Connor Sport Court has been excited to be a part of this project ever since we first learned about it a year ago when approached by Athletic Republic to design a super plyo floor for the new training center under construction in St. George, Utah.

This custom platform exceeded our previous designs since it measures 864 square feet and is 46′ x 18′ in size, making it the biggest plyo platform we have ever built (and thus the largest in the world). The design incorporates numerous activities including multiple Munoz, Krumrie, LeClair, 4-Square formations along with a ladder w/ruler (for measuring the broad jump), allowing this plyo floor to accommodate multiple athletes simultaneously with plenty of space left over for functional training. The platform is made up of 4′ x 8′ hard rock maple panels with a sleeper subfloor produced that are manufactured in Amasa, Michigan plant, by the same team that makes the NCAA’s Final Four basketball tournament floors each year. All of the graphics and formations including the Athletic Republic logo were custom painted in our manufacturing facility.

The extra large plyo floor is just one of the reasons we think Athletic Republic’s St. George training center is super!

David F. Smith
Connor Sport Court International

Acceleration St. George, a proud member for Athletic Republic, has been in St. George Utah since 2002. In that time we have relocated 3 times. July 21st 2009 was our final move into Intermountain Dixie Regional Health & Performance Center. The Health and Performance Center is an out-patient facility that offers numerous programs dedicated to helping clients get the most out of their body, and out of their life.

Southern Utah has very hot and dry summers and mild winters. That is one of the many reasons we are excited for our large plyo floor. It will allow us to do most of our agility and cord drills indoors. Along with the different formations we have a ruler and ladder painted on the floor to help us maintain the professional Athletic Republic look. With our new space we also now have a large grassy area and sport court to do more outside during the winter months.

Acceleration St. George has spent the last 7 years helping many local athletes gain their competitive edge. We know this move will only help us be able to train at an even higher level.

Dayna Player Robinson

Acceleration Sports Performance Training

Being involved in “The Ride” has certainly fit its moniker.  I was selected for the 10-episode reality show to provide the perspective of a sport scientist who is passionate about football and experienced at helping athletes improve.  The Ride is not just about finding the best high school quarterback; it’s about uncovering the “diamond in the rough” that, given the opportunity of a lifetime could break through the barriers that have prevented them from being heavily recruited.  Each of the athletes has a unique “story” that includes challenges, whether it was being labeled as too small, not having enough experience, or coming from a smaller school, etc.

The first episodes were shot at FBU-Philadelphia in June. In addition to meeting the eight quarterbacks selected for the show, I also became part of a coaching staff that carry some serious credentials: Glenn Smith, Sam Wyche, Ron Jaworski, Larry Kennan, Mike Kruzcek, Tom Martinez, and Barry Every from Rivals. I consider this group among the “best of the best” when it comes to coaching, developing and evaluating athletes. More importantly, they are outstanding people that have each athlete’s best interest at heart.

We are looking to select THE Quarterback through a series of competitions and challenges. The athletes worked very hard in Philly, handled themselves like gentlemen, and improved immensely in a very short time.  And it was rewarding to see the progress that a few of the athletes made while training in our centers over the last few months-the coaches were impressed with their improved performance.  What a perfect example of the competitive advantage an athletes gains with Athletic Republic!

Next stop was Top Gun, where the field had been narrowed to four QBs.  It was very exciting to take all the athletes through the evaluation and training sessions in one of our more unique training facility-All Star Sports Training in Paisley, FL.   As the cameras were rolling I lead the players through both treadmill and plyometric sessions.  I was able to explain what each needed to do to improve their athleticism and conditioning.  As we see every day, the athletes made quick improvements in their sprint mechanics and movement skills which will allow them to get faster and move more efficiently.  They also seemed to really enjoy the training, understood how they can get better and were thankful for the help.

