Tarleton State University Athletic Performance

Tarleton State University’s Athletic Performance program consists of all athletic sports including football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, women’s tennis, women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s cross country, and the cheer squads. Head strength and conditioning coach, Rod Cole, assistant strength coach Adam Biehl, professional assistant Leigh Anne Rogers, and graduate assistant Cole Martin implement strength and conditioning tactics for the above teams.

Tarleton State University’s athletic performance program is growing with the amount of interns and also student athletes. TSU’s athletic performance program is the best in Division II, considering our head strength and conditioning coach is a Master Strength coach for NCAA and the program also keeps on staff an assistant strength coach some Division II colleges do not have. There are approximately 300 athletes with one head strength coach, an assistant, one paid professional intern, one graduate assistant, five graduate interns, and a slew of student volunteers. The facilities provide 10 powerlift racks along with 10 separate platforms where athletes are able to Olympic lift throughout a work out that’s provided. 

 I have noticed there are not any signs presenting where the athletic weight room is in the halls of the kinesiology building. Incoming freshman that are athletes, Texan tours, and kinesiology professors know where the weight room may be, but students of other majors do not know that the facilities is athletes only. There are some majors that need activity courses and some may need to know where it is within the specific class chosen. Some classes within the kinesiology major also use the weight room and individuals may not know where it is located. Recruits know that our facilities are located in the west wing of the kinesiology building but some walk-on athletes may not. Signs that direct people towards the weight room would be beneficial. I propose we create signs to direct to where our program is located. This is where we strive to improve athletic performance and decrease the injury rate of our athletes that we conduct work outs for on a daily basis.

Within our program we sell tank tops as a fund raiser. With those funds the department purchases polo’s, t-shirts, and other official gear that will show recognition towards our staff. As of now the tank top fund raiser is the only event we do to raise money for our department. Equipment purchases come from an annual budget set by that Athletic Director. 

Pursuing classes for students that have an interest in strength and conditioning better prepares interns with knowledge about the field. The provided knowledge to our current interns and student assistants, could possibly create better strength coaches for not only at the collegiate level but even at the professional or high school levels. The staff is so busy during the day with the amount of athletes that come in we are unable to provide the time to teach each other new things within our profession since there is a constant change in new learnings.

Finally, there are many great things Tarleton State University’s Athletic Performance provides for the athletes and staff. More things could be done but the staff is still able to provide the athletes with a well-designed, injury free, and character development program within NCAA guidelines.