A big challenge that student-athletes face is downtime and what to do with it to keep their edge.
While coaches understand the importance of resting their athletes for a couple of days, they also need their players to be aware of what is at stake when they arrive back on campus after a break.
Each team has their own specific workout regimes to follow while home for break and here are a few of those offered up by teams here at Ferris.
Men’s hockey
The Ferris men’s hockey team currently sits at 9-14-1 on the season overall. The team is also 6-9-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play and sits at sixth in the conference standings.
“Being in good shape is huge in college hockey with such an intense schedule playing back-to-back nights almost every weekend,” junior defenseman Zac Tierney said. “I personally do a lot of bike workouts to keep the cardio up, a couple skates on the ice to stay fresh and then some weight lifting in the gym to just keep the muscles moving. Coach Daniels stresses taking the time to rest and enjoy time with our family but we need to make sure we stay in shape so we are ready to hop back into the second half when we come back.”
Senior forward Drew Dorantes is entering his final season with the Bulldogs and has faced the challenge of heading home for breaks multiple times.
“Before we leave, we’re fortunate to receive workouts from Dave Cencer, our strength trainer. For the two weeks we are off, we had six workouts provided,” Dorantes said. “Other than that, the coaching staff feels it is important to take some time off and enjoy the holidays with family and friends.”
Men’s basketball
The nationally No. 10 ranked Ferris men’s basketball team is currently 16-1 overall and is 6-1 in GLIAC play. The team is currently tied for first in the GLIAC standings.
The team is coming off an 89-75 victory over Davenport Saturday, Jan. 6. The win marked head Coach Andy Bronkema’s 100th career victory.
“The day after we played our last game before we went home for break, I took off to recover but after that I was lifting and working out with my trainer in Grand Rapids. I also got on the treadmill a couple times during break to mix it up,” senior forward Peter Firlik said. “Coach Bronkema doesn’t stress too much about staying in game shape because he knows how much we love the game and how important it is, especially halfway through the season to stay in good rhythm.”
Women’s basketball
The Ferris women’s basketball team is currently 8-7 overall on the season and is 2-5 in GLIAC competition. The team sits at ninth in the GLIAC standings.
“As captains, we sent out accountability workout expectations for our team. For example, we wanted everyone to shoot five out of eight days that we had off, make 300 shots a day and shoot 100 free throws a day, interval cardio, etcetera and everyone got it done,” senior captain Rachel McInerney said. “Our coaches can’t ask us what we do over break because of certain rules, they simply told us to get good cardio workouts in and get a lot of shots up.”