Strength Coach | blog 103
Football student athletes
Blog 103
There are over 20 sports teams at the University of St. Francis. My duties are to assist coaches and student athletes. Coaches who need help managing their performance (Strength and Conditioning) program or improving/incorporating new concepts. Student athletes who are novices and unfamiliar with weight room etiquette.
The first few weeks were spent introducing myself to coaches and student athletes and becoming familiar with the program (if there's a program at all). It took three weeks to learn the entire football team, and I am still in the process of learning the names of the Volleyball and Softball student athletes.
The Men's and Women's basketball teams have their own strength and conditioning coaches. However, I have to establish communication with the coaches to ensure everyone has an up-to-date weight room schedule. As there can be as many as 30 student athletes in the weight room at one time, any miscommunication can be a disaster.
How do I integrate a Strength & Conditioning program across several sports teams while managing hundreds of student athletes?
Rome was not built in a day.
Address one challenge/task at a time.
Divide responsibilities among coaches/students.
Strength Coach | blog 102
First Week as Strength & Conditioning Coach
I am the assistant strength and conditioning coach at St. Francis University @uofstfrancis. I am honored to work at an institution that values student-athletes. Over 400 student-athletes participate across 22 teams. I am currently working with Women’s Volleyball @usf_volleyball, Men’s @usfsoccermens and Women’s soccer, Football @fighting_saints_football, and Men’s and Women’s track and field teams.
I have spent over 12 years working with student-athletes in sports performance. I am excited to bring my experience and expertise to developing performance programs.
I will document my journey through blog entries, STAY TUNED…
Encouraging Outdoor Play
It all begins with an idea.
This may seem profound and obvious to some, but outdoor play has faded in recent decades, like the fashion of the 90s (I’m talking Cross Colours, FUBU, etc.). I think you get my point!
My passion for youth work started in 2010. My specialty is Strength & Conditioning, Sports Specific Training, and Coaching Club Teams. I have a Master’s Degree from DePaul (Sports, Fitness, and Recreational Leadership).
Over the years, I have experienced a tremendous decline in the mental and physical health capacity of youth. There are a plethora of factors that I can discuss, but for the sake of keeping this blog short, I would like to highlight the lack of outdoor activities.
Outdoor activities are essential to the holistic development of our youth, as they contribute to physical, cognitive, social, and emotional health and well-being (Charan et al., 2024). The shift from outdoor activities due to the COVID pandemic and increased screen time helped us navigate the disruption caused by government lockdowns.
With that said Screentime is a good thing! We are connected to the world because of these devices. But a healthy balance is necessary if we’re going to address the health issues associated with screen time vs. lack of movement. In fact, the lack of movement in concert with screen time has been linked to “disrupted sleep patterns, attention deficit hyperactive disorder-like behavior and physical health risk” (Charan et al., 2024).
My kids, Leo, age 10, and Wren, age 8, attend a charter school in Indiana that promotes outdoor play, nature education, and most importantly, parent involvement. Their school is not perfect, but I am pleased we are on the same page regarding outdoor activities.
Dunes of Northwest Indiana
My strategy with the kids is every day outdoors—and yes, even in the winter months (gear up!!). This summer, our longest hike was 3 miles. I was a proud Dad that day. Kids are strong and very resilient. They just need a gentle push from parents who care.
Parents, it is important to be involved in promoting outdoor play. Your involvement “strengthens family bonds and reinforces the intrinsic value of outdoor play (Charan et al., 2024).”
Coach Rich Gardner, M.S
Doctoral Student
Health & Human Performance
Charan GS, Kalia R, Khurana MS, Narang GS. From Screens to Sunshine: Rescuing Children’s Outdoor Playtime in the Digital Era. Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2024;20(1):11-17.