{"id":27302,"date":"2024-06-07T16:32:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T22:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/summer-montezuma-cortez-athletic-training-program-starts\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:55:54","slug":"summer-montezuma-cortez-athletic-training-program-starts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/summer-montezuma-cortez-athletic-training-program-starts\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Montezuma-Cortez athletic training program starts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The training program is open to MCHS incoming freshmen through seniors until August 1. (Montezuma-Cortez school district Facebook)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

This summer, the Montezuma-Cortez High School athletics program will host an athletic development program for incoming high school freshman through incoming seniors.<\/p>\n

This program, which started Monday, June 3, is a \u201cstrength conditioning course\u201d to help student athletes stay fit over the summer and prepare for their fall and winter sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of it is to get everyone more committed and familiar with using a weight room and other aspects,\u201d said program coach Mitch Taffe. \u201cMy point is to try and just build kids from the ground up if they need it. How do we get them to the next level as best as possible?\u201d<\/p>\n

Taffe noted that some athletes might be beginners and that all skill levels are welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be focusing on the new kids and making sure they develop good form and making sure the older kids are keeping good form and pushing themselves like they should. We\u2019re going to focus on biometrics, so a lot of explosive running and agility exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n

MCHS physical education teacher and program coach Jarrett Watkins added that students who aren\u2019t student athletes are also welcome to join.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our kids that go to the high school are welcome, even incoming freshman who just want to get stronger, faster and have a place to go during the summer with good mentors,\u201d Watkins said.<\/p>\n

Taffe said they will also be working on weight room exercises as well, with balance and flexibility work mixed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat helps keep their body guessing and helps their body adapt further to stress and any kind of curve balls that sports will throw at you, and the whole point of that being that they can hopefully reduce the risk of injury and become better,\u201d Taffe said.<\/p>\n

While the program has already started, Taffe emphasized that student athletes are welcome to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as you get in the door and work hard, it doesn\u2019t matter to me when you start,\u201d Taffe said.<\/p>\n

The program ends Aug. 1 in anticipation of the start of the 2024-2025 school year.<\/p>\n

Athletes may participate Monday through Thursday and can choose a time \u2013 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Taffe said he hopes the program can help build athletes\u2019 commitment and drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can change that mindset and get them to turn it into a habit and love lifting and see the results that come from both getting in shape and feeling about yourself, it translates to playing better in whatever sport they\u2019re in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fifty athletes participated in the previous program.<\/p>\n

Those with questions can contact Taffe at mtaffe@cortez.k12.co.us<\/a> or Watkins at jwatkins@cortez.k12.co.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taffe\u2019s position of athletic trainer, which he\u2019d held since 2019, was cut around a month ago. Both Taffe and Watkins lamented the loss of the position, noting that it\u2019s difficult for coaches to fill an athletic trainer\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n

For example, an athletic trainer can provide emergency care in the event of an injury such as a concussion.<\/p>\n

Watkins shared that he had gone to the school board and district leadership to explain the need for an athletic trainer and the position continued for a short time before it was dropped at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such a good guy and a great athletic trainer,\u201d Watkins said. \u201cHe\u2019s worked for the (New Orleans) Saints. He\u2019s worked for the Buffalo Bills, and he\u2019s one of the best athletic trainers in the state and we\u2019re about to lose him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Organizers also express concern over the loss of the athletic training position<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,60,36,216,29,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-27302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-school-district-re-1","tag-newsletter","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80015,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27302\/revisions\/80015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27302"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=27302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}