JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University has been officially designated as a U.S. Olympic Training Site for weightlifting by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

Through a partnership with USOC and USA Weightlifting, the university will recruit men and women who have a proven record in both weightlifting and academics and who aspire to compete at the Olympic level. Those selected will be admitted to ETSU and will enroll as full-time students.

“This center will attract young athletes from around the country who have demonstrated elite-level potential in weightlifting and will bring them to ETSU, where they will be part of the university community,” said Meg Stone, director of the ETSU Olympic Training Site.

Interested weightlifters must meet specific eligibility criteria set forth by USA Weightlifting and ETSU. According to Stone, once the athletes arrive on campus they will meet with Dr. Mike Stone, who is director of the Exercise and Sport Science Laboratory at ETSU and is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of sport science. He will design a rigorous training program specific to each athlete.

“The athletes will be expected to adhere to this schedule, which will have them training once, twice or even three times per day,” said Meg Stone, who herself is a distinguished strength and conditioning coach and a two-time Olympian. She is also director of ETSU’s Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education.

“They will also learn about nutrition, rest, recovery and how to train as an elite athlete,” she added.

The athletes will also participate with the ETSU Weightlifting Club, which is one of ETSU’s sports clubs. Last year, the team won third place at the National Collegiate Weightlifting Championship.

Dr. Mike Stone is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Leisure and Sport Science in the ETSU Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education. In 2011, he received the USA Weightlifting’s Doc Counsilman Coach of the Year award from the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). This award is given annually by the USOC to one coach in USA Weightlifting who has “consistently used sport science to further the training plans of athletes and moved the sport forward.”

Before joining the faculty in 2005, Stone was head of Sports Physiology for the USOC and supervised physiology staff at the USOC centers in Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Diego; and Lake Placid, N.Y.

“At ETSU, we are in the business of fulfilling dreams,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. “Now, thanks to the visionary work of Dr. Mike Stone, Meg Stone, President Emeritus Stanton, and so many others, we will be able to help young men and women, right here on our campus, as they reach their lifelong dreams of competing in the Olympic Games. This partnership with the United States Olympic Committee and USA Weightlifting has been several years in the making, and it fulfills an institutional dream—one of those “what ifs” that came true through persistence. This is a great day for ETSU and our entire region.”

“We’re constantly looking for new and innovative ways to partner with our national governing bodies to ensure America’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes have everything they need to be successful,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “Dr. Stone and Meg Stone are world-class professionals and we’re thrilled to partner with USA Weightlifting and ETSU to offer this incredibly unique program for our athletes.”

USA Weightlifting is the national governing body for weightlifting. In order to be an Olympic training site, ETSU had to sign a memorandum of understanding to provide services and training for a national governing body.

“We are delighted to have the support of the USOC in developing a relationship with ETSU,” said Arthur Drechsler, chair of USA Weightlifting’s Board of Directors. “We have no doubt that the program the university is offering will attract some of our nation’s most promising young athletes. At ETSU they will have the opportunity to advance both their athletic and academic careers at the same time.”

Meg Stone said she hopes other sports will be added as the ETSU training site continues to develop.

Click here to download your entry form!

Need a place to stay? Below is a map of hotels in Johnson City.

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They come from different countries, including USA, Taiwan and China!

Say hello to our new sport science students!!!

Chris Bailey, M.Ed, CSCS

I am originally from Marietta, Georgia and I received my undergraduate degree in exercise science from Georgia College and State University (2006) in Milledgeville, Georgia.  After graduating I worked at a private sports performance training facility for a year before going back to GCSU for a master’s degree in kinesiology/human performance.  After completing my master’s degree (2009) I began working with the San Diego Padres as one of their minor league strength and conditioning coaches.  I spent my first season with the Padres short season single A affiliate the Eugene Emeralds in Oregon.  My second and final season with the Padres was spent in Texas with their AA affiliate the San Antonio Missions.  I am currently pursuing the sports physiology track of the PhD program at ETSU.  My research interests include: asymmetrical force production and its effects on sports performance,optimization of rate of force development, and the kinetics and kinematics of striking performance for combat sports.

Jacob Reed MS, CSCS

Native to Muscatine, Iowa, I received my bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from the University of Northern Iowa in 2009.  During my enrolment at UNI I played rugby and started fostering my passion for research.  After completing my degree, I enrolled at the University of Memphis to pursue a Master’s degree in Health and Sport Science where my research focus was on concurrent training.Following Memphis, I moved to Johnson City where I am currently pursuing my PhD in Sport Performance.  As a PhD I am interested in not only optimizing sport performance in elite athletes but also developing a method which could allow us to qualitatively assess the effectiveness of our Sport Performance Enhancement Consortium.

