Samantha Axon, Reporter
@SAxonCourant
Last year, NCHS coaches came together and identified a need for a strength and conditioning program that would run throughout the school year. This program would aim to meet the needs of students, especially multi-sport athletes, during the off-season. This is the program’s second year, with a total of 145 students participating this season according to Athletic Director Jay Egan.
By creating this program, Mr. Egan among other NCHS coaches, found reoccurring issues with athletes, such as frequent injury and hoped to address it. “One thing about the strength and conditioning program that you hope to achieve is to lessen the frequency of injury,” Mr. Egan said. “By running the program, we have noticed a decrease in serious injuries, as well as muscle pulls or strains. So far, our athletes also have been able to stay stronger longer throughout the season.”
In addition to reducing student injury, another goal of the program was to bring the benefits of a private gym or training program to a place that is easily accessible to students. “It is important for our athletes to be together at NCHS and not have to go to different commercial gyms to get the same benefit, when we know they can get that right here,” Mr. Egan said. “It is important to be at school with your teammates and classmates as you go through the program.”
Sophomore Zach Fishman feels that the program is helpful because, “Being able to work out at school is not the same as working out alone or with people that are not on your team,” Zach said. “The difference of having teammates with you is that you are supporting them and making them better, while they are doing the same back.”
The program goes for an hour and fifteen minutes at the longest and takes place about three days a week. Cross country and track runner sophomore Jackie Newlin enjoys the day-to-day activity of the program. “A typical session involves us us stretching and doing plyometric exercises in order to get our heart rate up, and then we go into the weight room where we can do a variety of exercises such as benching, squatting or box jumping,” she said. “We always have different workouts every day in order to target different muscles. At the end of the session, we usually do an ab workout because it targets many different muscle groups.”
While both Zach and Jackie participate in the program, they both also feel that with Coach Miska, they have been able to become better players. “Coach Miska definitely gives us a lot of motivation,” Jackie said. “That is what makes this program different because he really focuses on us and he wants us to get stronger in order to become better at what we do.”
Zach also understands that Coach Miska is there to support all NCHS athletes. “Coach Miska is the reason for any of us getting stronger or becoming better teammates,” Zach said. “He holds everyone accountable for doing technique wrong or even when you’re doing nothing. He makes you a better person and athlete.”
