Air Force athletes aim for weight standards

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Cadet First Class Ryan Kemp, a former defensive end on the Air Force Academy football team, participates in drills as the Falcons practice July 31 in preseason camp at the academy. Athletes at the academy can receive waivers from the 32-inch waist-measurement requirement, but generally they must meet the mark by the time they graduate -- even those such as Kemp, who weighed 255 pounds during his senior season.


Air Force athletes aim for weight standards
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Feb 14, 2009 10:28:30 EST

Until this semester, Cadet First Class Ryan Kemp ate three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every night before going to sleep. The sandwiches polished off days the defensive lineman spent eating three squares and snacking between classes at the Air Force Academy.

After the Armed Forces Bowl on New Year’s Eve, Kemp and his fellow firsties (seniors) on the football team have to drop pounds to meet academy and Air Force weight and body composition standards, including the 32-inch waist measurement.

So far, Kemp has lost 20 of the 60 pounds he packed on in his four years in Colorado Springs, Colo. His weight jumped from 195 his first year to the 255 he played at this fall.

Like the rest of the Air Force, cadets must meet weight and body composition standards. Athletes are no exception; the rules are just stretched a bit for those who play positions on teams — football or wresting, for example — where extra weight provides a competitive edge. But after their last season before graduation, the athletes have to shed those extra pounds.

Recently, an Air Force audit found commanders aren’t disciplining airmen who don’t meet the standards; a crackdown is expected, though, with the release of changes to the fitness program this month.


Rest of article at: http://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/02/airforce_academy_weight_021409w/%2e