James Hoffmann  MS,CSCS,CPT

I was born and raised in Chicago IL. Before starting the PhD program here at ETSU I received both my B.S. in Biochemistry and my M.S. in Applied Exercise Physiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. My favorite sport is Rugby, which I have been playing for several years.

I came to ETSU because I had grown tired of personal training and the more clinical aspects of exercise physiology. I really wanted to work with athletes in a hands on setting where I continue to learn about coaching and strength and conditioning. I really enjoy working with athletes of all ages and in the future I hope to teach sport science to students and work with Rugby players as the sport grows in popularity in the US.

My primary interests are high intensity interval training techniques for sport, specifically for sports involving repeated pushing/drving movements. Currently I am involved with Men’s Tennis, Men’s Golf, and High School Weightlifting and boys and girls Basketball

Keith Leiting MA, ATC

I grew up in Lemont, Illinois. I enlisted in the Marine Corps immediately after high school. After my service I enrolled at Western Illinois University in exercise science with an emphasis in athletic training.  I pursued my master’s degree at East Tennessee State University in sport and exercise science. Meanwhile, I was the athletic trainer for the ETSU women’s soccer team, gaining experience in sports medicine. I am currently working towards my Ph.D. in sport science. I work with the ETSU Army ROTC unit in pursuit of increasing soldier preparedness for combat operations.  I hope to continue with this line of research and assist the armed forces in their physical preparation for combat.

Ryan Alexander MS, CSCS

Raised in East Tennessee, returning home to pursue my PhD in Sport Physiology and Sport Performance.  I attended Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and my Master’s Degree in Movement Sciences with a specialization in Exercise Science.  While at Barry University I competed for four years in collegiate soccer at the NCAA Division II level.  I am currently working with the women’s soccer program at East Tennessee State University with colleague Chris MacDonald.  My interests for research include, testing and monitoring for sport specific variables that may attribute to the early detection of fatigue accumulation and/or overtraining.

Mark Chiang, M.P.E CSCS, ACSM-HFS

Hello- my name is Mark Chiang , I come from Taiwan, first year PhD student in sport performance concentration. I received my master’s degree from National Taiwan Sport University (exercise physiology major, minor in athletic training). My experiences in sport include working in the Taiwan national training center (sport science division) and coaching (as Strength and conditioning coach) of collegiate and national team.

The reason for studying abroad is because the unique opportunity to study under renowned sport scientist Dr. Stone and acquire practical training experiences. After years of searching, I know this is the best Sport Science PhD program in US. My research interests focus on Periodization training for team sports, especially maximized strength and power training and its transfer effects for agility performance. I’m so excited to work with great colleagues at ETSU.

Tim McInnis MS, CSCS, USA Weightlifting Senior Club Coach

I hail from the great state of Louisiana where exercise and health are staples of life…well I’m from Louisiana anyway.  I completed my undergraduate in 2004 with a degree in exercise science from Louisiana State University Shreveport.  I then went to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC for my masters in Exercise Science with a concentration in strength and conditioning (finished in 2006).  After personal training for a year I took a job as the Health and Physical Education Facilities Coordinator at LSU Shreveport.  During this time I was also a volunteer assistant coach for the USA Weightlifting High Performance and Development Center at LSU Shreveport.  From 2009-2011 I served as the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympics chair for weightlifting.  I currently coach the ETSU Stoneage weightlifting team.  After I finish my Phd, my goal is to coach weightlifting and possibly teach in a university setting.

Zhanxin sha  MS,

My  name is zhanxin sha. I am from China. It is my first year study at ETSU as PhD student. I got bachelor degree of exercise science in Liaoning Normal University. In 2007, I came to U.S pursing master degree through an exchange program between Liaoning Normal University and Emporia State University. Basketball and track& field are my favorite sports. To improve athletes performance and prevent them from injuries (biomechanical and physiological) are my interest.

The new university year is now in it’s second week and the fall sports are in full swing so I thought I would write a little about the sport science and coach education activities that we took part in over the summer period. As coaching manager for the Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education, I am lucky to be a part of these services and trips.

Educational Presentations / Symposiums
On Friday May 13th, we hosted our 2011 Medical Symposium. This included talks from sports medicine professionals, university professors, and strength and conditioning coaches on concussion, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, and strength training for young athletes.

