Spring is one of the most important times of the year for football players.

It’s where we train to be bigger, faster and stronger inside the weight room and on the field; to show the coaches who is going to be “that guy” they can depend on once the season starts.

Losing this time is crucial and it is heartbreaking to see this period of time taken away from us.

It’s time we’ll never get back.

The weight room was always a home away from home for us football players. It pushed us to our limits and challenged us every day to be the best we can be.

“Since we’ve been told to quarantine in our houses, I’ve just been doing push-ups, ab workouts and pull-ups to stay in shape,” Anthony Hernandez, defensive back for the Falcons, said.

Not being able to lift in the weight room anymore was devastating for all of us since we put so much precious time and effort into getting bigger and stronger for the upcoming season.

“I’ve been conditioning every day and weight training when I can, usually 2-3 times a week,” Bailey Torres, Falcons wide receiver, said.

Cerritos College football’s defensive coach, Tom Caines, once said, “it takes weeks and months to build up speed and strength, but just one week to lose it all.”

There’s so much truth behind this statement and it’s become a reality for all athletes, not just football players during this time.

Once we go back to training and lifting weights it’s going to be intense, as our schedule will be more compact and busier since we will have to prepare quickly for the season which will come at us fast.

The temperament of the team will have to be at a high level as we can’t afford to waste any time moving closer to September.

We’ll have to be physically and mentally prepared in a timely manner.

As far as recruitment goes, it slows down the process for sophomores who have committed already and were scheduled to report after graduation.

For incoming freshmen who are looking to attend Cerritos, it’ll be harder for them to get to know the campus and how the system of the football team works.

As far as our education goes, we as players have to be more focused on our school work now more than ever.

Attending class from home doesn’t mean we can slack around and start getting lazy.

Our coaches are expecting us to pass all of our classes regardless of what the circumstances are.

“Expectations for us will be simply going to practice and class, as usual, nothing changes,” Torres explained.

All of us are waiting anxiously to get back in the weight room and on the field.

Our goal for the season is to win conference and state but it’s the small goals and small steps we have to conquer first in order to accomplish the big goals we have set in front of us.

Stay healthy, stay Falcon strong!

Editor’s note:
Keanu Ruffo is a Talon Marks staff writer and a cornerback for the Falcons football team.