All Sport Academy - How Good Do You Want To Be Today?

Yeah, the warm weather must be behind us, my phone’s ringing off the hook. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but it’s pretty funny. Today was one of those nutty days where I think I only had enough time to sit down while I was watching our newest instructor, Andre Harris, work with some guys on their swing.

What was great about it though was at one point we had a cheerleading squad working out getting ready for a competition this weekend, wrestlers flipping tires and other conditioning drills, Andre was working out a baseball player doing speed and agility and a couple of other guys were hitting in a cage. Lots of fun things going on and all different.

I’d rather it be warm so we could be playing baseball, but I guess I have to resolve myself to the fact that it’s basketball season, I’m not happy about it, but it was bound to happen…

If you haven’t done so, check out all the things we have scheduled for the fall/winter months, plenty to pick from right now.

When we thought about opening All Sport Academy a couple of years ago (actually I’ve been thinking about it for about 10 years) the plan was to have a place where we could do great things for kids. We would offer lessons, clinics, camps and a place to just come to hang around with others interested in sports, any sports. What we didn’t anticipate was being a place were adults could find the same thing and more.

We have a new fight team here at ASA, the NJ Combat Club. Right now it’s a small group of guys that are training to compete in a variety of competitions, a few are doing Grappler’s Quest this weekend, then there’s a kick boxing tournament in December, then, well we don’t know what’s next, but ask me tomorrow and we’ll probably have 12 more things planned because that’s how Tony, the manager, operates. Anyway, these guys have been coming in now for about a month and are getting settled in their new digs, I’m getting comfortable with their schedule and there’s a lot of excitement around the fights and the Shawn Tompkins Seminar coming up on November 17th (yes, that was a blatant, non-relevant plug for our seminar…). Last week a new guy came to ASA to train with us that, at first glance, doesn’t look like he should be on the mat with the rest of our guys. In fact, the first time he was here I kept looking over my partition to make sure he was OK. Then I got to meet Barry and let’s just say, I’m not planning on getting on the mat with him any time soon…

First of all, understand that Barry’s in his mid-60s, which, that fact alone leads one to think he shouldn’t be back there rolling around with these 20-somethings. Not only is he older than the rest of them, he’s also been fighting tumors in his head for 20 years. For the better part of those 20 years Barry’s been told he had a certain amount of time to live, so I guess that means he’s living on borrowed time. The thing is he’s also a highly respected trainer and has been doing this stuff for many years. I went back to chat with the guys after a workout the other day and was talking with him about doing some seminars for us and he started demonstrating a few things that he would teach. He moves slowly and deliberately when he’s walking in and out of the gym, but when he starts showing you various ways that he could knock you on your backside, there’s no slow, but it’s definitely deliberate! Over the years Barry’s been an inspiration to many people that he’s been in contact with and for good reason, he’s not sitting around feeling sorry for himself, he’s a good guy and he’s still doing what he loves. I like the fact that he’s very appreciative to those that help him and he cherishes his friends. I’m also appreciative because you just can’t ever have enough good guys around you, he fits in well with the rest of the characters that spend time here…

Barry, Chris and Johnny are fighting in Grappler’s Quest this weekend. Chris and Johnny are young guys with hopefully many, many years of competing ahead of them. Barry’s not so young, but we also hope that he’s got many, many years of just being Barry ahead of him, whatever that means for him at the time. If I can ask a favor of anyone reading this, please think good thoughts and if you’re so inclined, say a few prayers for our new friend Barry. Not so much for success at the tournament(s) (although that would be nice too) because just being part of any tournament or workout and being on the mats is success enough, but because the more good thoughts he has the better…

Give ‘em heck guys and good luck!

I’ve had numerous conversations over the last couple of years of where our motto, “How Good Do You Want To Be Today?” came from. Fortunately it has also started many conversations with people and athletes about the mental aspect of sports and training so I guess it’s working the way I had hoped…

Over the years of coaching, my two boys and I have had a few discussions about their performances (there’s an understatement…). As my oldest son, Matt, grew up and developed in each sport it was very apparent that he had potential to be a very good athlete in pretty much whatever sport he wanted to participate in. What was also very apparent was that he, like most athletes, could determine his success on the field, court or wherever, by coming in with a positive and aggressive mental attitude. I’d talk to him briefly before a game and I’d say something like, “you know, you can make yourself better by just wanting to be better, it’s all about how you mentally approach the game…” or “the next level of improvement in your game is how you approach it mentally, go at it hard and you’ll raise your level.” As he he got older the pre-game discussion got condensed to, “Hey, how good do you think you’re going to be today?” or if I was on the phone with his mom when I couldn’t be at a game I’d say, “ask him how good he’s going to be today.” It’s a silly question when you really think about it, but it would get him thinking about what I was getting at. Did it ever help him? I have no idea and I’ve never asked him (I’m sure he’ll tell me now…), but I hope thinking about it over the years did some good.

