Serving the Loup Valley for 142 Years
The OHS Weight Room:
Where Athletes Achieve Excellence
Coach Nathan Wells and Defensive Coordinator Tyke Kozeal are pictured above in the OHS Weight room beside the computerized, color-coded flat screen that helps guide athletes in their workouts.
By Kate Wolf
It’s pretty safe to say the residents of Valley County are extremely proud, supportive and grateful for the quality of the Ord Public School system. Whether it’s at the elementary school level, junior high or high school, the teachers genuinely care about their students and are deeply invested in their success, both academically as well as athletically.
Most of us have heard our kids say they have to “go lift weights” for sports but very few of us know what that actually looks like at Ord High School (OHS).
I’d never been in the weight room at the high school, have you? I pictured a few weight benches, maybe a bar for pull ups, or perhaps one of those fancy machines that does just about everything. I was in for a shock when Coach Nathan Wells and Defensive Coordinator Tyke Kozeal gave me a tour of the weight room. It was every bit as impressive as I imagine the one at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln must be!
Weight and strength training has entered the 21st Century for Ord students and athletes. It’s very high tech now with all sorts of amazing tools to help our kids lift safely and effectively, tracking their progress, helping to set goals and analyzing areas that might need more work.
Recently Coach Wells and Kozeal attended a Speed Clinic meeting in Chicago sponsored by the Track-Football Consortium (TFC) and brought back some new high tech tools for the OHS weight room. “We’re always looking for ways to get better,” Coach Wells explained.
The program they are integrating into OHS athletics is called “Feed the Cats Program.” An odd name you might think, but anyone who has ever had a cat knows they rest a lot but when motivated they take off like a shot. The program teaches strength and speed. For the past two years it has been successfully implemented into the track program at OHS and may even be utilized in PE with younger kids. Hopefully it will soon be an important aspect of every sport in the OHS sports schedule.
The program focuses on strength, speed, being able to move, stop and change direction quickly. “We’re really trying to work with our kids to help them be successful and confident,” Coach Wells continued. “It’s about rest, recovery and speed so kids can perform at their maximum potential.”
The first thing you see upon entering the weight room at OHS are lots of machines devoted to weight training. Seriously, the amount of chrome is almost blinding. Then there is a 35-yard strip of bright Chanticleer red turf on the floor and a huge computerized flat screen ablaze with color-coded instructions so the athletes know what they are supposed to accomplish on any given day. Workouts are typically done on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday schedule.
In addition to the new turf, there are also new dumb bells, new benches and new elliptical bikes. “We try to add a few things every year to benefit the kids,” Kozeal commented. Other schools have expressed envy at the professional nature of the OHS weight room and it’s easy to see why….it would be hard not to improve your game with all of this awesome equipment at your disposal. Both Wells and Kozeal are quick to credit the Chanticleer Sports Boosters and Aaron Cargill for many of the improvements.
So, here’s where the high tech “magic” happens: There are iPads at each station with Enode Velocity Based Training (VBT) sensors attached to the weight bars that provide valuable, load-based data, including speed for all phases of a lift. The wireless sensors capture motion in three dimensions while delivering key metrics such as power, velocity, distance and duration. The system measures common lifts like clean, jerk, snatch, deadlift, squat, jump squats and bench press with the capacity to assess other motions of exercise as well, limited only by the needs and imagination of the coach. It also provides suggestions for the athletes indicating what they should lift next.
So, if you’re ever wondering what exactly your kid is doing when he or she says they have to “go lift weights,” rest assured they are under the very capable high-tech training of OHS Coach Wells and Defensive Coordinator Kozeal. And believe me, they are not messing around….they are working hard, pushing themselves to be the best they can be, and achieving excellence as OHS athletes.
To read the complete story, pick up this week's issue of The Ord Quiz!
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