By Kim Goss
Titusville High School: A Lifting Family High School of the Year Titusville High School’s BIG commitment to unification has earned this small Pennsylvania school our respect and admiration High school coaches today are faced with ever-increasing challenges, even more so than their predecessors were. That’s what makes it so difficult to single out just one high school for our highest honor – so many schools deserve recognition for their hard-won accomplishments. But we had to make a choice, and we believe we made a wise one in selecting Titusville High School as the 2007 BFS High School of the Year.
Located in Titusville, Pennsylvania, this school has an amazing athletic and physical education program. We first learned about Titusville through head football coach Scott V. Salvo. Coach Salvo told us NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 his school has adopted all aspects of the BFS program. They implemented the Readiness program in their middle school. They unified their sports teams and certified their coaches and instructors in BFS. And they built a weightroom that is safe, efficient, and a great place to train. This is Coach Salvo’s 15th year of teaching, his 14th year of coaching, and his 10th year at Titusville.
Salvo says that in order to have a successful program, it’s essential to get the cooperation of not just fellow coaches, as most high schools have to share their athletes, but also the administration. As for the athletes themselves, Salvo says there are additional challenges now because there are more kids coming from single-parent homes than there were 15 years ago. However, because Titusville High is a relatively small school, many problems can be avoided because the teachers and coaches have a better opportunity to get to know the kids.
“There are so many stresses put on these kids today, especially from a technology standpoint, that it’s important for kids to be involved in sports – it provides an essential release. When kids put that uniform on, it doesn’t matter what kind of background you come from. And if a kid transfers in from another state, which is common here, our kids just go, ‘Hey, you’re part of our family now, and that’s how we’re going to treat you.’ This philosophy extends to our weightroom as well – you don’t even have to be an athlete to get the benefits of our program.
If you sign up for a weight training class, we don’t care where you’re from or what your background is or if you are even involved in a sport – as long as you’re willing to lift, you’re part of our family.” What’s also great about being an athlete from the town of Titusville is that they lift year-round, even during the season. They start as early as the sixth grade, by inviting the middle school athletes to train in the high school facility. “There was some concern about having a sixth grader lifting with a senior, but we assured the parents that with the Readiness program they would be focusing on technique and not lifting heavy weights.”
Beyond that, Salvo found it’s great to have the older kids helping out the younger ones; it tends to eliminate hazing, and it gets the younger kids excited about coming out for sports in high school. “It makes for a really smooth transition from middle school because not only are the freshmen already familiar with the facility and the program, they will know some of the kids they will be training with when they get here.”
It’s All in the Details There are two basic weight training sessions at Titusville, one that starts at 6:00 a.m. and one that starts at 3:30 p.m. Grades 6-8 use the Readiness A functional weightroom and great instruction are what set the Rockets’ weightroom apart from others. program, which they call the Brown Program; grades 9-12 use the regular BFS program, which they call the Gold Program. These names were chosen because the school colors are brown and gold. Says Salvo, “Each participant must complete an orientation process in order to get into the lifting program, which includes watching safety and instructional videos and lifting instruction by a BFS certified coach.
We currently have nine coaches/trainers in our district who are BFS certified, and there is always at least one coach in the weightroom supervising at all times.” Salvo says that their emphasis on safety has resulted in virtually no injuries; in fact, the only injury he can remember was a minor one that occurred when an empty barbell slipped off a rack and hit a kid on the toe. That’s it. “Technique is very important to us – we’re not concerned about how much weight you lift – and we have had many college coaches tell our recent graduates that their lifting technique is the best they have seen.” Salvo is also proud of how efficient his program is.
Regardless of when they train or what sport they are with, says Salvo, their athletes can get through an entire BFS workout within an hour. “The BFS system is exactly that, a system – and with the workout cards it’s easy for our athletes to follow and see their progress. I’ve had coaches from other schools tell me that their kids are in the weightroom for two to three hours. I don’t know what they do for two to three hours, but our athletes get everything done that we want them to do – warmup, lifting and stretching – within an The girls work out just as hard as the boys at Titusville, and both have seen the benefits on the playing fields. hour.” And it’s not just the guys who benefit from BFS.
The girls’ volleyball team has been 78-14 over the past four years, placing second in state in 2005 and third in 2004. Says head coach Debra Carr, “The girls in the lifting program are really seeing the benefits it brings to their sports. It is well structured and available to anyone who is willing to work.” It’s also worth noting that Coach Carr’s daughter, Brittany, graduated from Titusville in 2005 and is now playing volleyball at Juniata College.
This past year Brittany was voted “Lifter of the Year.” Salvo says he can’t take sole credit for the success of the Titusville strength and conditioning program, and he makes sure to recognize some key individuals. “PE instructor and head swim coach Kevin Dawson has helped tremendously with the orientation process, planning the workouts and with supervision. The entire school board and administration has provided continual support of the weight program by helping to obtain funding for new equipment. Assistant football and track coach Mike Reynolds has been instrumental in implementing the plyometrics and other conditioning drills that we do in the summer.”
We congratulate and honor Coach Salvo, his colleagues and their students for their contributions of athletic excellence at Titusville High School, the 2007 BFS High School of the Year.
All sports at Titusville High use a unification program that runs smoothly through use of the BFS principles. Although the power clean technique shown here is not textbook, you have to admire their intensity!
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Add’l athletes add $15 each DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976 .UDQ,HKKHNM2NKC ear y 1 s t tion s c a L u r t • s n I d an e u q i n , h s c e e m i t •T , s p , re s t e s d r o c re o m • Re & s d r co broken re gbooks o L m o t s u •C mum) (100 mini h $5.50 eac 1:$4.00 • 2-9:$3.00 ea • 10-25:$2.50 ea KE D Pr od uc ts. ar e TR AD EM AR .
ok s an d vi de os s in fu ll or in pa rti al fo rm bo s, rd ca p m BF S se t re od uc e th es e ite pr re to al eg It is ill 1D@CHMDRR 2DSR1DOR 1DBNQC"@QCR !NNJ"@QCR ¢ 5'2NQ#5# Min 50 • 100 pack $79 / 50 pack $39.50 • Keeps 16 weeks of records • Black, Blue, Green or Red • Other colors available for only $1.00 each (100 min.) • Printed on sturdy card stock The BFS Readiness Program was designed by BFS for junior high school athletes. The emphasis is on the technique of each lift. When athletes achieve the graduation standards, they are ready to move on to the BFS Set-Rep Program.
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From BFS Magazine — November/December 2007. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
