Platoons is an intense body work out for boys and girls. The name platoons came about from football Coach Pat Fox, who has led the winter conditioning as long as he has been head coach at Milford High School.
“Back in the day the work out facility was only 600 square feet in comparison to what it is now, which is 1,200 square feet and there were over 60 students, so they had to break up into groups and run different stations,” said Fox.
They also would wear matching shirts to keep track of groups and make sure they’re doing what they should. The coaches would also choose platoon leaders to keep things organized.
Platoons mostly focuses on football conditioning, and preparing them for season. But anyone is welcome to come and workout with them.
“It’s nice to be able to work out with my friend but not have the pressure of playing a sport,” said Baseball Player Michael Millsap.
“It helps build endurance, strength, good team work, and its fun for me” said Football player Cory Wheaton.
Platoons teaches students to work together and it also benefits the coaches because they can figure out who good team leaders are. At the beginning of winter platoons, the focus is on weight training and getting to know each other as a team. Then after Holiday Break they start working on conditioning and footwork. Toward the end of the training they put everything together and work on weight lifting, footwork, and conditioning.
“I am very proud of all my players and confident in them,” said Coach Fox.
Fox tends to get 50 to 70 students at platoons every week. The training sessions tend to run for an hour to an hour and a half. Fox says he would love to participate, but he can’t because coaches are supposed to coach and there are so many students that come.
“It’s nice to see students work hard but sometime it does have its downs. It takes away from family time, but I love what I do.”
Platoons bring more opportunity for newcomers like freshmen and new students to come meet the football players and bond to build a better team. Many players say it’s very challenging for them and it works the right muscles to get them ready for season. Most of the players never complain and like the training sessions.
