Coach Campanello and the High School Weightlifting Program

Wethersfield High School offers a recreational lifting program for all grades in the high school.  Many athletes participate in the program after school.  I was lucky enough to sit down and interview the man in charge of the program, teacher and football coach, Coach Campanello.  Throughout the interview, I was given basic facts about the program and some insight on what Coach Campanello’s goals are for his lifting program.   ​
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I started my interview by asking Coach Campanello to tell us who he offers the lifting program to.  “It’s open to anybody who wants to be part of it,  a lot of the guys who come down there are apart of my football program because that's apart of our program”.  I then ask Campanello who coaches the lifting program and he went on to say “mostly it’s me because I am in the building”.  Campanello has been teaching at Wethersfield for 18 years but he has been with Wethersfield longer than that.  His first year coaching for Wethersfield was 28 years ago,  he has been head football coach for 12 years.  ​

The lifting program takes place after school in the weight room year round, right after school.  A lot of athletes will get a lifting session in before practice.  For example lifting is perfect for sprinters to help gain explosiveness and speed for when they compete.  

Campanello said  his goal are “To grow stronger and more powerful.  The program we run is called Bigger Faster Stronger program.  We chart our lifts after each time an athlete lifts and I set goals for the next month for them so when they come in they know exactly what they have to do”.  

I went on to interview two football players that participated in Campanello’s lifting program.  Sophomore Craig Elliott stated “I like the program because it helps with arm strength and mobility”.  I then asked if the program has noticeably helped his performance on field.  Elliot said “Yes it has,  I feel like I have gotten stronger”.  Interviewing Craig showed us that the program has been successful for someone two years into the program.  
    
Still being skeptical about how students feel about the program I decided to interview senior captain Jamal Bagley.  When asking Jamal if he has felt a difference from junior to senior year football season he said, “I felt a little more stronger junior to senior year”.  This is showing that he had growth because of the program.      
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Wethersfield High School has a great lifting program welcome to anyone.  It is clear athletes are happy with the program and coach Campanello has a strong passion for it.  If I were to do high school all over I would have gotten involved with the program myself.