New Strength and Conditioning room at South Tahoe High already big success

The South Lake Tahoe community came together early in 2016 to raise money for a new Strength and Conditioning room at South Tahoe High, and the investment is already paying huge dividends.

"This room is changing the culture of our school," said STHS Football Coach Louis Franklin. "Having a room like this allows each kid to reach their genetic potential."

Student athletes are getting stronger, injuries are down and they are able to maximize their potential on the court, the field, the pool, or whatever the venue is for their sport. Cheerleaders and dancers also utilize the facility.

Everett Goldberg was hired to run the Strength and Conditioning Room. The Colorado Springs native was a football player both at College of the Canyons and Norfolk State prior to getting his Master's degree in exercise phsiology at San Jose State.

He said there were seven or eight knee surgeries by this time last year. Two girls tore their ACL and one of them didn't participate in his program. There have been no major ankle injuries, no shoulder injuries and just one wrestler had to have elbow surgery.

Goldberg said he is excited to see what the incoming freshman class will do during their four years at STHS. That class will be the first one to be able to utilize the strength and conditioning room for their whole high school career.

What Goldberg has set up for the hundreds of students that utilize the room is quite amazing. The donations purchased ten training stations with iPads attached, each programmed with a specialized training program he set up for each athlete. The strength and conditioning software program, TeamBuildr, allows student to access their training routines from anywhere, even during vacations and weekends away. Graduates will even be able to still access the program remotely to keep them on track.

If the athlete doesn't know how to do a certain routine, STHS Senior athlete Harry Moses created instructional videos for each one as his Senior Project. A simple click on the TeamBuildr app brings up the video.

"This sets them up for success," said Goldberg. "It also keeps the kids engaged."

A typical day in the room starts at 6:30 a.m. with an hour of "in season" athletes using the room and wrapping up with after school training for "off season" athletes. 100-200 students a day use the room up to five days a week, depending on the season. Athletes out of season use the room daily during their assigned times, summers included. Goldberg said six groups a day come in then to keep up their conditioning to keep their bodies in the best shape possible for their sport seasons.

"If we don't work together, we're pulling apart," said Goldberg.

It isn't just the athlete that benefits from the Strength and Conditioning room.

Sports Medicine classes go in to learn how to be a physical trainer, something they can test to be after completing Goldberg's class. Other classes can put to use what they've learned in Isaiah Tannaci's classes.

"It is absolutely unbelievable to have this room at the high school and it expands our Sports Medicine curriculum," said Tannaci, the Sports Medicine Instructor. This is the fourth year the new Sports Medicine program has been available at STHS, with Tannaci running it since the beginning.

"If the kids don't want to be on the medical side of things, conditioning is another opportunity for them," said Tannaci. "From a performance standpoint, this educates our student athletes on injury prevention."

Tannaci said there has been a decrease in injuries, decrease in season ending injuries and an increase in the number of students participating. He said strength and conditioning helps not only the athlete, but all students for life.

"We're doing it right," said Tannaci who was once a US Ski Team coach. He said even though the skiers were athletes they had back and other major problems because they never had the proper training during their younger years. Something the South Tahoe High students now have.

Every sport at South Tahoe High uses the room paid for by donations from the local community and its supporters. $68,500 was raised in one month last year after Franklin outlined the plans for the new room. He presented the idea during the February 9 LTUSD School Board meeting, and by March 8, donations were in and it was approved. The total cost of the room was $82,303 and covered sealing the former open-air room that was exposed to the elements, flooring, equipment and electrical additions.

"This is a forward thinking community and people are lucky to have the facility," said Franklin. He also said it has taken a lot of strain off of him and the other coaches as they were the ones who had to work on their team's conditioning each season as well as coaching their sport.

South Tahoe High wrestler and football player Kody Griffis, a sophomore, is one student showing immediate benefits from the Strength and Conditioning program. Griffis wrestled at 125 pounds this season, but in the two months since it ended he's gained 20 pounds in muscle to prepare him for football (as pictured in this story).

"The Strength and Conditioning room is a great opportunity for athletes to improve on their strength for sports and techniques," said Griffis. "Personally I have tried to take advantage of having such a beautiful facility and an amazing coach to help me. For the past two months I have been in the weight room trying to do my best to gain weight and strength for football by going twice a day and giving 100 percent to better myself."

"I wish more people realized how lucky we are to have all of this equipment and a coach to teach all of this," added Griffis. "The people who go always do their best and bring friends to show how much fun it actually is."

"I would like to express my gratitude to Everett's commitment to these kids," said Kody's mother Sarrah. "The room is unbelievable but having a teacher with his knowledge and encouragement is icing on the cake."

The students and staff appreciate whats been done for them in getting the new addition at STHS.

"A big thank you to the community for their support," said Goldberg. "We couldn't be successful without donations and parent support." He said Barton Health has also been a great partner in the program.