Nelson Johansen gave up sleeping in all summer long in hopes of helping his high school football team.
One of Skyline's team captains, he said the players and coaches decided they needed to handle the summer differently if they were going to continue to compete with the state's best teams.
"The commitment level is a whole new level," said Johansen. "We are working out twice as hard in these summer workouts as we did last year."
And, as his co-captain Michael Pell points out, they are committed in greater number.
"On these Tuesday/Thursday conditioning days, we might get 10 or 15 kids here (in the past)," he said, looking out at the group that numbered nearly 50. "I think it's a big part of why we didn't go as far in the playoffs."
Demands for high school athletes have changed. Whether it's cross country, soccer, basketball, football or cheerleading, summer is no longer lazy.
For example, a visit to Hillcrest High on a weekday in July was revealing. The school's office might be closed, but many of the student-athletes are on campus. Girls practicing soccer in the back, cheerleaders running stairs, football players lifting weights and the cross country team meeting to do mile repeats.
And the Huskies are not an anomaly. Most high school programs now have either off-season conditioning programs or club and AAU programs that give modern prep athletes a competitive edge.
Riverton football coach Mike Miller is in his 27th year and said nearly every aspect of the experience has changed in his nearly three decades on the job.
"When I first started, there were no camps," he said. "We might open up the weight room in the summer, kids just showed up. No training or instruction really took place. You just reported to football the first day. That's when football started. You showed up in August and tried out."
Most coaches nowadays know their players long before the first day of the official season, which is set by the Utah High School Activities Association.
In most cases, coaches are at least offering them suggested off-season workouts or club competition programs that will help them compete once the prep season starts.
While it makes being a high school athlete more demanding, there are upsides to year-round conditioning and activity.
"The prep before pads is good," said Miller. "Research has shown it reduces injuries. The game has changed. The speed and strength of the athletes has increased tremendously, training has improved, nutrition — everything about it has gotten better."
Skyline coach Roger Dupaix is celebrating his 40th year as a prep football coach, with 25 of those guiding the Eagles' program. He said despite the increased commitment to train in the off-season, he still encourages his players to be multiple-sport athletes.
"I hate to see them focus on football 12 months of the year," he said. "They should be able to experience other things, enjoy other sports, if they want. If they just focus on one sport, yeah, they're going to get better. But boy, they just miss out. They get things, learn things from those other sports and teams."
Miller feels the same way.
"Even the kids need a little break," Miller said. He sees the choice to specialize being good for so few players because most will not earn Division I scholarships in those sports.
He points out Tony Dungy, the former Indianapolis Colts coach and NFL player. He played both basketball and football in high school, but his football skills earned him a college scholarship and a chance to make a living playing football.
"Basketball was actually his favorite," said Miller. "What if he'd isolated himself to one sport? I hear a lot of times from kids that they wish they'd played football."
He said for the majority of prep athletes, playing multiple sports enhances the high school experience.
"I also think that if they do multiple sports, they get to be better athletes," he said.
Olympus basketball coach Matt Barnes said his players have a camp in June and play in some summer tournaments, but he gives them as much time off as possible.
"This year I have a lot of football kids," he said, acknowledging that he, too, likes athletes who play multiple sports. "You have three or four years to play high school sports. Play as much as you can. (Ex-Ute basketball player) Marc Jackson was our point guard, but also our starting quarterback."
Even in Spanish Fork, where summer softball and baseball are king, high school coaches for other sports are offering those athletes the chance to get together, even in a low-key setting.
"We're not an elite team," Dons girls soccer head coach Dennis Gillie said, acknowledging many of his players spend the summer in AAU softball programs. "My perspective is, I just want them to have touches on the ball and have fun. We just get together a couple times a week and we have a little instruction ... and then they scrimmage."
They don't do specific workouts, although Gillie offers them suggestions for what they should be doing on their own.
The increased demands on players are often driven by the expectations of parents and the requirements of college programs. High school coaches have seen their responsibilities multiply, but not their compensation.
"Football coaches, we're competitive," Miller said. "We do more without being compensated to help the kids, to help the program. Summer, to me, is just a preseason to the prep season. You've got to do these things to stay competitive."
e-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com