Red, White & Blue: Pirates celebrate Independence Day honoring a fallen hero

Matanzas High School football coach Matt Forrest gathered his players in the weight room and read to them the obituary of Air Force 1st Lt. Joseph D. Helton.

It was 7 a.m. July 1, the final day of Phase 1 of summer conditioning, and that meant it was Red, White & Blue Day.

Many of the players wore red, white and blue for the workout, which was followed by games and a picnic to celebrate 4th of July weekend.

The workout was a CrossFit “Hero Workout of the Day,” which honors service members and first responders who died in the line of duty. The workout, “Helton,” was a tribute to the Air Force officer who died on Sept. 8, 2009 near Bagdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was 24.

Helton, of Monroe, Georgia, graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2007. He was assigned to Iraq as part of the 6th Security Forces Squadron out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

“This is a workout that’s honoring a lieutenant that didn’t know any of us, didn’t have anything to do with us, but paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to come out here and do what we do.”

MATT FORREST

The Pirates adapted the workout, doing six rounds of a 400-meter run (a lap around the track), 15 squat cleans with a 45-pound barbell and 15 burpees (a squat thrust and a jump). That is a total of 2,400 meters of running, 90 squat cleans and 90 burpees.

“There are probably over 2, 3, 400 workouts,” Forrest said. “We just picked the one that was a little more feasible for us to do. Like a lot of them had rope climbs or kettlebell stuff, just things that we don’t have. We try to (pick) someone who was stationed in Florida or from Florida or somebody that kind of relates to our area.”

This is the second year the Pirates held the event, celebrating Independence Day and honoring a fallen hero before taking a week off from summer workouts.

“This is a workout that’s honoring a lieutenant that didn’t know any of us, didn’t have anything to do with us, but paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to come out here and do what we do,” Forrest said. “Just having that gratitude and that perspective I think is not only good for our players but for our coaches and everybody associated with our program to understand that even though we may not be perfect as a county, as a society in the county, in the city, in the community, there are people that paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to be here. Just to have that gratitude and respect, I think is important for all of us.”

After the workout, the players formed four teams of shirts and skins and played two simultaneous games of “Pirate Ball.”

“It’s like Ultimate Frisbee with a football,” explained cornerback Jordan Mills. “You can only take two steps with the ball. If the ball hits the ground, the other team gets it.”

Forrest said the off week will give players time to recuperate before beginning Phase 2 of summer workouts.

“Coach (Kyle) Johnson does a great job with our strength and conditioning program. He’s going to add some things, make it a little tougher for Phase 2, a little more football specific,” Forrest said.

Preseason practice begins Aug. 1. Matanzas will play host to Mainland in a kickoff Classic on Aug. 19.