Published: July 17, 2008 09:57 pm            

STARPOINT: District bringing in sports trainers for students, coaches

PENDLETON — WORKOUT: Program will teach students and staff proper fitness.

BY JOE OLENICK

olenickj@gnnewspaper.com

PENDLETON — Starpoint students and coaches will be learning proper fitness techniques from a group of experts.

On Monday, the school board approved a motion to allow Superintendent C. Douglas Whelan to sign an agreement with Proformance Sports Training in Amherst. The agreement will allow Proformance to start a program in Starpoint to teach all middle and high school students, as well as staff, the proper way to work out. Whelan said he wanted to make sure students are exercising correctly, so as to avoid injury down the road.

“What we are finding out is that students may do exercises wrong,” he said. “Although we have trained coaches that are in the weight room, it is very important they know and that the students know how to do things properly.”

Students are flexible enough to do the exercises even if the technique is wrong, Whelan said. But if they continue with the wrong technique, some students eventually can experience problems such as joint pain or shoulder issues.

He added that the program isn’t just for those who participate in sports.

“It’s not only for our athletes, but it is for all other children in middle and high school,” Whelan said. “And it is for our coaching staff. What I am attempting to do is to teach the coaches the science behind proper fitness and conditioning.”

The program would be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. every day during the school year, in the high school’s weight and conditioning rooms. It will cost Starpoint $16,500, and the district will use money left over from the previous school year. There is no charge for students to participate in the program.

Students will be able to set up an individual fitness program designed to help them meet whatever goal they set. Students would not be allowed to work out, and teachers not allowed to instruct, until after they were properly trained, Whelan said.

Whelan said he met with a representative from Proformance who said the weight room was set up for upper body strength. The weight room at the high school can hold about 20 students, and probably would be changed around a bit to add some equipment for students to work on speed and flexibility, Whelan said.

Once students are shown properly how to do exercises, Whelan said he hoped some of the students training could be done outside the rooms. If not, he would favor instituting a system to help alleviate a possible overloading of students in the rooms.

There was some thought Monday that staff could learn the proper fitness techniques, and the district wouldn’t have to renew the contract with Proformance next year. Board of Education president Gary Braun said he thought that once Proformance worked with the district’s coaches and teachers, it might be something the district wouldn’t have to do every year.

Whelan said the program would be evaluated at the end of the year.

Braun said the board would watch the Proformance training carefully.

“I want to guarantee the public we’re going to monitor this program,” he said.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.