A safe place for kids to level up their sports game
5/31/2023
Gavin Bywater, a senior at Schuyler Community Schools, would love to play sports in college. So, when he read about the new high-performance training program in Columbus, he saw it as a tool to help him get closer to that goal.
“I can always get better, so it was a no-brainer for me,” said Bywater. “I was also looking for more opportunities to expand my learning base for track, and trying to get faster for my last year of high school.” Columbus Community Hospital’s
Columbus Sports Performance Center offers a science-based program that boasts individualized, results-driven training for off-season, pre-season or in-season athletes.
How it works
Throughout the program, high school and college-aged athletes work with expertly trained staff who have helped Division I and high school athletes successfully transition to collegiate athletics.
“We do a lot of explosive power work and injury prevention,” said Bywater. “We do depth jumps, box jumps and other activities — using normal movements you would do in most sports.”
Lauren Vasicek, a sophomore at Columbus High who is participating in the program, said she is impressed by her progress.
“I wanted to start coming here to improve,” she said. “When I started, I wasn’t expecting as much as I have gotten.”
During the sessions, athletes train in small groups using laser timers and advanced technology to track vertical and horizontal power. Training staff provide each athlete with a tangible progress report to follow individual performance throughout the program.
“We do power and strength training,” said Vasicek. “I work on my balance and ways to improve my weaknesses.”
Starting sooner
Lucas Novotny, who leads the program, has held several positions in the strength and conditioning field. He said the program is meant to provide individualized attention to athletes to improve athletics community-wide. He would like to do that by working with athletes as early as 7th or 8th grade.
“Junior high students are starting to get into more highly competitive athletics,” he said. “Without training, they can run into early injuries that could set them back and possibly make athletics less fun. With a proper training base, they can bypass some of those setbacks and improve at a solid pace.”
The hospital created the Columbus Sports Performance Center to give young athletes a home for long-term development through their athletic experience. The mission is to provide sports performance training needs to Columbus and the surrounding communities. The center is currently operating at Premier Physical Therapy but will move to the Columbus Fieldhouse when the facility is complete.
Get involved
To learn more about Columbus Sports Performance Center’s high-performance training groups or to register, call 402-562-4607 or visit columbushosp.org.