The clanking of metal could be heard outside the weight room at Clarkdale High School Friday morning, signaling the beginning of the Emily Howard era.

Howard, hired in early June to take over the slow- and fast-pitch teams, began working with her new team as soon as the calendar hit July, and Friday marked the first chance for her team to use the weight room. The girls were hard at work, and Howard sensed their anticipation to get started earlier in the week before the weight room was even available.

“We had a cleaning day, and that’s one of the first things we did, and they got right on it,” Howard said. “They worked their tails off. They were eager to get in the weight room. They want to get stronger, they want to get better, and that’s very exciting as a coach.”

The excitement centers around Howard’s hire, as the 2004 Clarkdale alumna was brought in to help revive a Lady Bulldogs program that has won seven slow-pitch and four fast-pitch state championships. Since its last fast-pitch title in 2012, Clarkdale has fallen on rough times, but the players are ready for the future instead of dwelling on recent seasons. So far, they seem impressed with their new coach, rising sophomore pitch ReAnn Chatham said.

“I’ve learned she’s committed and invested in this program, and she wants us to be the best team we can be,” Chatham said.

Said rising junior center fielder Aubree McWilliams, “I love it, and I think everyone else does too, because I think she’s committed, like ReAnn said. She’ll work hard for us, and we want to work hard, too.”

Howard said she’s also noticed the energy in her first several days with her players.

“It’s awesome to come back home, but to see the excitement and resilience of these kids, that’s also awesome,” Howard said. “They want to get back out there and want to get better. They enjoyed the time off (in June), but they were ready to get back.”

While weight training might normally be associated with football, Howard said the work in the weight room pays dividends during the softball season.

“We’re working on not only building muscle strength, but speed as well,” Howard said. “We work to build muscles so we can have longer throws and quicker hands to increase bat speed. Also, base running is huge for us, so we’re working on building up speed and having that quick muscle reaction so they can get going quickly.”

McWilliams said the work is more about repetition than maxing out.

“We’re getting our techniques right,” McWilliams said. “We’re doing enough reps and not over-doing the weight. She’s helping us with technique, so it benefits us more, and we’re getting stronger so we can do great things outside of the weight room.”

Coming in, Howard said she knew her team would be young — there are currently no seniors working out — but Clarkdale doesn’t lack talent from what she’s seen.

“It’s exciting as a coach, because there’s plenty to build on,” Howard said. “We have a great deal of talent; it’s not like we’re building from scratch. We have basic skills. We do have some work to do, but they have the tools they need to get better.”

With no seniors, Howard said she’s stressed to her sophomores and juniors the importance of taking the younger players under their wings.

“They’re very eager to work with the younger players,” Howard said. “It’s more about building a family, not about being bossy and barking out orders, but coming to the other players with love and wanting them to get better so we can all work toward the same goal as a team.”

Even though summer workouts have barely started, Howard already has a goal in mind for her squad this fall.

“I have great expectations,” Howard said. “Our main goal is to win district, then we can set our sights on other things.”

Chatham, though, seems to already have her sights set on those other things when asked what her goal was.

“Win state,” Chatham said.

Excluding a dead week coming up, the Lady Bulldogs will remain in the weight room until July 27, the first official day of practice for the slow-pitch season. Clarkdale is also planning to participate in a team camp July 23-24 at the Sammie Davidson complex.