ETSU has a high school on campus, and in early June we provided an inservice to their coaching staff – focusing on program design and exercise technique. At the end of the month, we presented on similar topics to local coaches and trainers on behalf of the Mountain Athletic Trainers Society. Christian Carter and I received some really good questions during both the theoretical and practical components. These questions were positive signs to the growing base of knowledge amongst coaches in the area.

A number of Center of Excellence staff and students were also active during ETSU volleyball and soccer camps over the summer months. The very nature of these camps means that the young attendees are effectively a captive audience. Any education that can help them make better decisions regarding training, nutrition, and recovery in their future careers is a huge oppurtunity that we have been lucky enough to grab.

Everyone wants to work with elite athletes, and we are no exception. Events such as these, however, are vital in improving coaching practice and performance from the ground up.

Sport Science Consultancy
Late in May, I hit the road and spent a couple of days with a strong NCAA Division 1 program to help them put together a season plan for training on and off the soccer field. In July, I gave similar assistance to a very successful NAIA program that had been having a problem with injuries over recent years. Fatigue management was a key issue for both programs.

In August, a group of us were lucky enough to be asked to visit a major Division 1-A football program that are interested in introducing a sport science program similar to ours at ETSU. Meeting with all involved, including the exercise science and sports medicine departments truly was an honor, and the potential at this college is huge.

Later in August we had a visitor from an NBA team spend three days with us. His team is currently hiring a sport scientist, along with putting everything in place at the practice facility for sport science to be a success.

Moving Forward
The best part of the summer by far was to see so many already successful sport coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, and sports medicine professionals be so progressive and look for alternative / new ways to do things. These were not coaches and staff that were up against the rack and at risk of losing their jobs. They were already good. This is such a positive sign.

What is happening at the 1-A football program and NBA team are firsts at their respective levels and is very exciting for sport science in this country. We hope to continue to assist progress in sport at all levels in the future. The next major step in this is our Coaches and Sport Science College in October. We hope to see you there!

Where? Mountain States Health Alliance Athletics Center (aka mini-dome)

What is it? Weightlifting is comprised of two lifts: the snatch (ground-to-overhead) and the clean & jerk (ground-to-shoulders & shoulders-to-overhead). Learn more at www.usaweightlifting.org.

Questions? Want to compete? Email cartercr1@goldmail.etsu.edu or call 423-439-4655. You can also download the entry form here.

Entry and payment can be mailed to:
ETSU-CESSCE
Attn: Meg Stone
PO Box 70654
Johnson City,TN 37614

Meet Schedule:

Cheap Awards for 1st – 3rd place for each class

Team Award 1st-3rd (men and women combined can be no more than 12 lifters that count)

One piece suits are mandatory.

Download the entry form here.

Registration is now closed.

Schedule

Friday October 21st, 2011
11-12:00pm – Registration
12-12:15pm – Introduction – Meg Stone
12:15-1:15pm – Theoretical and Practical Aspects of the Training Process – Guy Hornsby
1:15-3:15pm – Acute Strategies to Improve Performances – Dr. Hugh Lamont
3:15-3:30pm – Break
3:30-6:00pm – Theory and Practical Aspects of Weightlifting Movements – Dr. Mike Stone
7:00pm – Banquet – Experiences in Developing an Olympic Venue – Mike Gattone

Saturday October 22nd, 2011
7-8:00am – Registration and Breakfast
8-8:15am – Introduction – Meg Stone
8:15-9:15am – Physiology of Sprint and Road Cycling – Dr. Mike Ramsey
9:15-10:45am – Training for Endurance and Sprint Cycling – John Graham
10:45-11:00am – Break11-12:15pm – Overtraining – Dr. Andy Fry
12:15-1:15pm – Lunch – Sportably – Jeremy Gentles
1:15-2:15pm – Nutrition for Individual and Team Sports- Mike Israetel
2:15-5:15pm – Applying the Language of Movement - Steve Plisk
5:15-6pm – Round Table

Sunday October 23rd, 2011 9am – UKSCA Certification Exam

2011 Keynote Speakers

Meg Stone– Two-time Olympian and distinguished strength and conditioning coach. Director of the Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education.

Guy Hornsby– A second-year doctoral student at ETSU in the Sports Performance program. Guy is the strength and conditioning coach for ETSU baseball and is the co-lab supervisor for the ETSU Sport Science lab.

Dr. Hugh Lamont– Second-year faculty member in the department of KLSS and adjunct faculty in the CESSCE. His research interests are: whole body vibration to improve high performance, post activation potentiation in athletes and non-athletes and acute and chronic adaptations to resistance exercise.

Dr. Michael Stone– Professor Stone is the program coordinator for the PhD program in Sport Physiology and Performance. He is also the sports science lab coordinator. With a research interest in strength-power training and  sports performance, Professor Stone was formerly the head of physiology for the USOC.

