What Colleges Look For in Athletes

Hello Everyone!

Many athletes hope to play their chosen sport at the collegiate level, but few have ever thought about what skills they need to be offered the opportunity to play at that level.

Have you ever thought...

What if your number one college choice was at your next game?

What would you want them to see? What do they need to see to make them want to offer you a college scholarship?

COLLEGE SCOUTS ARE LOOKING FOR:

- High Speed

- Breakaway Quickness

- Explosive Jumps

- Strong, Physical Play

- Well-Rounded Athletes!

Colleges and universities need players that can play multiple positions. They know that college athletics are full of unforeseen circumstances: injuries, transfers, violations, etc. which force them to change game-plans and adapt.

Colleges/Universities will invest in players that can adapt and play multiple positions!
Colleges/Universities will invest in players that are more than a one-trick-pony!

Colleges/Universities will invest in players that are hard-working and have a desire to improve!

It is time to train. It is time to prepare for that day when the college of your dreams comes to watch you play. It is time to make yourself into the well-rounded, fast, quick, strong, and powerful athlete that your college will want to invest in (offer a scholarship)!

At AGSP you'll be on the quick path to maximizing these much needed traits.

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Simple but Not Easy: Short-term Memory

Hello Everyone!

Recently I wrote about the simple, but not easy concept of showing up. Another example of this concept is having a short-term memory.

To be a good athlete you have to have the ability to stay in the present moment, aka, a short-term memory.

Whether it's forgetting about the missed easy lay-up, the missed block, the missed snatch in the weight room, or any other athletic skill that you didn't execute like you could/should have - you have to have a short-term memory.

Being a great athlete means remember that athletics (and the training that goes along with it) are a series of events that end. They are not things that define who you are as an athlete or person.

The ability to clear your mind and stay in the game (or workout session) is what will allow you to have a great athletic career that you can be proud or.

So the next time you miss something, forget about it!

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Real Results

Hello Everyone!

Last week I had one of my athlete's parents stop by and share the following:

"Coach Amanda, my son's baseball coach posts all of the trying-out kids' performance numbers for the parents and athletes to see. Not only did my son's numbers significantly improve in each category, but all of his teammates that trained with you did as well! Those that didn't train at AGSP had numbers that barely budged in comparison."

It was wonderful to hear, but I certainty can not take the credit. Her son and his teammates that trained at AGSP are the ones that made those improvements happen. As their coach, I just showed them the best ways to maximize their efforts.

We have no secrets here at AGSP, just passionate coaches that are experts in getting athletes the results they want - like being the most improved athletes on their team!

Come get real results. We off a complimentary first session and can show you how you can be one of the best athletes on your team!

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Simple, but Not Easy - showing up

Hello Everyone!

The world of athletics is full of rules or guidelines that I like to call "simple, but not easy." Concepts that for the most part everyone can understand, but very few can actually do.

Take for example the simple, but not easy concept of showing up.

Whether it is to a 6am speed and agility session, an after school practice, a late afternoon weightlifting session, or arriving early like coach told you to do so you can take care of pre-game business. The only thing that is asked is of you is to show up.

I'm not even talking about effort or attitude, just the simple act of showing up.

But it isn't easy to show up on a dark cold morning before class.
It isn't easy to show up to practice when your significant other wants you to hang out together instead.
It isn't easy to show up to the weightlfting session when you are so sore.
It isn't easy to show up early before the game when everyone else is hanging out somewhere fun.

Yet, if you just showed up a lot of your dreams and goals would become a reality. You can't achieve your dreams of a college scholarship, or winning a championship, or making the team when you make excuses for yourself on why you don't need to show up.

The athletes that show up at AGSP are the same athletes that are achieving many of the personal goals and dreams. Maybe it is time you join them and show up?

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

THE Sports Doctor says - Stop Year Round Sports

Hello Everyone!

I had a lot of parents talk to me about the recent Cleveland Plain Dealer article about "going easier on young athletes."

It was an interview with world-renown sports doctor, Dr. James R. Andrews and his biggest point is a point we have been stressing for years at AGSP, don't train year-round in your sport! Especially before the age of 18!

A little known fact is that Akron General Medical Center started our Sports Performance Department for the same exact reason why Dr. Andrews wrote his new book Any Given Monday - Sports Injuries and How to Prevent Them. They were seeing way to many young athletes in physical therapy with overuse injuries!

Dr. Andrews beats the same drum that we do here at AGSP when he says enough is enough with the year round sports! Athletes need to get healthy and rest from the repeated (often unnatural) movements of their sport (like throwing a baseball thousands of times).

Here at AGSP we take it a step further and make sure that as athletes are resting they are getting faster, stronger, and more powerful in our 100% supervised environment. So when they go back to the sport they love, they are quicker, more powerful, and better!

Heed the advice from the most famous sports doctor and skip the AAU league or travel team for at least a couple of months. Instead, train to become a better athlete so you can stay injury-free and take your game to the next level!

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance