I have brag on one of my boys. Before going into personal training full-time (13 yrs ago) I spent 9 years teaching and coaching. One of my favorite kids of all-time is Gary Figirova (pictured left). Gary was one of those guys who wasn’t overly gifted as an athlete, but overachieved through hard work and dedication. He was my training partner and was willing to endure some brutal bodybuilding workouts that most high school students couldn’t handle. Through perseverance he excelled in football and powerlifting.
Well, Gary is now the offensive coordinator at Palacios High School, on the Texas coast. He’s taken his team to the playoffs for the first time in 43 years!!! Not satisfied with just making the playoffs, the Palacios Sharks have won their first 3 playoff games and are headed into the Texas State Quarterfinals this weekend. Gary credits his team’s success with their comittment to his weight training program over the past year. He says that he trained them even harder that we used to train back in the day (that’s hard to believe).
Pictured with Coach Figirova is linebacker, Aaron Buckley. Aaron is a first team Super Teamer for the State of Texas and is headed to Texas A&M next year. Gary says that Aaron bench presses about 425 lbs and squats 565. That’s a pretty damn strong high school kid!!!
Congrats to Coach Gary Figirova and the Palacios Sharks. Good luck in your State Quarterfinal game this weekend against the Cuero Gobblers (yes, that really is the mascot…gobblers).
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