I’m looking forward to the next stages of the show, as we visit the remaining athletes in their home towns and high schools as we take in one of their Friday night games. After the cross-country tour, the two final players will be invited to play in Bowl Game in Hawaii in December. After the game, the coaches will shoot a live selection “round-table” and name the top QB. The winner gets a roster spot in the All-American Game.  The 10-series reality show starts in early November … I hope you can join Athletic Republic on “The Ride”

Steve Swanson - Chief Science and Technology Officer

Pulling up to All-Star Sports Training in Paisley, Florida for the first day of the Top Gun camp I was a bit skeptical.  You drive down a 1/4 mile dirt road and the first thing that you see is about 10 long horn bulls.  This was going to be my office for the next two weeks and I was not sure what to expect.  I have visited and trained at many training facilities but none of them had livestock to my knowledge.  Yet little did I know I was stumbling onto a football player’s training oasis in the middle of Florida and for two weeks it would be housing the top football players in the country.

The first three camps had unbelievable talent and averaged around 15 of the 80 athletes at each camp training at our Athletic Republic training centers.  This is an amazing figure considering these kids are chosen from all across the country and 20% had gone through our program. Yet I would not understand the true future of College Football until the final group of Athletes arrived at All-Star Sports Training on Wednesday afternoon.

The final group is all going into their senior year with a few invited juniors was so much fun to both watch and train.  Even though we had two huge storms which limited our time on the field with the final group we were still able to put them through some football specific Fusion Timing & Reaction system drills that tested both the reactive and physical ability of the kids.

After 33 FBU camps and 4 top gun camps there are two things I have come to realize: 1) There is a lot of raw talent out there and with the technology Athletic Republic has in their training centers we can make a huge impact on an athlete; 2) Even though people say that frog legs taste like chicken I don’t agree.

Blake Gardner

With the start of football season just around the corner, some of the nation’s best players have been invited to Paisley, Florida, to fine tune their games at the three-day Football University Top Gun Camp, before returning to lead their High School teams.

Over the past few days, I had the good fortune to watch 80 talented juniors work with Athletic Republic trainers and FBU coaches at the impressive All-Star Sports Academy, an Athletic Republic franchise.

Mark Stevenson brought his son Marques, a running back from Lake Marion High School, in Lake Marion, Michigan, to the Top Gun Camp because he liked the position-specific training. Marques is a powerful runner, whose linear speed and lateral quickness has improved this summer with training at Athletic Republic – Auburn Hills. Marques was able to showcase his ‘football speed’ vs. his ‘combine speed’ at the camp, and make a lasting impression on the linebackers covering him in the receiving skills and route drills.

I also enjoyed watching Blake Gardner, a wide receiver from Steele High School in New Braunfels, Texas, move through the pro-agility drill with grace and then execute great running mechanics on the treadmill. It came as no surprise, when I learned he’d been training with Shawn Dassie and the Athletic Republic – New Braunfels team.

Bill Bayless captured the Top Gun difference his son Harrison, a quarterback from John Handley, High School in Winchester, Virginia, was experiencing in just three words: Training, Technique and Technology. Bill was impressed with how Athletic Republic brought science right onto the sports field and wanted to know when we’d be opening a training center closer to Winchester. The same question that has lead to the start of many of our most successful training sites … we’ll be talking to Bill to help us identify franchise operator prospects and locations in his area.

Charlie Graves — Arthletic Repubic CEO

Football University Top Gun Camps 1 and 2 took place last week in Paisley, Florida, and included up and coming 7th and 8th grade football players.  The intensity of both camps were impressive for athletes of such a young age. NFL legends like Andre Rison and Chris Slade led the groups through the Florida heat, working on mastering basic footwork and techniques that are the fundamentals of the game.  Seven-on-seven drills for the skill players and one-on-one battles for the lineman are also part of the experience.  “Coaching every rep” is part of the FBU philosophy and these athletes receive the best instruction possible.  What an experience! I wish I would have had something like this available to me as a young player.

