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PORT NECHES — For Port Neches-Groves athletes, the summer is the start of preparation for fall sports.

Approximately 450 student athletes in the district are on campus this week to stay in shape for the upcoming sports seasons.

While we are still two months away from hearing the sound of cracking pads, ‘tis the season for the sound of weights clanging against each other.

“Anytime you can get them in the summertime and get four days a week with them, it is great,” PNG head football coach Brandon Faircloth said. “It is a great opportunity. They come in the fall in so much better shape and prepared and ready to go.”

Two days a week, the players lift and run. For the other two days, the players get on the field to practice.

“We end up having two hours of football and six hours of strength and conditioning in a week,” Faircloth said. “(Tuesday) was our first day out there at football practice. It is really about the future. The present will dictate the future. Our guys are working hard and that will benefit us in the future.”

Faircloth tells his players they have to start separating themselves from other high school programs and that process starts with the summer workouts.

“Everybody does summer conditioning,” he said. “We are not the only program. There is not a high school kid in the state of Texas, 1A through 6A, that is not doing conditioning. We have to find a way to be better at it. The way we do that is having better energy, focus and discipline. If we can show up every day and have those things, then, you have a chance to get better than everyone else. Just showing up doesn’t do it. Everyone does that.”

The summer program consists of 24 workouts over the span of eight weeks, the coach said.

“There is some urgency,” Faircloth said. “It is almost the middle of June already. We are a month and a half away from real football practice. It is an exciting time and the kids know it is close. Urgency is key.”

PNG starts two-a-days Aug. 2.