Excitement running high for Hawks

TEXARKANA, Texas — Pleasant Grove’s first day of strength and conditioning workouts on Monday was beyond ordinary.

“It was an exciting and emotional day,” Pleasant Grove athletic director and head football coach Josh Gibson said. “I couldn’t address the kids without crying. It had been so long since I had seen them. There had been a void there in my life. It was like a summer Christmas; we were fired up.”

With UIL restrictions, Gibson had to space out the athletes. The middle school is used for girls sports, and the boys workout at the high school. There are seven different sessions and approximately 220 athletes going through those sessions.

“We had great numbers, and it couldn’t have gone any better today,” Gibson said. “For football, we run two sessions with 100 kids. We had over 95 percent of our kids that said were playing football there.

“I told the kids that we (the coaches) were excited to get them back and we didn’t want to take them for granted. I told them that we have to capitalize on every minute we get together. I think our kids are fired up to do that. It was a dynamic day. The kids were smiling, focused and they worked hard. There was a lot of good energy.”

The sessions include weight lifting, football skills, agility and conditioning. The sessions are different for the basketball and volleyball players. The groups go to the different sessions at different times to ensure social distancing.

“We finally got the kids back, and so we were all just equally fired up,” Gibson said.