Athletic Republic’s event manager, Jon Drenckhahn, has done a great job managing the delivery of our “Test, Teach, Train” philosophy for each Top Gun athlete.  Our regional football managers, Sione Taufoo, Dan O’Donnel, and Chad Gunnelson all flew in to lead the performance training efforts along with myself and Tad O’Had.  As always, Sione, Dan, Chad and Tad were at the top of their game. On Day 1, we were able to test all 80 athletes and provide immediate video feedback on their start technique and cutting mechanics.  Each player also competed in a “reaction drill” competition using the SmartSpeed Pro system.  These competitions are always fun, pitting position groups against each other to see which group wins the most battles.  The intensity and enthusiasm of each player was refreshing.

On Day 2, skill players were able to get a taste of the Super Treadmill as our trainers worked with them on improving their running mechanics, using mirrors and immediate Dartfish video feedback.  The training was combined with lessons on proper running mechanics and key aspects of improving speed.  The lineman and linebackers were able to work on first-step quickness with our patented Sprintcords.  The big men also spent time in the sand pit working on strength and stability.    Each position group spent time working on position-specific footwork and reaction drills to improve speed and power.  Our job as performance trainers is to help them move better, while helping to reinforce what their coaches are teaching them.

All in all, we were able to spend over three hours with each athlete to help them get better.  From the feedback of the parents and athletes so far, we are helping to exceed their expectations for Top Gun. Many of the athletes were already training at an Athletic Republic facility, and many more came away impressed with what our training facilities could do for them.  I look forward to hearing more success stories from parents and athletes—it’s what all of us who train athletes love about our job. These stories mean just as much or more to us as the stories about Brandon Meriweather and Eric Brock I shared in my last post.

Steve Swanson — Cheif Science & Technology Officer

Here’s a link to a post on Rivals.com that talks all about the integration of technology into Athletic Republic’s on-field and training center based football training programs.

Football University’s Top Gun All-Star Experience for the nation’s top youth and prep players kicked off in Paisley, Florida, last week, with sessions for 7th and 8th graders. The facility at All-Star Sports, a proud member of Athletic Republic, is literally a “field of dreams” for football.  The 80-acre complex has everything a serious football player would want: a beautiful grass football field with coaches observation towers; practice fields with chutes and sleds; a sand pit; two weight rooms and a special room dedicated to treadmill training.

Athletic Republic’s equipment and training methodology are utilized predominantly in the training offered at All-Star Sports and headed up by world-class performance training director Todd Robinett, MS.  The lodge has a full kitchen, locker rooms and dorms for up to 100 athletes complete, with a 50” flatscreen TV and leather couches.  The facility is perfect for camps and team activities, allowing athletes to focus entirely on training, good nutrition, recovery and building team chemistry.

Several professional and college athletes call All-Star Sports home during the offseason as they work to reach their full potential.  Some notable athletes training in Paisley just prior to TopGun were Eric Brock of the Atlanta Falcons and Brandon Meriweather of the New England Patriots.  Brandon blew away the coaches upon his arrival in New England by running a blazing sub 4.4 second forty, not once, not twice, but three times — the coacheskept asking him to run again to make sure they were timing correctly!  Afterwards, he texted Todd Robinett with a message “proof that treadmill works!”

Eric’s pre-NFL Draft experience in the winter of 2008 was chronicled here with a series of blog posts, beginning with this post. Going into his second season with the Atlanta Falcons, Erik is primed to make an impact with the team. All the staff rave about his strength, size and speed — not to mention the work ethic that is a pre-requisite for making an impact on Sundays.  I can’t wait to watch both Brandon and Erik on the field this fall.  All of us at Athletic Republic wish them the best of luck this season.

Steve Swanson — Chief Science & Technology Officer

Kyle Palmieri — 1st Round/Anaheim

Mike Cichy — 7th Round/Montreal

Jordan Samuel-Thomas –  7th Round/Atlanta

Athletic Republic Congratulates  our class of 2009 NHL Draft picks!

The recent NHL Draft was a great one for players who have trained using Athletic Republic’s patented Hockey Treadmill and proprietary training protocols. The photos above show just three of 16 players drafted after training at an Athletic Republic facility or with the USA National Team Development Program.

