Hi Everyone,

Eric Brock here in Paisley, Florida, where I’m training for Auburn’s Pro Day on March 10th. In the photo above, I’m doing the short shuttle, working on changing direction with good balance.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with how athletes like myself prepare to be at our best on a specific day – whether that’s at the NFL Combine, or a Pro Day at our school – I’ll be recounting my training experiences over the next six weeks here at AthleticRepublic.com. But before I bring you up to date on my current activities, I’d like to tell you a little about myself.

I played strong safety at Auburn University and was a starter for the Tigers the past three years. I actually graduated in the Fall of 2006, with a degree in Public Administration, but I had another year of eligibility left and played the 2007 season, while I took some more courses to help fulfill a minor in education. And am I glad I did!

You see, if I hadn’t gone back to Auburn to play last season, I would not have had the self-satisfaction of playing on a team that beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl (17-10) in my final home game as an Auburn Tiger. Even though we beat Alabama every year I played at Auburn, I was injured and didn’t play in the 2006 Iron Bowl, so this year’s win was especially sweet.

One other highlight of my career at Auburn was our game against LSU in 2006. I made the game-saving tackle of Craig Davis on the 4-yard line in a hard fought 7-3 win over then-seventh ranked LSU. Earlier in that game I deflected a fourth-down pass to stop another LSU drive. USA Today’s readers voted me player of the week after that game.

Anyway, all that is now in the past. I’m focused and looking ahead to my next big test – Pro Day at Auburn, which is scheduled for March 10th. It’s my one big chance to impress NFL scouts prior to the NFL Draft in April and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.

I’m here at All-Star Sports Camps, a member of the Athletic Republic network of training facilities, training hard everyday under the supervision of Todd Robinett. Over the next six weeks, both Todd and I will be providing updates and insights about my training. I hope you’ll check back frequently here at AthleticRepublic.com and follow along.

Thanks for reading.

Tad O’Had, Director of Hockey Operations for BlueStreak Sports and co-founder of Hybrid Hockey, sent the following update about Team USA:

The Russian National Junior Team jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead, added another goal early in the second period to go up 4-0 and held on for a 4-2 win over the U.S. Team USA played much better after the first period, but couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they had created. Any hopes of a last minute rally were negated by two penalties in the game’s final four minutes.

“It was disappointing to finish the way we did after such a good start in this tournament,” said U.S. head coach John Hynes. “We lacked the intensity we needed today.”

Bobby Sanguinetti was named the U.S. Player of the game. Nikita Filatov received the Russian honors.

The top three U.S. players for the whole tournament — as chosen by the tournament committee — were James vanRiemsdyk, Chris Summers and Colin Wilson.

Canada went on to defeat Sweden in overtime capturing their fifth gold medal in the past five years.

Next season’s World Junior Championship will be held in Ottawa, Ontario, and will run from Dec. 26, 2008 to Jan. 5, 2009.

You can view a photo gallery from the tournament at US College Hockey Online.

In a story titled Younger Athletes Are Going High-tech To Gain An Edge, today’s St. Louis Post Dispatch featured a front-page piece about NutriFormance, in Chesterfield, Missouri — a proud member of the Athletic Republic.

From a photo of a nine-year-old skating on Athletic Republic’s patented Hockey Treadmill, to the comments of a high school athletic director about the trend of specialized sports training for athletes ages 8-18, the Post Dispatch story advanced the positive point of view that a young athlete and his or her parents’ investment of time, hard work and money are often worthwhile.

According to Nancy Milward, athletic director at Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves, Missouri:

It started with soccer players doing Acceleration training to increase their speed. Now it’s worked into the basketball program, volleyball, field hockey. In a way, it’s no different than a kid going and taking voice lessons. Most of them are high-performance athletes to begin with, and they’re motivated to do more anyway.

Following a semi-final 4-1 loss to Canada on Friday, Team USA lost to Russia 4-2 today in the contest for the bronze medal. Team USA had beaten Russia 3-2 in preliminary round play, but just didn’t seem to have the energy to overcome Russia’s 3-0 lead after the first period today.

This is the fourth straight year TEAM USA has played in the bronze medal game, winning last year, after finishing fourth in 2005 and 2006.

Most TEAM USA players will now return to their college and university teams, with many having their sights set on advancing to the Frozen Four, to be held in Denver, April 10 and 12.

Team USA players from the University of Minnesota can also look forward to returning to their training routine on Athletic Republic’s patented Hockey Treadmill.

With wins over the junior national teams of Russia, Finland, Kazakhstan and Switzerland, Team USA has advanced to the semi-finals of the IIHF World Junior Championships on January 4 in the Czech Republic.

When they face off against Team Canada on Friday, Team USA will rely upon the firepower of James vanRiemsdyk, the top scorer in the tournament with 10 points. In fact, Team USA boasts the top-three scoring players in the tourney, which bodes well for the USA as they face a Canadian team seeking their fourth straight gold medal in the World Junior Championships.

In addition to a high-powered offense, Team USA may have another advantage over the Canucks – seven of the 22 members of Team USA have trained using Athletic Republic’s patented Hockey Treadmill and training protocols.

On Athletic Republic’s Hockey Treadmill, you train for the game in your own skates. The hockey-specific Acceleration Training program allows you to increase your on-ice speed, quickness and power by increasing your stride frequency, stride length and lower body power. Athletic Republic gives you the ability to outmaneuver the competition during game time.

Stay tuned for more news from the Czech Republic.