Mike Gattone– Current Manager of Team Sports for Gatorade Sports Marketing. Formerly the coaching manager for the United States Olympic Committee, Director for the Weightlifting event of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and personal coach of Tara Nott, Olympic Gold Medalist.

Dr. Michael Ramsey– Associate Professor in the department of KLSS and adjunct faculty in the CESSCE. His interests are the cardiovascular adaptations to exercise and sport performance. Dr. Ramsey is the undergraduate coordinator in the exercise and sport science program.

John Graham– Presently the Director of community and corporate fitness with Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network in Allentown Penn. He is a fellow of the  NSCA and President of Power Agility & Speed. Member of the NSCA certification board and an associate editor of the NSCA Journal.

Dr. Andy Fry– Chair and Professor in the department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Kansas as well as the Director of Research for the Research and Coaching Performance team. NSCA 2005 outstanding Sport Scientist of the year award.

Michael Israetel –Originally from Moscow, Russia, received his bachelor’s in Movement Science from U of M and his master’s of Exercise Science at ASU. His doctoral studies are being done at ETSU in Sport Physiology.

Steve Plisk– The Director/ Proprietor of Excelsior Sports. Former Director of Sports Conditioning and worked and coordinated with football and all intercollegiate sports at Yale University, University of Memphis, U.S. Olympic Training Center and James Madison University.

The Center of  Excellence  for Sport Science and Coach Education (CESSCE) will be hosting posters for its Sixth Annual Coaches College. The subject matter must deal directly or indirectly with the enhancement of competitive athletes.  Posters can deal with advances in coaching, coaching methods, or biomechanical, psychological, physiological or sports medicine aspects. The deadline for acceptance is September 23th, 2011, (no exceptions).

Awards will be given in the following categories:

Coaching/Coach Education
1st place – $150
2nd place – $75

Sport Science
1st place – $150
2nd place – $75

Outstanding Student Poster- $150

For more information about the call for papers call (423) 439-5796 or (423) 439-4375.

Conference Location

The conference will be held at the Millennium Centre (http://www.millctr.com) which is located directly behind the Carnegie Hotel.

Johnson City, TN Information

Airports

• Tri-Cities Airport (20 minutes)
• McGhee-Tyson Airport (Knoxville, TN, 2 hours)
• Asheville Regional Airport (Asheville, NC, 1 hour)

Hotels

• Carnegie Hotel: www.carnegiehotel.com Phone: (423) 979-6400 (Mention ETSU Coaches College)
• Hampton Inn: Phone (423) 929-8000

Registration is now closed.

Schedule for the 2011 Medical Symposium

May 12, 2011– ETSU Culp Center

7-9pm – Sports Concussion Management: What are we Learning? – Dr. Michael Collins This talk is for coaches, parents and athletes and is FREE to all who attend!!

May 13, 2011– Millennium Centre

7:45-8:15am – Registration

8:15-8:30am – Welcome & Introduction – Meg Stone & Dr. R.J. Elbin

8:30-10am –  Sports Concussion  Management: What are we Learning? –  Dr. Collins

10:15-11:45am – Sickle Cell and the Athlete –  Dr. Parks

11:45-12:45pm – Lunch

12:45-2:15pm– Muscle Remodeling in Formerly Sedentary Subjects After Exercise Training –  Dr. Stuart

2:15-3:45pm – Resistance Training for the  Athlete with Type 1 Diabetes – Dr. Hornsby

4-4:45pm – A Practical Application for Strength & Conditioning in Children - Dr. Calendine

4:45-5:30pm – Children, Adolescents and Strength Training – Dr. Stone

Speakers

Dr. Micky Collins (Keynote Speaker) – Dr. Collins is a  nationally renowned  expert in the area of sports-related concussions, and is also a leading clinician and  researcher. In addition, he has been instrumental in the development of numerous concussion  management programs at the youth sports level  nationwide. Dr. Collins is the assistant director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program.  He will be coming to ETSU to speak on the issues pertaining to  concussions. In the past Dr. Collins has worked with Tim Tebow, during his experience with concussions.

Dr. Eric Parks – Dr. Parks is a sports medicine physician at Watauga Orthopaedics. He specializes in the diagnosis and  treatment of new and overuse musculoskeletal injuries, chronic musculoskeletal disease, such as  arthritis, and the non-operative management of fractures.

Dr. Guy Honrsby – Dr. Guy Hornsby is an exercise physiologist from the West Virginia University School of Medicine where he serves as director of the WVU Human Performance Lab. He has served on the national board of directors of the American Diabetes Association and is currently the immediate past-chair of the board of directors of the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association.

