Athletes Succeed When Coaches Unite
When Aaron Charles first started as Athletic Director at Southmont High School in Indiana, he looked at the weight program as an area that needed improvement. As a school of 500 students and 20 sports programs, Southmont, like many schools in the area, had their fair share of multi-sport athletes. However, as an Athletic Department, they struggled to be on the same page.
“As seasons would change, coaches had no idea where athletes had left off in their training. To me, that was a big red flag.”
For Aaron, having been in education for over 18 years, he understood the challenges that high school strength and conditioning presented.
“Every coach only has so much time during the season, and we want to be mindful of that. I also have coaches that are teachers and have a ton on their plate, so I want to do my best to get them the very best resources so that they can be successful.”
Evaluating Options
And as Southmont worked towards coming together and unifying, Aaron did some investigating to find additional resources that could be of value to the program. One thing that came across his desk was PLT4M, an online strength and conditioning program that already worked with a few schools in the area.
Not quite ready to make a move in the middle of the school year, Aaron had tabled the idea of a new program like PLT4M. Only a few months later, as the COVID-19 was forcing schools and students to go remote, Aaron decided to revisit the high school strength and conditioning app.
“We quickly got our coaches together on a Zoom and looked into getting something put together for our athletes. Sending out daily workouts via emails to students was not going to work. We talked with a local school using PLT4M and they showed us how they could remotely deliver workouts and monitor activity in the app. We were all in.”
Kicking Off PLT4M
In a coordinated effort, Southmont quickly spread the word to athletes that PLT4M was going to be the home to their new training program.
“Usually, we would sit everyone down and let them know the plan, but we had to get creative to launch something completely new while everyone was at home.”
Through an initial email with registration information, social media posts, and Zoom meetings, athletes were able to get signed up with ease. The importance of training while at home was clear: coaches, captains, and Aaron all shared a similar sentiment.
“We don’t know when we’re coming back, and if you aren’t prepared, those first few weeks are going to be tough on us. We may have a shortened season so we need you in the best shape when you come to us. Whenever that may be.”