The doors of Hines, Pouch, Edgewood, and Acorn screech as players from every class make their way to Henry A. Butova Gymnasium.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, AIC’s football team has a team lift that is divided into two groups — 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

With crust still in their eyes and breath reeking of a repulsive scent, they begin their warm ups. Tuesday and Thursday are the days for running and conditioning at 6:30 a.m.

On the mornings of lift, Coach Rob Bouchey leads the team in a series of warm ups that warms their bodies up and prepares them for an intense lift that is pre-determined by coaches.

Warm ups start with jogs and high knees across the gymnasium in order to get the blood flowing and the muscles loosened as the work outs are going to tear away with every lift that is soon to happen.

Next, the team engages in stretching that continues to prepare their body for the heavy lifting that awaits them. This step is key in injury prevention and helps these student-athletes prepare for an upcoming, challenging session.

After short words of inspiration, the team jogs into the weight room where from then on out, it is nothing but hard work and real determination once they enter what the players call “the lab”.

They are assigned sheets where they must follow a workout in order to have conduct and work toward a goal. These exercises may change day to day as there are days that focus on upper body and days that focus on lower body

“These young men are preparing for something greater and I see it in their eyes when they come to work in the morning,” said Bouchey. He sees these young men only three times a week and it’s almost as if he can see the future because of how hard they are working every day.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are days where the team runs and works on their conditioning skills.

Their workout starts exactly at 6:30 a.m. where Coach Arty Wilkins orders the team to the line where they began jogging and gradually becoming a sprint. After the warm up, the team has stations that they rotate through twice. Each station consists of different workouts that work on different muscles in the body. Coach Mikal Myers holds the station of agility which can vary from the 5-10-5 shuttle to the L- Drill.

Coach Kulzer holds a station that consists of squatting and lunging with 45 lb plates. Coach Matt Russell holds the drill where the athletes run in the stairwell which helps on control breathing. Finally, Coach Israel Abraham holds a drill where athletes work on knee drive against the wall.

These are experienced coaches who have the mindset to develop these student athletes to a point where they will be ready to face any team, they play this season and completely dominate them from start to finish of every play.

Coach Kristofer Kulzer told sources, “I’m ready to win every game this season and eventually a championship. I believe that these young men are ready to do the same and are working toward that goal every day.”

Players are 100% dedicated to the process and are ready to win whether they’re active or not.

Freshman Wide Receiver Fayeson Carney said, “We committed to change the culture around the school. We are not losers and we are tired of being portrayed that way.”

Carney made Sports Center Top 10 last year will one of his catches.

AIC Football has a lot to offer this upcoming season and is looking to attract a lot of eyes.