By John “J.T.” Torres - May 08

Santa Clarita continues to be not only cultural magnet, but our propensity to attract high profile sports performance businesses is second-to-none.  Picture if you will, a cross between Golds’ Gym – an X-Box 360 – and the Rose Bowl and you may get a small picture of the new kid on the block in Velocity Sports Peformance.  I took a recent tour and came away impressed and wishing I were a teenager again.  This place is not only really cool but the coaches there are top notch!

The Velocity team consist of the Brains (Brad Beale – Owner) and the Brawn (Head Coach Adam Johnson).  Brad brought this venture to the SCV after running the same business in Redondo Beach where he reached “elite status” by coaching several future NFL draftees (see his comments below).

The Brawn, Head Coach Adam Johnson, is a former college football player who has a plethora of credentials and references behind his name, including a Masters degree in Kinesiology.  He has coached NFL players such as Chad Henne (Chad led the Wolverines to a Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl berth as a true freshman of Michigan).  Coach Johnson said that the main goal of Velocity is to improve the quickness, speed and strength of their students.   Coach Johnson also is currently coaching a female power lifter who has a good chance of making the Olympics in Beijing this summer.  

The most impressive part of Coach Johnson’s interview was his passion to make all athletes better.  His communication skills are second to none and there is no wonder why he is so successful at what he does.  Coach Johnson finished the interview with a demo of the newest in video techonology called “Dart Fish”.  A video software that helps coaches and athletes break down their skill levels to the tiniest of details.  Their free-weights section was second to none and they have a 60-yard field and basketball court for their athletes. 

The Santa Clarita Wildcats youth football program will be teaming up with Velocity this summer in several sports related activities.  “I believe that Velocity is truly committed to making the youth athlete as best as he or she can be by teaching them the latest and most advanced technique on the market” said Wildcat President James McGoldrick. 

Check out their site at www.Velocitysp.com/SCV

I had the opportunity to talk to Velocity owner Brad Beale.  Brad is an energetic and dedicated owner who wants to do right for the City of Santa Clarita and its athletes.  Here is what he had to say: 

Your new sports training gym is the talk of the town, can you tell me more about how you got started?

Velocity Sports Performance is a national franchise with over 65 locations around the country.  I also operate Velocity training centers in Redondo Beach and Salt Lake City.  My business partner, Richard Wirthlin, is a 20+ year resident of the Santa Clarita Valley.  He always was passionate and insistent that we open a Velocity training center in SCV.  I promised that some day we’d open a Velocity here and I’m thrilled to be delivering on that promise.

There is nothing in Santa Clarita like our Velocity Sports Performance training center.  It’s not a “gym” in the traditional sense.  Rather, it’s a 27,000 square-foot facility dedicated to training athletes to excel at sports.  We have a 60 yard track, 50 yards of indoor turf, a full basketball/volleyball court and a weight room with the best training equipment and technology available.
 
What is your vision for Velocity?

At Velocity Sports Performance, athletes in every sport, at all ages and all skill levels, have the opportunity to improve speed, power, agility, flexibility, and energy systems, while reducing the risk of sports-related injuries.  Our world class Performance Coaches, science-based training curriculum and best in class equipment allow young athletes and active adults the opportunity to train like the pros.
 
Our vision is to make the joy of athletic achievement attainable to all. We want to support each athlete in their quest for excellence.  Our training is geared to meet the wide range of needs of our athletes, from those just starting out to professionals who make their living on the field.  We believe that competence breeds confidence and that athletic performance improvement can be taught and mastered like any other skill.
 
What training curriculum do you offer?

Our training programs are specifically designed to help athletes improve their core athletic skills - speed, power and agility.  Velocity Sports Performance will make you a better player by training you to be a better athlete.  Each athlete starts our program with a thorough athletic evaluation.  From there we take the results along with the athlete’s goals, sport and position and design a training program specifically for them.  Athletes train in small groups led by a Performance Coach so they receive maximum individual attention.  Most of our athletes train 2-3 times per week.  The training sessions are 90 minutes for high school and middle school athletes and 60 minutes for youth.  We also train active adults who want to experience the benefits of training like a pro.
 
