No grind no shine when it comes to the West High School Football team. Although their football season is over, they still strive to be the best that they can be for the upcoming season. From keeping their grades up, to keeping their physical stamina up, and also keeping out of trouble, the boys have to do them all.

Once they start fooling around and start getting into trouble, they may not have consequences from their coaches, they do endure consequences among themselves. The coaches do a good job with keeping up with their players about grades and making sure they maintain good grades, so that they can play the next year. As well as providing their players with a 7th hour class what works on keeping the players strong for that season to come.

The West boys don’t just go to the 7th hour class to stay in shape, many also go to the gym as well. The coaches try to push the players to do multiple sports to keep them busy and in shape. “Wrestling really helps with football, and has many of the same attributes that football has, same with track and field with the 100m dash and the field events” says coach Leif Jacobsen.

Some of the players do play more than one sport. Senior James Tuiniua does both Track and Field and Wrestling. “Doing other sports really helps to keep me in shape for football,” says Tuiniua. Another sport that a majority of the football players do like playing is flag football, which is a non-contact sport they are able to play at The Dome. “Getting the players together, and being able to make a flag team with them was pretty cool, and is a great chance for us to get together during the offseason, it’s also just more fun than going to the gym to workout everyday,” says football player Kolton Ortiz.

Playing flag football is also is great for the boys because they are able to play against other teams that have football players from other schools. It’s another way to keep up with the strength and technical skills, rather than just sitting around and doing nothing.

Not having football gives the boys a chance to really focus on their grades. “We have practice every day, so that really cuts off time for academics,” says Tuinuia. Taking practice out of the picture and having more time personal time for homework really helps the boys achieve academic greatness. The players also have to keep up their grades not only for their own future, but for the next season (if they plan on playing in college or have more high school seasons to come).

There are many things that the West players need to do to maintain to keep up grades and their football skills. Many of them find ways to keep up with what they need to do, and make sure that the next year for the West athletes is more successful than the last.