At Athletic Republic we take great pride in our athletes accomplishing their goals.  The NHL Draft this past Friday and Saturday in Montreal was a major event in the lives of 16 Athletic Republic hockey players. The on-ice and off-ice dedication that these 16 hockey players have shown has led them from aspiring to be NHL players to be drafted on the NHL stage. All of us at Athletic Republic would like to send out a heartfelt congratulations to these 16 athletes (listed below).   We know that your journey has been a long and grueling one. Athletic Republic applauds the outstanding coaching, dedicated parents and remarkable work ethic that has gotten you to this point, and wish you nothing but the best in the future.

On Friday night, two AR athletes had their names called, with Jordan Schroeder from the University of Minnesota being taken with the 22nd pick by Vancouver, and Kyle Palmieri being selected with the 26th pick by the Anaheim Ducks. On Saturday, the names of 14 Athletic Republic athletes were called, nine of whom are members of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (USNTDP) U-18 team.

Athletic Republic training and technology is currently part of the NTDP training regimen, with athletes training on our patented Hockey Treadmill during their pre-season and post-season stages.

Other notables drafted were Craig Smith (Waterloo), Nick Jensen (Green Bay), Brad Peltz (Avon), Mike Cichy (Indiana) and Jordan Samuel-Thomas (Waterloo). Every one of these players have experienced our scientifically tested and guaranteed hockey-specific training program, which is designed to give players the on-ice edge.

From Pee Wee to Pros, at Athletic Republic we have a program that’s specifically designed to accelerate a player’s game on and off the ice. Our programming is designed specifically for athletes preparing for the season, gaining the advantage in the off-season and ramping up their skills in-season. Each program incorporates regular athlete assessment and strikes a balance based on time of year, physical development, skill level, performance level and an athlete’s goals. We have over 32 levels and over 2,500 pages of protocols designed to help athletes progress from beginners to the National Hockey League, and that is exactly what we have done — helping to develop over 500 NHL players and athletes competing with the US National Team Development Program and Hockey powerhouses like University of Minnesota, Cornell, Ohio State and Michigan Tech.

Athletic Republic congratulates all 16 of this year’s draft picks! We look forward to watching your journey and applaud you on your work ethic on and off the ice.

Here’s the full report, showing round , team, hometown and current league/team:

1         VAN    Jordan Scroeder                   Burnsville, MN               WCHA              U of MN
1         ANA    Kyle Palmieri                         Smithtown, NY               USNTDP         US U-18
2        PHX    Chris Brown                           Houston, TX                   USNTDP         US U-18
2        SJS      Will Wrenn                            Anchorage, AK                USNTDP         US U-18
2        FLA     Drew Shore                           Denver, Co                        USNTDP         US U-18
2        ATL     Jeremy Morin                       Auburn, NY                      USNTDP         US U-18
2        TOR    Kenny Ryan                           Franklin Village, MI       USNTDP         US U-18
2        CBJ     Kevin Lynch                          Grosse Pointe,   MI         USNTDP         US U-18
3        NYR    Ryan Bourque                      Boxford, MA                     USNTDP         US U-18
3        NSH    Craig Smith                           Madison, WI                    USNTDP        Waterloo
5        DET    Nick Jensen                          St Paul, MN                       USNTDP         Green Bay
6        COL    Brandon Maxwell                Winter Park, FL                USNTDP         US U-18
6        TOR    Jerry D’Amigo                     Binghamton, NY               USNTDP         US U-18
7        OTT    Brad Peltz                             New York, NY                     NE-HS             AVON
7         MTL   Mike Cichy                           New Britian, CT                 USHL               Indiana
7         ATL   Jordan Samuel-Thomas    Hartford, CT                        USHL              Waterloo

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Last year when Athletic Republic moved its training and technology into the USNTDP training facility at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, Scott Moneghan Director of Hockey Operations for US Hockey had this to say:

The U.S. National Team Development Program is a cutting-edge program that strives to make our American players the best on the World stage. And the Athletic Republic Hockey Treadmill is the type of cutting-edge technology that will help our players continue their string of five consecutive medal performances at the Under-18 World Championships, also helping them to reach their personal goals for success in college and professional hockey.

