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Blue Springs, MO —
For two and a half days this summer – or more precisely, 51 hours – the Blue Springs boys soccer team stepped off a bus into a different world.
Typical summer days for high schoolers might include sleeping until noon, lounging by the pool and playing video games. But during these three days, the Wildcats woke up at 5 a.m. and spent the day running through grueling obstacle courses in full Army fatigues in the middle of 110-degree days.
As part of a military style team-building and leadership development training camp, the squad spent parts of three days at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington. The idea was originally pitched to Blue Springs coach Michael Palermo by retired Army Lt. Col. Michael Byrd – the father of Wildcat senior Zach Byrd.
Palermo was looking for something a little different from his summer camp this year – something that could blend lessons applicable to soccer and life. He also wanted an experience that could improve the team’s chemistry.
“We wanted to bond,” Palermo said. “... We wanted to try to do something special, but we knew we had to build this team bond, this unity. In years past, we’ve always competed and we’re close. But in high school soccer, it’s not always the best team that gets through.”
And so on July 23, 19 Blue Springs players and two coaches boarded a bus – that didn’t have air conditioning – and made the short trek to Wentworth.
Seniors Kyle Brown and Clay Cook recalled the silence that engulfed the bus. They admitted skepticism, as even the coaches weren’t sure exactly what they were in for.
“I really didn’t want to go,” Brown said.
Once there, they were immediately greeted by Michael Byrd, who was standing in between a pair of staff sergeants.
“As soon as we get there it’s, ‘Everybody off the bus. Drop your bags,’” Palermo said. “And right then it started and they knew that the reality that they’re used to was left at home.”
The players and coaches slept in the barracks and ate meals in the mess hall, but days were consumed with drills and obstacles performed in the summer’s harshest conditions.
“The intent was to kind of keep up the pace and keep the pressure on them as individuals in unfamiliar surroundings,” Michael Byrd said. “So immediately they start to rely on each other and start to develop the attitude of, ‘We’ve got to get through this but to get through this we’re going to have to come together as a team.’”
For two and a half days this summer – or more precisely, 51 hours – the Blue Springs boys soccer team stepped off a bus into a different world.
Typical summer days for high schoolers might include sleeping until noon, lounging by the pool and playing video games. But during these three days, the Wildcats woke up at 5 a.m. and spent the day running through grueling obstacle courses in full Army fatigues in the middle of 110-degree days.
As part of a military style team-building and leadership development training camp, the squad spent parts of three days at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington. The idea was originally pitched to Blue Springs coach Michael Palermo by retired Army Lt. Col. Michael Byrd – the father of Wildcat senior Zach Byrd.
Palermo was looking for something a little different from his summer camp this year – something that could blend lessons applicable to soccer and life. He also wanted an experience that could improve the team’s chemistry.
“We wanted to bond,” Palermo said. “... We wanted to try to do something special, but we knew we had to build this team bond, this unity. In years past, we’ve always competed and we’re close. But in high school soccer, it’s not always the best team that gets through.”
And so on July 23, 19 Blue Springs players and two coaches boarded a bus – that didn’t have air conditioning – and made the short trek to Wentworth.
Seniors Kyle Brown and Clay Cook recalled the silence that engulfed the bus. They admitted skepticism, as even the coaches weren’t sure exactly what they were in for.
“I really didn’t want to go,” Brown said.
Once there, they were immediately greeted by Michael Byrd, who was standing in between a pair of staff sergeants.
“As soon as we get there it’s, ‘Everybody off the bus. Drop your bags,’” Palermo said. “And right then it started and they knew that the reality that they’re used to was left at home.”
The players and coaches slept in the barracks and ate meals in the mess hall, but days were consumed with drills and obstacles performed in the summer’s harshest conditions.
“The intent was to kind of keep up the pace and keep the pressure on them as individuals in unfamiliar surroundings,” Michael Byrd said. “So immediately they start to rely on each other and start to develop the attitude of, ‘We’ve got to get through this but to get through this we’re going to have to come together as a team.’”
The various challenges included rappelling down a 40-foot rappel tower, constructing and utilizing a 1-rope bridge and completing a gauntlet course of unique terrain and obstacles.
“You had to try to push your teammates,” Cook said. “You had walls 10 feet up you had to get over so you had to help your teammates get over it. If you’ve got to lift a 250-pound tire, you can’t flip it by yourself. You’ve got to keep pushing each other.”
As his players gutted through each task, Palermo and assistant coach Ken Ollison drifted off into the woods unnoticed where they could study how each player reacted in a situation he was uncomfortable with.
“I got to watch each individual kid and how they’re going to respond to these situations,” he said. “Now we can talk about that at halftime and pregame and during the postseason. We can get together and go, ‘You guys can do this. I’ve witnessed each one of you. I watched you pick him up and carry him over a wall. So you’re saying that in a game you can’t go back and help him with this guy he’s having trouble guarding? Why are you leaving him now? You didn’t leave him before.’”
The days also included soccer sessions Palermo conducted after the day’s military training. Players also heard from Wentworth Junior College soccer coach Kevin Farley – who explained the college recruiting process for athletes – and former Kansas City Chiefs running back Tony Reed – who gave a motivational speech.
Michael Byrd, who now teaches Junior ROTC at Van Horn High School, provided a tour of the facility that explained the history of the program.
Brown, who suffered heat exhaustion the week before, was unable to participate in all the physical activities. But he still benefited from the experience by learning about his teammates in extremely tight quarters.
“It was just getting to know all the guys, living with them for three days,” he said. “... We’re a lot closer now. There’s no individuals on this team anymore.”
Ideally, Palermo said, the camp will provide a little extra edge once the season starts. After all, how many other squads survived a boot camp together?
But regardless what the Wildcats’ final record ends up being, Palermo is confident that long-term lessons were learned during those draining 51 hours.
“When it comes to the end of the season,” he said, “I want them all to now that we were together and started together and finished together. And we’re OK with that. I think that’s more important in the long run.”
