When it comes to football, coaches know that the foundation to a successful season on the field is a strong strength and conditioning program, and that’s one of the reasons the Selma High School Saints are hard at work in the weight room over the summer.

After beginning their strength and conditioning program on June 4, the Saints are entering their fourth week of workouts, and Selma High head football coach Leroy Miles said the players have done a good job in participating in the four-day-a-week program.

“It’s very important, you’ve got to get involved, you’ve got to get the kids in,” Miles said. “We’ve been having a good turnout. Somewhere around 85 percent of the kids have been showing up every day, and we ended the spring with about 55 kids and we’ve got about 50 showing up every day. That’s good, because if they don’t show up, they’re not going to participate.”

With 55 players compared to about 70 last season, Miles said the conditioning part of the program will be especially important, as some Saints will see action on both sides of the football.

“Some kids are going to have to play both ways, and we have turned it up a little bit this year as far as conditioning due to that fact,” Miles said. “We do some conditioning after we finish working out. It’s going to be very crucial to us having a successful season that we be in shape because kids are going to have to play both ways.”

Along with the usual bench press, squats, and post-workout sprints, Miles said the Saints have been focusing on agility workouts, and he commended strength and conditioning and defensive line coach Robert Wilkerson for the work he’s done in getting the players ready for the upcoming season.

“We’re doing a lot of agility stuff within workouts, some lunges and things to help us stretch muscles and that kind of thing,” Miles said. “Coach Wilkerson is doing a fine job getting them ready to play. He’s working them very hard, he’s got them on a real tough program this summer, and I think it’s going to pay off for us.”

During the summer break, the Saints have also been holding free cookouts on Thursdays to reach out to the community.

Miles said the public is welcome to the cookouts, which will be held on June 28, July 19, and July 26 following workouts, which start at 5 p.m.