Student-athletes enhance training in new performance center

“This is a great tool for our student-athletes and for our teams.”

That’s how Jerry Fisk, director of Athletics, assesses the role the new Blue Devils Performance Center will play in the development of student-athletes in all varsity sports programs.

A quick scan of the facility – located in the Dods Hall space that housed the former Blue Devils Fitness Center – reveals state-of-the-art equipment, new lighting, floor coverings and sound system and freshly painted walls.

“I think the totality (of the improvements) is impressive. We took something that was aged, a ‘not-fit-for-varsity-athletes-weight room,’ and now we have a turf area, a six-station rig, and lots of space for functional training, which is cutting edge,” Mr. Fisk said. “Our performance center compares to many small [NCAA] D-1 athletic department weight rooms.”

That “totality” will be on display at a grand opening ceremony during Homecoming on Friday, Oct. 19, at 1 p.m.

The performance center’s core mission is preparing student-athletes to perform at their peak level. All equipment is new, the feel professional.

At the heart is the rig, a series of six platforms that enable student-athletes to use barbells and perform a myriad of exercises, such as Olympic lifts, squats and dead lifts. A wide range of body exercises such as pull-ups and assorted total resistance training drills can also be conducted.

Equipment elsewhere includes squat racks, a Smith Assistant squat rack, free weights and kettlebells, which are cast iron or cast steel balls with a handle attached to the top, along with treadmills, stationary bicycles and other cardio machines.

Perhaps most striking feature, says strength and conditioning coach Jon-Ryan Maloney, is the “professional feel” that the facility projects, a dramatic contrast to the old fitness center.

“It’s like the difference between an Acer laptop and a Mac Book Pro. It feels better and has a more professional look. This is what a Division I school would have,” Mr. Maloney said.

“Upstairs is the fitness center and that is about just getting into shape, whereas down here there’s a very specific goal in mind. The focus is on the performance factor,” said Maloney, who has a B.S. in Exercise Science from Fredonia and also manages the first floor fitness center that serves the general student population.

“It’s about producing power in a shorter amount of time, which is what most sports require,” Maloney said.

As well equipped as it is, the performance center is surprisingly roomy. “It’s a much more open space,” Maloney observed, that’s very well lit. Walls are newly painted in bright blue and white, the school colors. A rubberized floor surface easily absorbs the impact of heavy dumbbells hitting the floor, as they sometimes do.

The Fredonia logo is everywhere – on barbells and floor covering in front of equipment. The turf area, where sprints and stretching are done, is emblazoned with “FREDONIA BLUE DEVILS” in giant four-foot letters.

Coaches believe the performance center will “give them an edge” in recruiting and training student-athletes, according to Fisk. Even alums who returned to campus in late September were excited about the new facility.

“At the alumni volleyball game at the end of September, the gist of the overall comments was, ‘where was this when I was here.’ That was from (members of) the 2008 championship team, our last SUNYAC championship,” Fisk noted.

More than 70 student-athletes typically train there each day and follow regimens geared to their sport and designed by Maloney. He monitors their progress on a weekly basis and makes adjustments as needed.

So how does the Performance Center rate with student-athletes? Undoubtedly a home run, if comments from Sarah Sweazy and Mike Freeman are typical. They love it.

“When I walked in on the first day of preseason workouts, the facility already felt new and fresh and this prompted myself as well as my teammates to all actual want to be there and to get better. I think that is one of the biggest changes in that gym,” said Ms. Sweazy, a starting forward on the women’s basketball team. Athletes go there wanting to improve.

The old athlete fitness center was very outdated and, maybe, a bit dingy, Sweazy said. “The entire atmosphere felt very much like a basement and was not a place that I really looked forward to working out in. Most times when I would work out on my own I would prefer to go upstairs to the main fitness center because the equipment and atmosphere was much nicer,” Sweazy, a senior Childhood Inclusive Education major from Rochester, N.Y., explained.

Having the Blue Devils logo displayed prominently really helps bring out the idea that all teams that work out there are part of the Fredonia family and that what student-athletes do there helps them better represent the college when they step out into the competitive arena, Sweazy said. Her teammates work out three times a week, but several players choose to log extra time.

“The new performance center really makes me feel proud to be a varsity athlete here at Fredonia,” Sweazy said.

Hockey player Mike Freeman says the performance center is “head and shoulders” above the old facility. “The biggest difference for me is the abundance of squat racks and functional lifting areas. It just makes our Olympic lifting and other heavy lifts so much easier to do,” said the Public Relations major from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Mr. Freeman, a defenseman, expects hockey players will gain overall strength and improve fitness, but notes that the Performance Center is only as good as the people who run it and the willingness of athletes to utilize all the tools, he said. “We are in good hands with Ryan, as his dedication and willingness to personally get better are infectious to the athletes he trains.”

Fisk commended Director of Facilities Services Kevin Cloos and Assistant Director of Custodial Services Mark Delcamp and their staffs for getting the Performance Center up and running.

Custodial Services removed the old equipment, arranged the general clean up during the remodel and unloaded new flooring material. Facilities Services provided funding and managed all renovation work that included removal of the existing ceiling and framing; installation of new LED lighting, ceiling fans and fire alarm; mirror removal; painting and wall and floor repairs.