Zone Athletic Performance, a Scottsdale professional athletic training company, is gearing its program toward middle school and high school students who aspire to be collegiate or professional athletes.
The recently launched Sports Performance Academy trains youth athletes in technique, nutrition, exercise and conditioning.
“The same guys who are coaching our pro athletes are also going to be coaching the youth sports academy,” says Garrett Shinoskie,director of athletic performance of Zone Athletic Performance.
Shinoskie says the academy isn’t a typical after-school program where parents can drop off their kids to be babysat. It is designed for people who are attempting to play sports for a college team.
“They’re going to be going through more of a progressive style of training,” he says. “Instead of coming in and doing the 
same thing over and over, they’re being coached from the base foundation all the way up to advanced techniques.”
According to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), in the 2011-2012 school year, student participation in high school sports increased for the 23rd consecutive year. However, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), only two percent of high school athletes will play on college teams.
The youth academy is a three-month program designed to take up an athlete’s off season, focusing on something new each month to build upon the previously established foundation.
Athletes will be coached through fundamental strength training exercises, top-speed running mechanics, multi-directional agility drills, and dynamic joint stabilization techniques.
But the academy doesn’t focus entirely on sports performance, the program also helps participants develop character.
“One of the things we pride ourselves on, as far as being different, is providing proper role models for the young guys,” Shinoksie says. “Being able to talk with them about the experiences that we’ve heard from our pro guys and coach them in the way they should conduct themselves.”
Shinoksie estimates 75 percent of athletes who go through the training end up playing in divisional college sports.
For more information about Zone Athletic Performance, visit zoneathleticperformance.com.
