Thanks in part to funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund for wellness that was issued to schools to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education, NBC now has a new $1 million weight room that will not just benefit the football team, but the entire student body.

“The idea started with our previous athletic director Jeff Batzel,” Northern Bedford County principal Shawn Cerully said. “He brought it to the attention of some folks. There were some board members that really got behind that initiative. There was a committee put together that included Mike Cottle, who is a board member and has been very helpful with the school. Chris Sipes was on that committee, who is a parent in the district and is very active. I’m not sure everyone that was on it, but they helped make this vision a reality to support the kids — not just the teams but everyone in the school.”

The facility, which is a new building attached to the school, houses $300,000 in equipment and opened in November.

“To me, the school spent some money in a positive way,” Northern Bedford football coach Garry Black said. “I think the way that this can benefit our students and staff is

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tremendous. They came to us as coaches and asked what we wanted inside, and we were able to talk through some of that and help shape what was in here. I couldn’t be prouder of the facility we have. I thank all the people that helped put it together.”

Black said weight training has had a huge impact on the success of not only his football program but many of the most successful ones in the area.

“It’s become one of the biggest differentiators,” Black said. “The early adopters that really bought into weightlifting and training have sustained some stability as programs. You go back in time and look at schools like Berlin, Bishop Guilfoyle and Central — they were heavily investing themselves into the weight room. I believe you can include ourselves in that. Dan Foor pushed that when he was here, even before that, but Dan really pushed it and it created stability. A bigger, faster, stronger football team is going to win more games than someone that’s not.”

Northern Bedford’s old weight room was the size of a large walk-in closet.

“We used to have two squat racks and two benches, and everyone was fighting over them,” Black said. “Now we have 10 racks, all kinds of free weights and there’s no fighting over rushing in and trying to get to equipment first. Having something nice like this is something the kids are proud of. It makes them want to work hard.”

One of the hardest working is senior Justice Suter.

“You can breathe in here,” Suter said. “I remember two years ago when we used to lift (in the old weight room), we had all the younger guys scared to lift around the older guys. They would lift in the auxiliary gym. We would take over dumbbells and curl machines and they would lift by themselves. Over here, they can do whatever and feel confident with what they are doing. You can get a lot more guys in here. In the old room, when a lot of guys would show up, it would be hard to get your lifts in. We had two benches and two squat racks. Here, we have 10 on each side. We have dumbbells all the way down, and our underclassmen — whatever weight they need to use — we have.”

The new facility has 10 racks, four treadmills, a stair climber, five stationary bikes, a row machine, two ellipticals, four sets of 5- to 50-pound dumbbells, two sets of 55- to 100-pound dumbbells, a cable crossover universal machine, a leg machine and a glute-ham developer.

“We would all lift (in the old setup), but you had to pick a day to specialize,” Suter said. “If you wanted to do chest or arm work, but that equipment was being used, you would have to work on your legs or something else or sit there and wait. If younger kids saw an older guy using a machine they wanted, they would have never thought to ask. They would wait and never get their workouts in, but here that doesn’t happen. Anyone can do what they need to do.”

In addition to the new equipment, Northern Bedford also now has an AI training system.

“We’re also using Volt, which we didn’t have in the old room,” Suter said. “It’s a program that gives you workouts. It keeps the younger guys on track. A lot of them can be nervous to ask the upperclassmen if they need help with something like that, but they don’t have to with Volt.”

Northern Bedford’s football team meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

But they aren’t the only ones using the facility.

“We have a lot more participation just because of what’s available,” Cerully said. “What is available in a small room might be intimidating for someone who is not normally in there to exercise. But with such a large space and so many different tools plus the access kids have during phys ed or other times throughout the day that they are able to be in here, they learn more about it, become more comfortable with it, and it becomes part of the culture.”

Black said he also sees the weight room as an opportunity for Northern Bedford’s girls teams to get better.

“It’s not just a football room, it’s for our entire school,” Black said. “It’s a pay off for our student body. I think there’s a chance we see a jump with our female athletes and the stability of those programs. I don’t think there’s a lot of schools that emphasize lifting and weight training and developing yourself physically as a female at small schools. If you become an early adopter there, maybe that really helps you transition your female sports into becoming stronger.”

In addition to being open before and after school, students can use their gym class time to work out in addition to other free periods during the school day.

“Whenever they made some changes at Bedford, (football coach) Kevin Steele talked to me and said — ‘if your kid is in three sports, do you want them to do before-school or after-school lifts or if they can find a way to lift during school is that better?'” Black said. “I said that would obviously be great. So, that’s worked into the schedule.”

The response from the student body has been tremendous and the facility is getting plenty of use.

“We’re super proud of the support from the community,” Cerully said. “I applaud the school board for wanting to put investments into the infrastructure, and it’s made a huge difference. The wellness center and the upgrades to our other buildings have been extremely beneficial to our kids.”