By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- It's been an unusual fall season for student-athletes across the country. At Willamette, it's meant a focus on practicing and weight lifting during the time of year when football, volleyball, soccer, and cross country teams would normally be competing in their primary season. For the Willamette football team, a key part of the fall season has involved a solid commitment to the weight room.
"We are a very young team so we wanted to focus on the weight room and build a foundation for our athletes to grow," said Nick Sciacqua, the team's strength and conditioning coach in addition to coaching tight ends and fullbacks. "The athletes lifted three times a week and worked on mobility and speed one day a week. A standard week for our student-athletes was: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday - Lift in the morning and practice at night; Sunday - Speed and mobility work and a practice walk-through in the afternoon."
The efforts in the weight room paid off. Willamette's football players recorded significant improvement in multiple types of lifts, making each player and overall team stronger. It also was a great time to increase the team's cohesiveness and chemistry.
"As a team, we had great improvement in the weight room," Sciacqua confirmed. "On average, our players increased their Max Squat by 70 pounds. There were 10 individuals who increased their Squat Maximum by over 100 pounds, as well as five individuals who increased their Max by 150 or more pounds.
"On average, our players increased their Max Bench Press by over 30 pounds, including eight individuals who increased their Max by 50 or more pounds," Sciacqua continued.
"At the start of the fall, we decided to 'Major' in the weight room and 'Minor' in football, seeing the weight room as a place of stability, Willamette Head Football Coach Isaac Parker said. "We were confident that pouring our best effort and energy into our strength program had a higher rate of return on investment. I am most proud of our execution of that vision. The uncertainty of what we could legally do on the field was frustrating at times, so it was comforting for our team to be able to focus on the gains we could make in the weight room regardless."
Time spent in the weight room was quality time that brought the team closer together. It was what Sciacqua and Head Coach Isaac Parker had hoped to accomplish.
"Being able to lift in the weight room did more than help us get stronger this semester. It gave us the opportunity to build equity and trust as a team," Sciacqua said. "Being accountable to 6:30 a.m. lifts and encouraging each other to push through fatigue are small steps that are needed in order to bring the team together and build trust."
"What impresses me about Coach Sciacqua is he produces results in our strength development, and he does so in a fashion that aids in building our team and culture," Parker said. "He empowers our players in their leadership, creates challenges that form team bonds, and encourages our Core Virtues of Attitude, Focus, Effort, and Energy. A Latin quote is translated 'Sound body, sound mind,' which surmises through the physical development of our bodies we develop a mindset that breeds success."
Even so, it was a challenging time for the Bearcats. Changes in procedures as a result of COVID-19 impacted all aspects of the fall season. The coaches and players were motivated to work through adversity to reach new levels of success in the weight room and in practice.
"COVID-19 protocols completely changed how we operated in the weight room," Sciacqua noted. "First, we put the athletes in pods with no more than four working on one weight rack. We had a coach load the weight as well as disinfect the equipment before and after each set a player took. Another challenge was staying socially distant but still be able to motivate and support each other. The coaches were the behind-the-scene all-stars, working three hours straight of loading and unloading weights and wiping and disinfecting weights. They were happy to do it and support our student-athletes in order to set them up for success."
"Coach Sciacqua was the architect of the programming and the entire staff stepped up as laborers to build our team," Parker commented. "Our coaches had to learn how to operate the weight room in a completely new way with our COVID-19 protocols. To manage maximum capacities and avoid class schedule conflicts, we had to run three consecutive, hour-long workout sessions, starting early in the morning. The coaches consistently showed up and physically worked hard. They had to change the weights for our student-athletes, move equipment in the transition from one exercise to the next, and sanitize the equipment between use. The execution of this operation was impressive to witness. Our coaches demonstrated a deep care and commitment to our players and their development. We are fortunate to have such an incredibly dedicated, hard-working coaching staff."
Willamette football players not only made gains in the weight room, they also improved on the field and created a greater sense of teamwork. It was a challenging, yet rewarding, time for the Bearcats.
"In all the chaos and change that 2020 brought us, there were still moments on the field where the sights, sounds, and smells of fall football brought us comforting memories of a normal past," Parker said. "Football and strength training had to be different from what we used to do, but our team appreciated being together and took advantage of the opportunities to improve."