It’s seems that Scott Monaghan he wasn’t kidding with that statement.  Last week, in the same town where Athletic Republic was  created — Fargo, ND — the USA U-18 team took the ice to defeat the Russians 5-0 defeat. Five separate players scored goals in the championship game.  The U.S. finished the tournament 6-0-0-1, and captured the first world title for a U.S. hockey team on home ice since the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

Tonight was a culmination of two years of hard work for many of our players, said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. They sacrificed for each other and they became a family. They had the focus, determination and persevered, which is what the National Team Development Program is all about. There is no better way to end the season and I am really happy for our players.

Before a record crowd of 4,923 at the Urban Plains Center, Team USA struck early when Cam Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich.) put a wrist shot into the lower right corner of the net through a screen just 2:09 into the game. Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) doubled the U.S. advantage after he streaked towards the goal and one-touched Kevin Lynch’s (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) feather pass inside the left post at 9:27.

Just 1:55 into the second period, William Wrenn (Anchorage, Alaska) one-timed Drew Shore’s pass from the middle slot into the lower left corner for a power-play goal, making it 3-0.

Chris Brown(Flower Mound, Texas) extended the lead to 4-0 when he took Shore’s drop pass and wired a wrist shot over the right shoulder of netminder Igor Bobkov 2:29 into the third period. Just 1:10 later, Nick Mattson (Chanhassen, Minn.) fed Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.) who sniped a shot into the upper left corner to ice the 5-0 victory.

Netminder Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) made 17 saves to earn his second shutout at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

All of us at Athletic Republic would like to say ”Congratulations TEAM USA!”

This report just in from Tad O’Had, our VP of Hockey … who is a big hoops fan too:

Basketball development was taken to another level this past weekend when Athletic Republic invaded Hoosier Country to open our seventh performance sports training center in the state of Indiana. The newest member of the Athletic Republic starting lineup is housed in The Fieldhouse of Merrillville, which features six full NBA-style basketball courts for clinics, camps, showcases and national tournaments. In addition, athletes are able to continue to raise their game to new heights with Athletic Republic’s scientifically proven training methods.

During the weekend’s Grand Opening April 17-19th, Athletic Republic – Merrillville was host to the Hoosier Invitational. Thirty-eight teams of 8th to 12th graders competed for hardwood supremacy in front of over 400 athletes, parents and coaches.

We couldn’t be anymore excited with our facility at The Merrillville Fieldhouse. The one-two punch of Athletic Republic and Fieldhouse is an incredible combination provides so many aspiring athletes with the very best in performance sports training and basketball development. Kyle Nettestad, Athletic Republic – Merrillville Owner and Operator

With Kyle’s entrepreneurial insight and passion for athlete development, the facility is sure to be a success. So much so that Kyle has taken his wealth of knowledge of exercise science and has applied it to his athlete development membership model, where Athletic Republic athletes will undergo a series of assessments throughout the year to specifically target the athlete’s strengths, weaknesses, overall development and progression. The athletes are then greeted one-on-one by Athletic Republic Performance training staff members, who will devise individualized training programs and cycles to allow the athlete to train safely, properly and assure the athlete will be rested and ready to peak at game time.

Our focus is to arm our athletes with the knowledge and know how that only professionals receive, whether it be nutrition, testing or just overall sprinting mechanics. Our objective at Athletic Republic  is to give our athletes the advantage and with our AR development model we are able to assure that the athletes train in a periodized manner year round, while taking in account the workloads of the pre-season, in-season, post-season and off-season. Kyle Nettestad

For More Information on The Fieldhouse of Merrillville and Athletic Republic  visit us at www.athleticrepublic.com or www.thefieldhouse-merrillville.com.
The Fieldhouse - Merrillville
899 E. 99th Ct.
Merrillville, IN 46307