Dr. Charles Stuart - Charles Stuart is a professor of internal medicine at the East Tennessee State University Quillen College of  Medicine. His clinical consulting practice in Johnson City focuses on patients with challenging diabetes  management issues.

Dr. Chris Calendine – Dr. Chris Calendine is the Director of Pediatrics for Rural Health Services Consortium, Inc. and is also the Founder of ProStrength and Speed Youth Health Initiative, in Rogersville TN, and the Team Physician for Cherokee Comprehensive High School.

Dr. Michael Stone – Director of the Exercise and Sport Science Laboratory as well as program coordinator for the PhD program at ETSU. Published extensively on strength training for adolescents. Previous Head of Physiology for the USOC.

Where is it?

Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education

As most of you are aware the University Iowa American football program has recently had problems stemming from the hospitalization of 13 members of the team (apparently mostly freshmen and sophomores).

This phenomena created the usual pursuit (especially be the media) for someone to blame. No doubt there are a number of coaches and medical personnel who will receive their share (fair or not). No doubt these personnel are searching for answers, and I am sure they are mulling over their own decisions about training that might have led to this event. Undoubtedly, without any prompting, although they will receive plenty, alterations will be made in initiation of training for the future.

However, while the fire is still hot, we will take a few moments of the reader’s time to give our own opinions as to where blame lies:

There is no particular order here – however we would argue that a major portion of the blame lies with the NCAA and other governing bodies for these reasons:

1. Over the past 30-40 years the number of training days allotted has steadily decreased – concomitantly the number of competition days has steadily increased; for example collegiate baseball now plays 56 games in 13 weeks. This was suppose to obviate poor decisions by coaches as to “training all the time” Instead it has allowed many (not all) athletes, to take considerable amounts of time off during the summer, at Christmas, spring break, fall break, thanksgiving, etc. – during this break time they eat more and train less (often not at all) ; they come back to practice/training fatter and out of shape for that sport.

The various rules put in place to limit training time are often not appreciated for their negative effects — Often, soon after the break there is a competition, for example(s): collegiate volleyball competitions may occur two weeks after athletes return from summer break – thus the coach is faced with trying to get their athletes into “shape” in two weeks, which is not possible or logical – yet their job often depends upon winning each game. In collegiate track and field, training begins in September, and a great deal of effort is expended by athletes and coaches for “preparation” stage training and usually one indoor meet before Christmas break – so, much of the conditioning (not to mention event practice) is lost through de-conditioning across 3-4 weeks of break – then the athlete returns to school for a competition (and often travel) held the first week-end of their return. Obviously, the coach(s) is faced with how to deal with a de-conditioned (to various degrees) athlete in a very short amount of time.

2. NCAA and Athletic departments and academics all must share some of the blame for poor coaches educational programs.

One analogy that seems reasonable is that in many ways being a coach is a like being a medical doctor. A medical doctor must go to medical school, obtain a scientific background so that they can better practice the art of medicine. Logically, it makes sense that a good coach would go to school, obtain a science background and so that they could better practice the art of coaching.

Interestingly, most people in the USA would not send their children (or themselves) to a MD that did not attend (and become certified) medical school. Yet, we consistently do this and allow it to be done with coaches.

One might argue that coaching, especially strength and conditioning, coaching is in a similar state to that of medical education before the advent of the Flexner report of 1910 (Carnegie Foundation Bulletin Number Four). When Flexner compiled his report, many USA and Canadian medical schools were “proprietary”, essentially small trade schools owned by one or more doctors, unaffiliated with a college or university, and awarded a degree or certification to primarily to make a profit. A degree was typically awarded after only two years of study. Laboratory work and dissection were not necessarily required. Many of the instructors were local doctors teaching part-time, whose own training left something to be desired. The regulation of the medical profession by state government was minimal or nonexistent. “Physicians” varied substantially in their scientific understanding of medicine, human physiology or pharmacology. There is no evidence that the majority of 1910 Americans were aware of the situation or were dissatisfied with this situation. As a result congress, state and local governments enacted legislation altering medical education. The consequences of this report include some very positive (but some negative) results.