What is your background in sports?

I have been involved in Velocity Sports Performance for almost four years.  I’m blessed to go to work everyday and witness young people working hard, getting better and feeling more confident in themselves.  Before Velocity I was a senior executive at DIRECTV for 11 years.  In fact Richard Wirthlin and I negotiated the first deal to bring NFL Sunday Ticket to DIRECTV.  I have 3 kids that play sports and of course train at Velocity.  In high school I ran cross country and track and still enjoy running today.
 
What is the background of your coaching staff?

Our Performance Coaches are really what make Velocity Sports Performance unique.  They all have at least a four-year degree, typically in Kinesiology or Exercise Science.  We also require that they have certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and/or USA Weightlifting.  Our Sports Performance Director, Adam Johnson, is truly an expert at training athletes at all levels.  Adam has collegiate coaching experience has the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Wayne State University in Detroit.  He has also trained numerous professional and elite athletes, including 13 players who went to this year’s NFL Combine. 

Above all, our Coaches have to be good teachers and love working with kids.  Our goal is to teach our athletes something every training session that they can use to improve their game.
 
What long-term goals do you have for Velocity?

Santa Clarita has an amazing sports culture.  The level of players and coaches across all sports is higher than I’ve ever seen in a community.  My goal is to have Velocity Sports Performance serve the sports community of Santa Clarita.  We want to serve athletes by helping them reach their goals in their sport, ultimately enabling them to have more fun and develop a life-long love of sports.  We want to serve the coaches, not by replacing their programs, but by acting as a highly specialized assistant who can help their team get to the next level.  If we do a great job of training athletes and assisting coaches, then everything else will take care of itself.
 
Do you have any special summer programs coming up?

We will be doing a great Football Skills and Speed Camp for players ages 8-14.  The camp will take place June 9-13 from 8:30AM – 12:00 Noon at our indoor training center.  The camp is sponsored by Nike and will feature football skills instruction as well as Velocity’s proven Nike SPARQ training.  We will also be offering a football-training program for youth players.  The camp will run in June and July and will make sure that players are ready to play their best this fall.  Details will be coming out soon.  Finally, we are planning a Soccer Training and Speed Camp with SCV soccer legend Erin Misaki.
 
I’d like to mention our relationship with Nike.  Velocity Sports Performance is the only national provider of Nike SPARQ training.  (SPARQ stands for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness).  We are seeing a huge focus in the sports performance category by Nike and many of their competitors.  Nike truly understands how important sports performance training is going to be and they want to be the leader.  Nike has developed a line of training footwear and apparel which they are marketing under the SPARQ brand.  Nike has determined that Velocity is the best provider of performance training in the industry and is working with us at the local level to help build awareness and drive athletes into our center.
 
Spring Cleaning!
As I finish my spring road-tour of teaching other football coaches at clinics throughout the west coast, I realize that there are a lot of dedicated, energetic and passionate coaches out there who want to “do the right thing” and learn as much about coaching as they possibly can.  Part of my teaching curriculum includes a section on “Progressive Coaching”.  I share with coaches’ how they can get the best out of their athletes simply by getting to know their players better and teaching them teamwork and stressing the brotherhood that must be attained to get maximum results.  

Though most of these coaches teach at the youth level, they are all hungry for this type of information.  So my challenge to you as a local youth coach or leader is, are you doing everything you possibly can to be a better coach?  Are you a good role-model for your team?  Feel free to email me if you would like to be a better coach simply by doing some of the “little things” that are noticed by players.   Remember that players “don’t care how much you know, but want to know how much you care…”.  JT 

About the writer - Coach Torres is a 20- plus year veteran coach of youth football, baseball and basketball.  He has coached in Las Vegas, Scottsdale, AZ., Washington DC and in Northern California. In Northern California he earned Coach of the Year honors in football. He is also recognized by Football Nation as a member of their Wall of Fame for youth football coaches. Coach Torres is a certified Double-Goal Coach and is also a founding member of the Santa Clarita Wildcats Youth Football organization. Coach Torres can be reached at coachjt1@gmail.com