Arizona began two of the most important days of its women’s basketball season on Sunday with a task — putting together the log-like “beams” that they would use for military-style training.
One of the Wildcats’ instructors asked how long they thought the task would take. Junior guard Shaina Pellington guessed 20 minutes.
The Wildcats then ran outside to the sand volleyball courts, got working and completed the task in less than half the time.
That set the standard for the rest the Wildcats’ two-day training session.
Not everything went as smoothly, but then in life it rarely does. And that was one of the lessons the players were learning during their time in The Program — the military-inspired leadership training program that’s been used throughout the UA athletic department in recent years. Arizona football coach Kevin Sumlin and softball coach Mike Candrea have used The Program before.
“I wanted our team to grow and learn valuable leadership skills,” UA coach Adia Barnes said. “I’ve heard so many wonderful things about The Program, and when I did the research so many teams have had success after doing it. I wanted them to develop as leaders and as a cohesive team — to know what a true team is, and no one knows true leadership like the Marines.”
The training forced the Wildcats to do many things out of their comfort zones in an attempt to solve problems. The Program teaches players to constantly look to both their left and their right, at their teammates. By doing so, the athletes’ focus turns away from themselves and toward others.
The training’s impact was apparent Monday, when the Wildcats reconvened at practice.
“We were exhausted and had an hour of shooting, and they pushed through,” Barnes said.
“They kept their heads up, looked left and right at their teammates. And they attacked everything we did — and they didn’t attack softly.
“Another thing was (the concept of) ‘one more’ —getting 1% better every day. What does that look like? Each player has to decide that for themselves. … Even the coaches and staff are coming up with their one more.”
The Program was started in 2008 by Eric Kapitulik, a former special operations officer in the Marines. His instructors served in the Army, Navy and Marines, and most have also been elite athletes.
The Program teaches personal development, leadership and team-building through shared adversity.
The Wildcats’ training took place Sunday and Monday. Their tasks were broken up into quarters, just like in a basketball game. Each task had to be performed perfectly; if it wasn’t, they had to start over again.
Instructions were barked out. The Wildcats used the word “attack” instead of “go.”
“We were scared” at first, freshman guard Mara Mote said. “We didn’t know what was going to happen.”
One particular task taught the UA players to look out for their teammates. They were tasked with keeping their right arms and legs six inches off the ground while their left arms and legs remained straight up in the air.
“To say it was hardcore is an understatement,” said senior forward Dominique McBryde. “The warmup in the sand pit was the hardest thing for me. Pushing through that — it was a lot of pain and a lot of uncomfortableness.”
As Sunday wore on, the Wildcats began helping each other get through the tasks, cheering each other on and communicating. They did everything — whether it was exercising or taking breaks — as a team.
Players said the hardest task to complete perfectly were the group workouts — a series of pushups, flutter kicks, mountain-climbers, jumping jacks and planks that had to be done perfectly as a group. The Wildcats lined up in three rows of four players each.
Guard Aari McDonald, forward Cate Reese and McBryde led at different times. Forward Tee Tee Starks and Pellington positioned themselves off to the side, making sure their teammates were in lock-step.
It took time for everyone to understand “battlefield communication” — calling out players by name and telling them to move up or move back, kick higher, speed up or slow down.
“Pushups. Ready,” yelled McDonald.
“Ready,” her teammates responded.
“Attack. 1, 2, 3,” yelled McDonald. “1,” her teammates responded.
Instructors Cory Ross and Cole Walter monitored the workouts, ordering players to start over when they weren’t in sync.
“It took like an hour” to complete the task perfectly, Mote said. “We were afraid to tell someone they were off or we were afraid to admit our mistakes. We were figuring out how to do it and communicating, basically. Once they explained we had to work together … I like when we did it, we looked out for each other.”
Monday morning, the Wildcats hit Barnes’ backyard pool and did more synchronized exercises. This time, other players — mostly underclassmen — had to step up as leaders.
“I’m not usually that person; today, I needed to lead,” said Mote. “In the beginning I was a little scared and thought I’d mess up, but my team had my back.
“I know I am not ready to be a leader now; we have leaders. If I learn from them as the season goes on eventually I will be there. Not in a day; it will take some time.”
The Wildcats jumped in the pool with sweatshirts on, swam to the other end, took their sweatshirts off, and then did it again. Some weren’t good swimmers, but their teammates got them through it.
“It bonded us as a team. The purpose was for us to be one team, one heartbeat,” Mote said. “A lot of leaders stepped up and were more vocal with more action. It will help us in our season. I think we got paying attention to details. Communication was really important. Asking everyone if they got it and if everyone is on the same page.”
After practice Monday, McBryde could already see the messages sticking.
“I definitely have seen us more serious and a little lighthearted. When someone is getting a drink of water on their own, we yell ‘Attack, Attack,’ to remind ourselves that we do need to takeaway that mentality and that word,” she said.
“We also learned that through adversity: When it gets tough, don’t panic. Step back and push through with grit. We needed to do this last year. And communications. We’ve struggled in the past and now we know expectations — or standards — and we will exceed expectations. Not hold back, hold each other accountable and stay disciplined. If we do that internally we are connecting more as a team and we will be more intimidating to opposing teams.”
