BELTON, Texas — It's not quite how Belton quarterback Ruben Jimenez imagined getting ready for his senior season.
Charles Williams III, either.
"We sort of brought it upon the team to hold everybody accountable to make a workout video and keep working out out of school to show that we're working," Jimenez said. "To have the whole team working as one."
As schools across Texas remain closed through, at least, April 3 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it leaves high school coaches and athletes to improvise, but few more visibly than the Belton Tiger football team.
Coach Brett Sniffin, who was named the head coach at Belton High School in late January, is working to mold the program while keeping social distancing guidelines to slow the spread of the virus. He's challenged his new players to tweet videos of their workouts. The response was overwhelming.
"Pride," Sniffin said. "I'm proud of those kids for staying active and staying isolated, as well."
But, it's not just the varsity players either.
Williams said it's bonded the entire program.
"I know I've seen a few freshmen and sophomores post their videos," he said.
And while Belton may be one of the most active in doing this, as a quick scroll through Twitter would show, they're far from the only ones.
West High School defensive coordinator Dustin Sowders has been tweeting workouts for the Trojans.
And, Clifton coach Chuck Caniford tweeted Sunday he'll be using Google Classroom to communicate workouts with Cub athletes.
And that's just two examples of area coaches trying to keep their athletes' eyes on the future.
"We just want to make everybody proud when it doesn come time to play and put a good product on the field and be successful," Sniffin said.
His quarterback, Jimenez, added: "You don't need weights to work out. You just need yourself and, maybe, 15 feet of grass."
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