Coopersville football team benefitting from school’s weight room and film room upgrades

BY SCOTT DECAMP

For Michigan Sports Radio

COOPERSVILLE – In May 2022, Coopersville Public Schools voters approved a 30-year, $42.9 million bond proposal to upgrade learning environments and programs, improve safety and security, and make district-wide infrastructure improvements.

One of the many beneficiaries of the facility upgrades has been Coopersville’s football program.

The new film room and weight room spaces are quite expansive, they still have that “new car” feel, and they’re being fully utilized by the Broncos.

Directly related or not, Coopersville’s varsity football team is off to its first 7-0 start since 2002 and tied atop the River Cities Alliance with Kenowa Hills at 4-0. Coopersville hosts Allendale (0-7, 0-4) this Friday and plays for the league title next week at Kenowa Hills (6-1 overall).

“The new weight room is a big part of it,” Coopersville junior Wyatt Kloosterhouse said. “We all get to be together, stay together. That helps a lot.”

The “old” weight room is now the refurbished film room, or team room, and it’s nearly 2,000 square feet. The new weight room is 6,600 square feet overall, including 4,000 for the actual weight-training space and another 2,600 for an adjoining multi-use room where plyometrics and other related activities take place.

In total, the indoor spaces inhabited by Broncos football players and coaches, among other Coopersville athletes and students, has gone from 1,932 square feet to 6,600 square feet.

Dynamic Fitness & Strength installed the Coopersville High School weight room equipment in early August. The new weight room features 16 racks compared to the old weight room set-up that had eight racks.

“They were wonderful to work with,” said Corbin Ward, Great Lakes Territory Manager for Dynamic Fitness & Strength. “(Coopersville schools) thought about every single detail. They were extremely detail-oriented.”

Coopersville’s bond included other upgrades with four new classrooms, an extended band room, and dressing rooms for the theater.

Coopersville football coach Ed Kaman, in his 10th year at the helm, said that the school district does things first class and tries to put young people in position to be successful. He follows that blueprint in the classroom and on the football field.

“Yeah, so we’re super fortunate. I teach strength training here and we offer a class called Bronco Strength. We offer a zero (hour) block in the morning and then it’s taught all throughout the day,” Kaman said.

“We’ve got a whole mix of kids, guys and girls, and they work hard. It’s funny, you have a mix of kids and you’d think it’s athletes. Actually, it’s probably 60/40 (split between athletes and non-athletes). We’ve got a lot of kids who just like working out. Our classes are full, jam-packed with kids.”

The weight training and multi-purpose rooms are connected by garage doors that open and close.

According to Kaman, those spaces were part of the last phase of the bond project.

Then there’s the film room upstairs, aka the old weight room. The Coopersville football team makes full use of that space each week.

“We can do a lot of stuff (in the film room space),” Kloosterhouse said. “There’s more room. It’s more efficient with our time.”

Said Coopersville senior Ben Skinner: “Bigger screen, more people can stay in here. It’s really nice. Very grateful.”

Quotes, phrases, and other branding-type of visuals appear on the walls in the film room as well as in the weight training space.

As Ward stated, no detail was overlooked in these specific upgrades benefitting Coopersville athletes and students alike.

“There’s a lot more room. We can fit a lot more people up here (in the film room). We can fit a lot more people in the weight room. It’s great,” Coopersville senior Hunter Hankamp said.

Not only are Kaman and his staff teaching their football players about the finer points of the game, they’re imparting life lessons of leadership and teamwork and how to properly handle success.

Reading and discussing books, such as “The Twin Thieves” by Steve Jones and Lucas Jadin, is part of the Coopersville football team’s weekly routine. 

“As much as this is a team sport on the field, it’s a team sport off, so that really helps just the chemistry of the team,” Skinner said.

Featured photo at the top: The new weight room installed by Dynamic Fitness & Strength at Coopersville High School is pictured in early August 2026. (Courtesy of Dynamic Fitness & Strength)