One of the main pillars of what makes an athlete great is proper strength and conditioning. To compete at the highest level, athletes must push themselves to excel not only in games, but also off the field in the weight room.

Proper physical shape often gives athletes the advantage that they need to overcome their competition. Nicholls State University has brought in three new coaches to work with head strength and conditioning coach Greg Carrasquillo in hopes of achieving top physical shape for the University’s players and teams.

The three new coaches that joined the strength and conditioning staff are coach Jackson Frey, coach Lauren and coach Joel. coach Jackson has been at Nicholls for a number of weeks, while coach Lauren and coach Joel arrived earlier this week.

Frey attended Springfield College in Massachusetts where he played basketball and was introduced to weight training through their strength and conditioning program. He became interested in the program and interned at a sports performance center in Maine at Boston College and at Southeast Missouri State. He said that by working under people who knew what they were doing, he gained more experienced and met more people. He said he will be directly in charge of men’s basketball and golf, and will help out with baseball, softball and football.

Coach Lauren also attended Springfield College. She then moved to Wisconsin with a fellow Springfield graduate to begin her internship. She explained that all her internships were with people who shared the same philosophies and were taught the same things as her.

“It opened up for more possibilities within this field,” she said. “Continuing the same type of training with Olympic moves, specific stuff in the weight room and conditioning for the teams outside. I was also an athlete so that kind of helped lead me into this field.” Coach Lauren will oversee women’s soccer, women’s basketball and softball.

Coach Joel attended Springfield as well. As an undergraduate, he played football and his coach suggested that he attend Springfield since he was interested in strength and conditioning. During his graduate program at Springfield, Coach Joel interned at the University of Minnesota, the University of Connecticut, Western Michigan University and in the National Hockey League. He said that by working with these teams, he learned philosophies from people he met, and formed them into his own. He will oversee track and field, men and women’s cross country, men and women’s tennis and cheerleading.

Before the new coaches arrived, Carrasquillo said that during some workouts, the ratio of coaches to players “was close to 25-1.”

“Our NSCA standard, or National Strength and Conditioning Association standard, is about 15-1. I’d really prefer 10-1 or less. So that pretty much means we get two or three racks per person and they can run those racks themselves,” Carrasquillo said.

The increased number of coaches in the weight room will allow for a better opportunity for more efficient and effective workouts.

“It’s more hands on, and a lot more one on one attention for all the athletes. The biggest thing is the education part of it,” Carrasquillo said. “We can sit there with the athlete and explain to them what we’re looking for, why we’re looking for it, how it’s going to help them.”