressive result of the BFS program today. My catcher took 315 pounds deep into the hole 5 times on her parallel squat. In less than a year she raised her squat max from 185 to 315. “WOW!” The best part about the whole thing is that these girls are committed to the program. They know that getting bigger faster and stronger will help them achieve their #1 goal, the state championship!
These girls are awesome: they do the same workout as my football players and they lift in the same gym at the same time. The boys support the girls and vice-versa. Today when the two girls made it into the Power Club the boys were right there cheering them on. I can’t think of a better way to build school morale and team spirit. Thank you, Dr. Shepard, and thank you, BFS!
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Strength Coach Cameron Rahnama, Karyn Curley Stephanie Sims and Head Football Coach John Davis
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Karyn Curley spots Stephanie Sims
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Karyn Curley on the hex bar dead lift
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Stephanie Sims squats with Coach Rahnama
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Coach Rahnama spots Karyn Curley
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Stephanie Sims Hex bar
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Stephanie Sims cleans
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