Campus Connection

Exercise and sport science graduate students help UWL athletes with offseason program

Most people associate football with fall colors and cooler weather, but for UWL athletes, like running back Trent Smith, and graduate students in the Human Performance graduate program, football pre-season training is already in full swing. Smith, along with dozens of his teammates and other athletes at UWL, spent time in the spring semester working under the guidance of Exercise And Sport Science Professor Glenn Wright and graduate assistants. “I like lifting with the team – you get a lot more production,” says Smith. “And with the structure and extra eyes in the room, it really helps to make sure you’re doing everything right.” Nineteen different athletic teams participate in the program. Each workout is designed specifically for those athletes to help them reach their peak performance potential. The benefits of the program go both ways. For students like Kyle Geiger, it’s the hands-on experience he was promised back on his campus tour. “It’s exactly what I was looking for,” says the strength and conditioning emphasis graduate student. “I want to be a strength coach in the future. Doing this every day and the experience I get should set me up well.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpB_e4zouRQ “I think this is a great example of how UWL's graduate programs support the undergraduate mission of the university,” says Meredith Thomsen, UWL Director of Graduate Studies. “Because of the Human Performance graduate program, our student-athletes get more one-on-one attention in their training, helping them train safer and stronger.”