Jock Talk

Giving Teen Athletes the Edge

By Kimberley O'Quinn

Like many young athletes, 16-year-old Nic Godre of Spring, Texas, dreams of playing professional baseball. This past summer, while his friends cruised the beach and mastered their PlayStations, Nic spent his vacation honing his sports skills in hopes of catching the eye of college and professional recruiters.

"It's all about getting noticed by college scouts for me," Godre says. "Recruiters look for players with speed and athleticism, so I'm improving both in the hopes of landing a full college scholarship. After college, I want to go on to the pros. In fact, I don't know of any young athlete who doesn't hope to go on to the pros."

Long before LeBron James landed a $90M Nike endorsement deal (and subsequent multi-million-dollar deals to pitch Sprite and Powerade), high school athletes have dreamt of dollar signs. In an effort to cash in early, or at the very least land a college scholarship, many young athletes are enrolling in the latest rage for the teenage locker room set: athletic enhancement training, or "jock schools," as many have taken to calling them.

Part professional groomer, part professional coach and part dream factory, jock schools have been popping up across the country. Until recently, this type of intensive training was available only at the college and professional level. But much like the economic trickle-down theory, the "win-at-all-costs" mentality of the pros is now trickling down to student athletics.

As a result, this new breed of private training facility staffed by professional coaches has tapped into an eager audience of young, intensely dedicated athletes who are looking to secure a coveted competitive edge. The training programs they offer run the gamut. Some focus solely on core areas such as increasing strength, agility and speed, while others offer sport-specific skills such as enhancing jump shots and completing touchdown passes. The common denominator is that every facility caters to students looking to be "the best."

Want to see more?

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• Straight Talk About Strength Training
• Weightlifting: Safe Training for Teens
• Talk about it!