Winter break: coaches comment

The Christmas season brings a break in the schedules for winter sports teams.

See what the Mt. Pleasant coaches do to keep their players in shape.

Joanna Settles, girls' basketball

When do you start practicing again?

?We start (today). On Saturday, we have a five-team scrimmage at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.?

What was the effect of the break on the players?

?Well, they did some working out on their own, so hopefully we didn?t lose too much.?

Are you worried about how many cookies they could have eaten?

?Ha. I tried to remind them everything in moderation. You can have one ? don?t have five.?

Paul Rundquist, boys' basketball

When did you start practicing again?

?We started yesterday (Tuesday), and we have a scrimmage at Cedar Rapids Kennedy tomorrow.?

What was the effect of the break on the players?

?Well, it?s actually nice to have a little break, to evaluate and pin point things we can work on.?

Are you worried about the boys eating too many cookies?

?Well, that?s part of Christmas break. They can eat what they want, and we?ll try to run it out of them at practice!?

Anthony Blint, wrestling

When did you start practicing again?

?We started Monday, and practiced last week ? we only took Saturday and Sunday off.?

Well, that?s not much of a break, but did it have an effect on the wrestlers?

?A lot of kids went away for Christmas and came back a little slow, so we?re practicing footwork.?

Did some of the guys eat too many cookies?

?They consumed a lot more than cookies! They came back quite heavy. But we?re getting back into wrestling shape.?