KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Over the last two days, the Western Michigan men's basketball team battled through "The Program," a leadership and team-building exercise issued by former U.S. Military personnel.
The two men running The Program for the last two days were Jake MacDonald, a Major in the Marine Corps, and Chris Howe, a Petty Officer First Class U.S. Navy SEAL. Three players have been through The Program in their time at WMU, but MacDonald and Howe made sure that nothing came easy the entire time.
"I knew a little bit about what to expect so I tried to let the guys know, but even with that, it is not exactly the same every year," senior Tucker Haymond said. "(Being through The Program) didn't make it easier at all, it's more of a trial and error thing because we tried to change things to be able to do the exercises more efficiently that we have in the past."
Day one took place right outside of Kanley Track, where the players did sprints, ab workouts, pushups, and jumping jacks among many others. The highlight of the day came at the end, where the team did a couple of team-building activities like carrying a log as a group and doing the fireman's carry with teammates, all with the strict, loud voices of MacDonald and Howe keeping the unit on task.
Day two moved over to the Gabel Natatorium at Lawson Ice Arena, where the team swam plenty of laps all while doing pushups, jumping jacks and ab workouts. Towards the end, the team headed to the deep end of the pool and did an exercise where they had to remove a sweater and put a teammates on all while treading water.
"It was a great experience because it really helped our team create a bond that we didn't think we could create," sophomore Josh Davis said, who is a newcomer to The Program. "It added a mental toughness to our team and it really brought us together. It was definitely more mentally straining on us, the workouts weren't that hard, it was more about pushing your teammates."
The Broncos start the season on Nov. 11 as Marygrove comes to town. Follow the team on Twitter @WMUMBB for all updates about the team!
