For three days, the Escambia Academy Cougars were put to the test by their coach as they attended the team’s second annual camp held in a remote location in the Atmore area.

The camp, which took place last Thursday, Friday and Saturday put the Cougars’ football players through intense workouts as they were required to run two miles each morning as well as work in all-day practices that included 7-on-7 games.

Cougars’ head coach Heath Gibson said the camp was successful, and he saw positive results from summer workouts.

“It went really well,” Gibson said. “I saw a lot of good things from our team. Everyone’s strength has gone up from the beginning of the summer, and 98 percent of the kids are faster. There were a lot of positives.”

Despite the success, the Cougars did have trouble dealing with the intense temperatures.

Gibson said while things started strong staying hydrated became an issue.

“It was really hot for those couple of days,” Gibson said. “We started off strong, but eventually the heat caught up to us, and we had trouble keeping fluids in them. Water breaks were a must in order for us to make it through practice.

For more of this story, see Saturday’s edition of The Atmore Advance.