A physician must receive at least six, and preferably eight, years of post-secondary formal instruction, in a university setting;

• Medical training adheres closely to the scientific method and is thoroughly grounded in human physiology and biochemistry. Medical research adheres fully to the protocols of scientific research
• Average physician quality has increased significantly;
• No medical school can be created without the permission of the state government. Likewise, the size of existing medical schools is subject to state regulation;
• Each state branch of the American Medical Association has oversight over the conventional medical schools located within the state;
• Medicine in the USA and Canada becomes a highly paid and well-respected profession;

However:

• A number of medical schools were closed or most were reorganized. The number of medical school graduates sharply declined, and the resulting reduction in the supply of doctors makes the availability and affordability of medical care problematic.
• The Report also led to the closure of the type of medical schools that trained doctors willing to charge their patients less. Moreover, before the Report, high quality doctors varied their fees according to what they believed their patients could afford, a practice known as price discrimination. The extent of price discrimination in American medicine declined in the aftermath of the Report;
• Reuben Kessel (1958) argued that the Flexner Report in effect began the cartelization of the American medical profession, a cartelization enforced by the American Medical Association and backed by the police power of each American state. This de facto cartel restricted the supply of physicians, and raised the incomes of the remaining practitioners.

It can be argued that athletic trainers went through a similar process in the 1950’s – resulting in the NATA and certification. Think about this in terms of today’s coaches, particularly S and C coaches – hopefully we can move toward better education, perhaps certification and greater respect from other professionals.

Consider the following – at present:

· The NCAA has no real educational standards for coaches, particularly as it concerns the strength coaches

· Athletic departments have no real standards for coaches including S &C coach, nor do athletic departments strongly promote coaches education

· Most academic (college and University) related programs, leading to a degree, are based on participation not performance and are generally devoid of classes dealing with the training process, use of monitoring programs, appropriate strength and conditioning practices or how to interface with sport science/sport medicine.

3. Sports Science – hardly any in the USA – there are many Exercise Science/Wellness programs in the USA, there are a few exercise scientists that have done some exercise science with teams from time to time, there are few real sport scientists in the USA (See: What is Sport Science? – www.sportscienceed.com).

4. Sport Medicine – while the sport medicine group has done well at becoming a true profession and performs an invaluable service to sport – one must question some of the practices employed:

1. because of the professional nature of sport medicine (e.g. medical doctors and NATA certified staff) the sport medicine staff are able to “overrule “coaches on training/practice procedures – while this may have many beneficial effects – it is not always in the athletes’ best interest. This assumes that the sport medical staff has a good knowledge of training practices and the training process, which is usually not the case for example:

a. although dying out – the erroneous idea that squats are bad for your knees

b. blaming the weight room for everything – for example – a hand injury becomes a total ban on lifting weights

c. adding in rehabilitation exercises without telling the S and C coach – which alters the “prescription” for training, increases injury potential and may interfere with training adaptation (i.e. adding in endurance activities to strength-power athletes’ training)

d. assuming that the sport coaches and particularly the S and C coach are poorly educated and trained – while this is often true it is not universal (e.g. – not recognizing that the S and C coach may have a reasonable level of education knowledge and experience dealing more directly with the training process)

the above is by no means always the case – however, in observing and discussing issues with AT’s and coaches over the years these problems (a – d) do appear to be commonly encountered.

5. Some of the blame must ride on the shoulders of strength and conditioning who have allowed their profession to be taken over by the sports coach or the sports medicine department. We would argue this stems from:

a. the S and C coach may indeed be poorly educated. This may be partially related to # 2 above. The university based coaches program they received a degree form may not have contained the necessary ingredients to give them a sound education.

b. Many (perhaps most) coaches do not have a degree in physical education, exercise physiology, sport science or anything related. Indeed, they strongly believe that they can learn on the job through “paying their dues” and simply gaining experience. While experience is necessary – it cannot take the place of a sound science background – see number one above.

c. Even for those coaches, especially for S and C coaches, the current environment in sport is that the head coach has the final word on everything (except participating with severe injury). Indeed the S and c coach is looked upon as a service provider rather than a professional. For example: the head coach (or an assistant) makes poor decisions dealing with training of athletes that likely will increase injury or overtraining potential – the strength coach recognizes this but is powerless to alter the course of events.

The S and C coach must bear some responsibility for allowing this to happen. In some cases the s and c coach is well educated, has served their dues, and does in fact understand the training process, better than other coaches and better than the sport medicine staff – they understand the potential consequences of allowing the poor training practice to precede –but it still takes place, often with poor outcomes.

An interesting dilemma, the S and C coach knows better, by allowing the poor training practice to proceed they are sanctioning the activity – however, if they speak up they rarely are heard, not taken seriously by the coaching staff or the Athletic Department and often get blamed for the poor outcome??

Hopefully, the reader will think about what has been presented in this short paper.

