For many Central York High School students, their off-season workouts may look a bit different this year. No, the new regimen has nothing to do with COVID, new rules and requirements or even coaches themselves. This year the athletic department developed a program focused on footwork/agility, conditioning and athlete strength.

“I believe we are the top athletic program in the York area, and to get us to the next level we needed to start a lighting and agility program for all athletes,” said Athletics Director Marty Trimmer. 

All athletes are eligible for the program though this year’s participants were determined by individual coaches who expressed interest in their sport taking part. Trimmer worked with Physical Education teacher Gary Lang to develop the program which began it’s inaugural session in January 2021. During the school day, Lang can often be found in the fitness center creating a perfect match for what Trimmer was looking for in the program. His knowledge and expertise in technique, effectiveness and safety made him the perfect fit for the new program.

“My area of training is creating the strength program. From a stabilization phase focusing on areas of the body that have a high risk of injury [such as] (ankle, knee, hip, back and shoulders),” he said. 

For years, the football and volleyball teams could be noticeably spotted in the fitness center during their seasons but especially in the off-season. This year, nearly every sport will follow suit. History teacher and football coach Mike Ceserano has been able to see first-hand the improvements of athletes.

Ceserano believes the off-season program, which originally started with the football team, has drastically decreased the percentage of injuries, recurring injuries, as well as lowered the number of contact injuries that kept players out of action. 

“Training year around is extremely beneficial for injury prevention,” said Ceserano.

Thus far, nearly every sport has signed up and participated in the first winter session that began in early January. Instead of looking to charge athletes individually, the athletic department determined a fixed cost that, once paid, permits that sport to participate in sessions throughout the entire school year and not just for one season. Some sports have sought business sponsors while others have asked athletes to pay for training at a reasonable and affordable price in order to participate. 

Teams meet twice a week and rotate to three stations for 40 minutes each. Aside from the session Lang described on weight training, the other stations have been led by Head Football Coach Gerry Yonchiuk (agility, speed and reaction time), Head Girls Volleyball Coach Nate Ocasio (balance, coordination and agility) and Cesserano. 

“As we stabilize these areas, it allows us to increase the load (weight) [that] we are doing for more power and explosive lifts,” said Lang.

Each seasonal session lasts approximately two months, or the duration of that season (fall, winter, spring) where athletes train with instructors twice a week. 

Lang believes the combination of each station as well as the consistency of athlete attendance throughout the entire school year, summer included, has proven to, “increase performance on the field, court, mat and in the pool for all CYHS athletes”.

In the past few years, Central York athletes have won countless division titles, league championships, PIAA District III playoffs and have made appearances in state finals. This newly implemented off-season program aims to build on that success even further. 

“I look forward to watching the success level of our athletes grow and watch their time spent off the field due to injury decrease,” said Lang.