So, why did I decide to use “How Good Do You Want To Be Today?” as the All Sport Academy motto? What I hope it gets across to the athletes that work out here is that they have control of just how good their workouts are every day, which will directly translate into how good they perform in competitions. I’m a firm believer in the mental aspect of sports and by being sharp mentally as well as physically athletes have an edge over a competitor that hasn’t taken the mental part of their preparation seriously. If an athlete thinks about it and honestly answers the question it should trigger something that makes them work harder, even if it’s a slight improvement or makes them push a little bit, I hope it translates into a higher level of performance and that’s all we can ask…

OK, that’s pretty lame, but hey, we’ve got ‘em all here at All Sport Academy, so come on down (sorry, I’m all wound up now that I heard Joe Torre’s going to the Dodgers!).

So, what’s new at ASA this week? Well, we’ve scheduled a number of programs for softball and baseball and have recently worked out an arrangement with New Brunswick Recreation to run their Youth Wrestling program. We are very excited to be working with them on this and think that it’s a great way to kick start both our and NB’s wrestling programs.

First, softball - ASA Instructor Jodie Ricciardi, who’s a former assistant coach at Princeton University and a former All-Big Ten softball player, is heading up our softball program. Jodie has set up four programs for us for the winter: 1). A Fall Clinic, which will be four Tuesdays starting mid-November; 2). A Softball hitting league, which will be an league consisting of eight, four-player teams that will play games in the batting cages. It’ll be a great way to keep swinging the bat in the fall/winter; 3). Softball pre-season workouts, eight weeks, twice a week. One hour of softball skills and an hour of conditioning with J.R. Papernik, ASA’s strength and conditioning instructor; 4). Private instruction - Jodie has done hundreds of lessons with girls from elementary school through the college level and is nothing short of amazing with the girls. She’s also going to help us with teams, camps, tournaments and whatever else we can think of to do next year.

Baseball - Ron Sutter will be basically doing the same things that Jodie will be doing, with that addition of running his baseball school. Every year for many years Ron has run his school for players elementary school ages up to middle school and this year we are fortunately enough to have him at ASA. Ron’s been a great addition to the team here as he, like most of our instructors, comes from an education background (he’s a principal in Brick). What I love about all these teachers around here is that when they aren’t trying to get a player to hit better or pitch better, they are doing what’s really important, teaching our kids how to read, write, do Algebra, etc. They have a different personality when it comes to dealing with kids and a deeper level of patience than non-teachers. Anyway, Ron’s available for lessons and will be running camps, clinics, coaches clinics and whatever else I can talk him into (which isn’t tough, he loves this stuff!).

Wrestling - Chris Marshall and Jason McLean will be running our wrestling program. Chris was a Division I All-American and head wrestling coach at Asbury Park and Jason was a Division III All-American and is the head wrestling coach at New Brunswick High School. All I’m going to say about these guys is if you want to learn how to wrestle the right way, get in here because these guys know what they are doing. Not only are we starting the New Brunswick Recreational Wrestling program, but we have a year-round program for wrestlers of all skill levels. Marshall’s Law is our club wrestling team/program that will be kicking off soon. We have a number of guys working out with Chris and Jason now and have been competing in tournaments, but it’s going to grow into a full program once the wrestling season is over in the spring. Best thing is they have the coolest singlets on the mat…

Mixed Martial Arts - ASA is now home to our own fight team. The NJ Combat Club took up residence a month ago and has been working out three days a week. Any one interested in mixed martial arts is welcome to come in and check it out. If you’re interested in working out, speak to Tony Andreocci, the team’s manager. The guys are working out to compete in Grapplers Quest on November 10th. We are also hosting a seminar with Shawn Tompkins, ex-coach of the IFL’s LA Anacondas and currently the head trainer at Randy Coutre’s gym “Xtreme Coutre” in Las Vegas. Tompkins will be here on November 17th, the morning of the UFC matches in Newark at the Prudential Center. First 10 registrations get soap. You know you want to know why, so pay your money and get some… Yeah, that’s right, we’ve got soap and if I have anything to say about it’s gonna be our own soap…

Well, that’s way more than I had intended to write tonight, so that’s enough. I’m not discussing Torre, Mattingly, Girardi, A-Rod, Papelbon on Letterman, Marion Jones, Floyd Landis, this new team that all the Discovery riders and managers are going to or even the fact that I’m really not interested in the fact that the NBA kicked off their season. Although, I better make a note to touch on them all soon…