Andy Puthoff arched his back and struggled to lift a 75-pound sandbag above his head as his mother watched in the Ball State University football training room.
Deb Puthoff said she was aware of how hard her son works to chisel his body for the Cardinals' football team, but until Saturday's Women's Football Academy she never witnessed it first hand.
"That was just unreal," Deb Puthoff said. "You hate to see your child in pain, and when you can see the pain in their face that's just really hard for a mother to sit and watch that. But when you love a game as much as he does, he's willing to do whatever he can to better himself and better the team."
The weights and conditioning tutorial was one of many segments during the six-hour Women's Academy on Saturday. Approximately 70 women attended the second-annual Women's Academy, hosted by Ball State's coaches and players. Along with the workout demonstration, the women - most of whom were clad in pink to help raise cancer awareness - ran through positional drills, were treated to lunch from Texas Roadhouse and played a game of flag football on the Scheumann Stadium field turf.
Cardinals coach Brady Hoke said the second-annual event raised more than $3,000 for The Cancer Center at Ball Memorial Hospital, approximately $1,000 more than last year's total.
Even though strength and conditioning director Aaron Wellman said the workout didn't have the intensity of an average session, junior defensive end Brandon Crawford said it felt good to show people how hard his program works.
"That's it right there, for them to appreciate you, that's a great feeling," Crawford said. "We work hard, and a lot of the times you don't see the work we do. To bring them face to face with that and show them we really are trying to do the best we can do and really trying to win the MAC Championship and get to that next bowl game, I think hands-on experience is the best you can have because it really shows people what's going on."
Cardinals quarterback Nate Davis said his favorite part of the day was teaching the women the ins and outs of his position.
"Just showing people how I do the cadence and how I handle the ball and stuff like that," Davis said. "They're all happy to be here, and they're all out here to learn. It's just a fun time out here for everybody."
Along with the joy of sharing the game he loves with the community, senior offensive tackle Robert Brewster said, there was a bigger purpose weighing on his mind during Saturday's event.
"It means a whole lot to me to know that we're not just doing this for us, but we're doing this for other people who are hurting out there and have to stay in the hospital instead of sharing the opportunities we have," Brewster said. "It just makes me want to be involved and joyful about it that much more. This isn't something that I feel like I have to do, it's something I enjoy doing from the bottom of my heart."
Ermalene Faulkner, mother of running backs coach Eddie Faulkner, had a hard time deciding what her favorite part of the Academy was because she enjoyed the entire six hours. The thing she's most certain of, she said, is that she will be attending next year.
"This definitely needs to be annual," she said.
After experiencing even more success than last year, Hoke said, there's no question his mind the Women's Football Academy will be back for a third time next year.
"We're going to continue it," Hoke said. "Hopefully we can double the size, and we've got to do a little more marketing because I think it's a great time for the community to come together for a great cause."
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