NSSA Athletes and Parents,
The summer is upon us, and we are kicking into high gear. Everyone would like to thank coach Mike Whiteman for his outstanding Norwin Soccer Speed Clinic. As the athletes quickly learned, this wasn’t your normal everyday camp or clinic. We would also like to thank the PAL football program for generously promoting our summer speed program. Coach Salmon and I look forward to preparing these athletes for battle on the gridiron. Records continue to be broken and championships won in the Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Hempfield and area school districts. We have so many great stories, look forward to the up and coming spotlight athlete sections. You should have received our recent notices about the True-Speed sports testing service. This is another exciting opportunity to help NSSA athletes evaluate performance, as well as, help in the recruitment process. As we have mentioned before, NCAA Division I coaches are no longer allowed to visit sports camps and high school clinics to get 40/60yd dash times, vertical, etc. True-Speed provides an accurate electronic time that recruiters will trust. Coaches will be able to visit www.true-speed.com and access your scores. If you are unhappy with your performance at the testing, you can easily have your scores scratched. My business partner, Earl Shepherd, a world-class athlete, former U.S. bobsled team member, American Gladiator winner, etc. will be educating all athletes to perform at their best during True-Speed events. NSSA is proud to provide our athletes with every possible advantage on and off the playing field. Have a great training summer.
Sincerely,
Brad Sigut
NSSA President
New Summer Hours Began June 12th.
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Monday
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9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm
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5pm, 6pm, 7pm
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10am strength training
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Tuesday
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9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm
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10am strength training
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Wednesday
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9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm
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5pm, 6pm, 7pm
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10am strength training
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Thursday
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9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm
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10am strength training
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Friday
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9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm
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5pm, 6pm, 7pm
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10am strength training
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Saturday
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9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm
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The Parallel Squat ....safe, effective and necessary!
"For an athlete anything less then a Parallel Squat is useless."
- John Gamble, Head
Strength and Conditioning Coach,
University
of Virginia and World
Champion Power Lifter - training
personal best in the Parallel Squat, 5 x 825 pounds.
"The (parallel) Squat provides not only strength, but speed, explosive power and
muscular endurance. In my opinion, it is the most important strength exercise
for
athletes."
- Bill Kroll, Strength and Conditioning Coach,
University
of Illinois.
"....I must reemphasize the fact that deep (parallel) Squats work more muscles
than any form of partial Squats since they involve a full-range of motion. Since
the full Squats work more muscles, they enable the trainee to become stronger
faster than through partial movements. Research has shown that full Squats
actually helps to stabilize and secure the knee joint."
- Bill Starr, author of the Strongest
Shall Survive - Strength Training for Football.
"In a full Squat (parallel), the soft muscles of the legs slow the speed of the
bar
down, and help the joints recover. In the half Squat (partial) you have to stop
for a
very short time when the bar is going down - and at the same time, shift the bar
in
the upward direction. That moment is very sharp stop, it's like a knife,
especially
over the knee joints. So the danger of injury during the half Squat is much
greater
than during the full Squat.
- Angel Spassov, world renowned Bulgarian Weightlifting Authority.
"To improve athletic power, one option is to increase the force muscles can
generate around the joints. In this respect, the (parallel) Squat must be the
athletes first choice for a full body strength lift. -
Pat O'Shea, professor of physical
education, Oregon State
University.
"For almost every young athlete, the intrinsic value derived from long term
squatting is that it stimulates optimal growth and development."
- Pat O'Shea,
professor of physical education,
Oregon
State University.
"In my experience athletes who are incapable of Squatting don't make good
athletes, from either the injury or performance standpoint."
- Dan Wathen, Head Athletic
Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach,
Youngtown
State University.
"Squatting is never impossible; the athletes ( and any coaches who listen to
them) who always complain about Squats, and blame tight backs, etc. on them
(squats), simply don't have the heart to push through the pain barriers and
receive
the super benefits derived by those with what I call heart to train."
- Bill Dunn, former
Head Strength Coach at The
University
of Virginia, 1983 NSCA
Strength Coach of the Year.
Editor’s Note
The above quotes were presented by the Strength Cats
website. Visit
www.strengthcats.com
to view this and many other strength training
articles.
Tom Svec will be returning to Norwin’s varsity ice hockey
team 
next season. Already earning himself two letters, Tom is
one of the top defensive players on Norwin’s squad. He has
also been playing for the Allegheny Badgers, under the
Amateur Travel Organization, winning two championships in
the last four years. Recently, Tom tried out for, and
successfully made the Allegheny Midget 18U AA team, under
the same organization.
Tom decided to start training with NSSA to build strength and endurance that will aid him in
the upcoming hockey season. He enjoys the hockey slide, along with other sport specific
workouts that NSSA has given him the opportunity to train with.
Tom’s parents feel that NSSA has sparked his enthusiasm for getting the most out of his
workout.
Coach Sigut says: Tom is a young man who comes to training giving 100% every time. He
has helped NSSA create and develop many extra training techniques that are advantageous to
hockey players. The bottom line is that speed on land translates to speed on the ice. Tom
showed great character, maintaining his sessions while having a broken arm. We are very
proud that he accomplished his goal of making the AA team.
Tyler Strittmatter is a returning Senior to Penn
Trafford’s varsity basketball and baseball teams next year as
a 17 year old Senior. With baseball as his main sport of
focus, during the summer months he will be playing on the
Independent Players elite team. 
Tyler's reason for training is to increase speed in order to
perform better on the baseball diamond and basketball
court. Tyler enjoys the rigorous workouts that the NSSA
trainers put him through during every session. He hopes that the proper techniques he is
being taught, along with the improvements in the explosiveness of his fast twitch muscles will
one day give him the opportuntiy to play baseball at the college level.
Coach Sigut says:
Tyler came to us this year with an injured arm. At age 17, he knows this
is his last chance to make an impact towards athletics in his future. He has worked his tail off,
increasing his vertical by over 4 inches and drastically increasing his linear and lateral speed.
He has also worked diligently to increase throwing arm velocity. I am anxious to see Tyler in
action for PT this year.
Mike Cumberledge is one of the top athletes out of
Trafford Middle School. Mike proved to be a high scoring point
guard for his school’s basketball team. His great contribution
to the team has helped them to achieve their outstanding
record of 51-2 over the past two years. He also played
cornerback and slot back for Trafford’s undefeated (8-0)
football team in his eighth grade year. 
Mike’s favorite part of training is the Vertimax machine. With
the countless exercises the Vertimax offers, he feels that it has improved his vertical jump
immensely, along with his running and jumping technique. All of the training Mike has done
has helped to improve his quickness and overall athletic ability.
With his future in mind, Mike has made playing college basketball or football one of his main
goals.
Coach Sigut's notes: It took only a few minutes to figure out that Mike was an excellent
athlete. He has combined both the speed and strength programs to maximize his already
above average talent. He understands that sports performance training is a year round
process. PT fans should expect some spectacular things from Mike in the up and coming
years.
Each 8-week session includes one
re-evaluation. It is best to have yours done close to your 8-week session ending.
Please check the sign next to the schedule board at the Academy to check your session end date.
This Month's Re-Evaluation Date is:
Increase Throwing Velocity through Lower Body Strength