Information on the Flexnor Report was modified from Wikipedia and Medicinenet.com

This is a cross-post from Howard Gray who writes all kinds of coaching and sport science goodness over at http://pursuitofperformance.blogspot.com. Thanks Howard.

You will see that we all have a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and research interests – something that truly adds to what we have going on here at the Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education (CESSCE). It truly is the first of its kind in the US.

Christian Carter

Christian Carter is from Oak Park, IL, just outside of Chicago.  He got his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Kinesiology-Exercise Science and his Master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Health Promotion-Sports Performance where he also served as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach.  Christian currently competes in Olympic weightlifting at the 94kg weight class.  His research interest is on eccentric accentuated loading, specifically its use for squats.

Jeremy Gentles

Prior to starting the PhD program here at ETSU, I also received my undergrad and graduate degrees in exercise science from ETSU. My primary interests include overtraining (biochemical and other physiological markers/indicators), injuries, and technology in sport. Recently, I have also started to help with a web based athlete monitoring and system at www.sportably.com.

Howard Gray

My first interest in sport science came as a young athlete growing up in the south-west of England looking to improve my own athletic performance. This continued as I pursued a college scholarship and semi-professional football/soccer in my late teens. After moving to the US, late on in my undergrad I started my coaching career as an assistant soccer coach, a role that I continued when I first arrived at ETSU for my masters degree.

I made the transition from football / soccer coach specializing in fitness, to sport scientist specializing in the sport when I returned home to England to work as an intern S&C coach for Reading FC. Following my preseason internship, I was kept on and my roles were expanded before I moved into a full time position at Crystal Palace FC in London.

Coming back to ETSU is an exciting experience as the program allows for a unique combination of research and applied work. Satoshi Mizuguchi and I provide sport science support for the ETSU men’s soccer team, coached by Scott Calabrese. I also assist Meg Stone in coach education for the Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education.

My research focuses on the monitoring and periodization of football / soccer training.

Guy Hornsby

My exploration into sport science began like most; as an athlete.  I was quickly captivated by competitive sport, not only by the thrill of competition, but by the commitment and dedication required of the training process.  More to the point I was very intrigued by the weight room, specifically strength development.  I wanted to be stronger than everyone else.

I began my journey into sport science at ETSU 5 years ago.  I chose ETSU so I could throw for legendary strength/track and field coach and 2-time Olympian Meg Stone and take classes from renowned sport scientist Dr. Mike Stone.  When I first I arrived in Johnson City I thought I wanted to be a strength and conditioning coach, admittedly, I wasn’t sure what that really meant or involved.

After the completion of my undergraduate degree I decided to further my knowledge and practical experience in sport science by joining the masters program at ETSU. I continued my athletic career as a weightlifter under the tutelage of Dr. Stone (I firmly believe that being an athlete and training like one has been an integral part of my development). By this point I knew I wanted to be a strength coach and had a much clearer idea of what that entailed. The masters program introduced me to sport science research.  My thesis was a training study conducted on collegiate throwers.  The project lasted several mesocycles and involved periodic measurements of both physiological and performance variables.  I plan on doing more training studies in the future further exploring the concept of periodization. As an aspiring strength coach I think I gravitated towards periodization as my research emphasis due to its comprehensive nature investigating the training process.

Currently, I am in the first semester of the sport performance PhD program at ETSU.  My general responsibilities include, lab supervisor, research, assisting in the athlete monitoring program, and designing and implementing ETSU baseball’s strength and conditioning program.

My experience so far at ETSU has taught me what is required of an elite level strength and conditioning coach. Strength and conditioning is a multifaceted endeavour. So many considerations exist within this intricate and often perplexing process that a scientific approach is required.  I plan on using scientific principles to implement training programs, monitoring programs, and aid sport coaches in the training process.  Since understanding the underlying physiological mechanisms of sport is crucial for a superior training program, I also intend on being active in sport science research.

I am very excited for the next couple years of doctoral work at ETSU.

Christian Carter & Mike Israetel with Ambrose Serrano

Mike Israetel

I was born in Moscow, Russia in May of 1984. In June of 1991, may parents took my family out of the USSR to the United States to flee communism. In the United States, I finished high school with top honors, and attended the University of Michigan for my undergraduate major in Movement Science. During my studies at the University of Michigan, I began to get serious about powerlifting, and I co-founded the Michigan Powerlifting Club. Through the powerlifting club, I had the pleasure of training several nationally and globally ranked powerlifters. After Michigan, I attended Appalachian State University for my Master’s in Exercise Science. There I studied to great benefit under Jeff McBride and Travis Triplett. It was at Appalachian that I developed and interest in hypertrophy-specific training, and began to train several national-caliber bodybuilders and powerlifters. After a year of personal training in New York (an excellent experience), I began my studies in the Sport Physiology PhD program under Dr. Mike Stone. My current (actually continual) research interests include the relationship between DOMS and hypertrophy, and, more involvingly, fatigue management in hypertrophy-specific weight training programs.

