Building up RHS sports
Strength and Conditioning program introduced
BY ELLEN PADGETT
REPORTER INTERN
Rhinelander High School has introduced its first-ever strength and conditioning program for the benefit of the athletes.
Tyler Figueroa was hired to this coaching position in July after the idea was proposed to the school board in April and passed in May. Figueroa is currently also a gym and health teacher at the high school, making him, what RHS activities director Brian Paulson calls, a “trusted candidate” for the job, as well as one able to work the before- and after-school hours the job requires.
Beginning in the fall, all in-season athletes trained with the coach twice a week. Those sports included cross country, hockey, football, tennis and soccer.
The expectation is that the lifting routines learned will carry over from sport to sport, thereby eliminating time spent by coaches trying to teach athletes proper lifts.
Figueroa said learning the proper lifting techniques is a main goal in helping prevent injury.
“Each athlete will be properly taught their lifts and they’ll never have to change them,” he said.
Additionally, both Figueroa and Paulson believe weightlifting is a key component to sports, saying the program was needed in RHS’s sports program “to get to the next level.”
Paulson said he would eventually like to see every sport lifting the same weight routine year-round, but the logistics are currently being figured out for getting so many kids in the weight room with little time to do it.
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