ETSU CESSCE staff & graduate students, August 2010

Brian Johnston

Brian is currently the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine for the ETSU Department of Athletics. A former graduate of the NATA approved Athletic Training Curriculum at ETSU, Brian has been associated with East Tennessee State University for over 15 years.

After graduating from ETSU in 1998, Brian worked with Southeastern Sports Medicine in Asheville, NC and then at Greenwood High School where he was an Anatomy teacher and managed the school’s athletic training needs. Brian rejoined the ETSU Athletic Training Staff in 2001 as the Assistant Athletic Trainer where he oversaw the Buccaneer Football team for three years. In 2003, Brian became the interim head athletic trainer and interim Clinic Director for the Jerry Robertson BucSports Athletic Medicine Center and in January 2004 was named the Director of Athletic Medicine.  Brian earned the administrative title of Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine in 2006 and currently acts in that capacity today.

Brian oversees the entire Sport Medicine program and has sport responsibilities for baseball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s golf, and women’s golf.

Along with responsibilities in the Department of Athletics, Brian is the clinical director for the Jerry Robertson BucSports Athletic Medicine Center.  In this role, Brian assisted the physician in all aspects of patient care and manages the day to day operations of the clinic.

The Knoxville, TN native received his Masters in Sport Science Degree from the United States Sports Academy in 2002 and a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education with a concentration in Athletic Training in 1998. He is a certified instructor for CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer and a member of the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, Southeastern Athletic Trainer’s Association, and Tennessee Athletic Trainer’s Society.

Brian currently resides in Johnson City and is married to the former Sherri Saltys (ETSU ’98) and has two children, Derek and Isaac.

Ashley Kavanaugh

Hello – I am a fellow doctoral student and colleague of Howard at East Tennessee State University.  My duties include conducting research in the Exercise and Sports Science Laboratory, writing/implementing the strength and conditioning program for women’s volleyball, and teaching various undergraduate courses.  I was attracted to the program at ETSU because of the opportunity to studying under Dr. Stone, as well as the unique ability to do sport science research and train collegiate athletes.  Also I was frustrated by the lack of evidence based training methodologies used by coaches in the United States, and I wanted to continue my education in a program that emphasized science and its application to strength and conditioning.

While at ETSU my research has been in the area of whole-body vibration, examining its effects on jump height, force, rate of force development, power output, sprint speed, and bone mineral density.   Future research interests include long-term training studies, potentiation, and whole-body vibration.

Chris MacDonald

Christopher MacDonald, MS, CSCS…I graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in Applied Exercise Exercise Science (minor in Strength and Conditioning) from Methodist University (Fayetteville, NC.).  At Methodist, I was a four year letterman and captain (2007) of Men’s Varsity Soccer Team at Methodist University (leading goal scorer in 2007) as well as being named a four time Academic All-Conference (USA South Conference).  In 2009, I graduated with a M.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Mississippi (Oxford, MS), where I was a graduate assistant, and my research experience included complex training, ergonomic and gait analysis of industry workers, and kinetic and kinematic analyses various athletic and non athletic populations.  During my time in the Master’s Program at Ole Miss, I earned the J. Robert Blackburn Graduate Achievement Award in Exercise Science (2009).  Following graduation, I remained at Ole Miss and completed one year of Ph.D. work at the University of Mississippi in the Health and Kinesiology program before transferring to East Tennessee State University to begin work as a graduate student and graduate assistant in the Sport Physiology Ph.D. program.

Satoshi Mizuguchi

Name: Satoshi Mizuguchi

Born and grew up in Hyogo, Japan

Wife and Son: Mayako Mizuguchi and Takeru Mizuguchi

BS in Exercise Science from Winona State University in MN – worked as a student intern for strength and conditioning at Winona State and Western Illinois University.

MS in Exercise Science – Strength and Conditioning concentration from Appalachian State University in NC – worked as a GA strength and conditioning coach and was responsible for programming and implementing a strength and conditioning program for men’s and women’s tennis, softball, and volleyball while assisting with the strength and conditioning aspect for football team.

Currently, PhD student at ETSU – programming and implementing training and providing performance monitoring service for men’s soccer team.

Satoshi Mizuguchi competing in the 2010 Stoneage Weightlifting meet