Training

Strength & Conditioning Program

At the heart of every Skill Academy Program at Edge, and in fact at the core of every one of our athletes, is a strength and conditioning component. No athlete can compete in his or her sport of passion without a strong core. Edge School ensures that every one of its athletes is fit - core-strength! Student-athletes at the Edge School have the benefit of being able to use the state-of-the-art facilities and professional services offered by the Duckett Performance Centre.

Edge students receive strength and conditioning as part of the Edge experience. This time spent in addition to their core athletic program, be it in hockey, dance, gymnastics, swimming or soccer, just to name a few, gives them a huge advantage. While Edge student-athletes learn skill development on the ice, the pitch or the dance studio, they find out how to take care of their bodies outside of those realms while training at the DPC. Much of it has to do with injury prevention and focusing on maintenance. The training program also provides the opportunity to maintain and build at the same time. This maintenance of mechanics and increased mobility is a key aspect to the Edge advantage for students-athletes.

Under the guidance of Andy O`Brien, trainers at the DPC have a uniform philosophy that applies to all Edge students. DPC staff believe in building fundamental principles of movement efficiency first, before developing specialization in certain areas. As the Director of High Performance Training at Edge School, Andy has input on all the programs. He works with a team of accomplished trainers to create and deliver a premier training program for Edge students during weekly class, structured training or team training time. As a group, students work with a specific strength and conditioning trainer to receive developmental and sport specific training models (eg. specific to dance or hockey).

About the DPC

The Duckett Performance Centre (DPC) has quickly earned a global reputation as a premier training centre for high performance athletes. Under the direction of Andy O'Brien, who was named to the prestigious Hockey News Top 40 Under 40 list earlier in 2011, the centre continues to expand providing additional services to Edge student-athletes and to a growing list of high performance individual athletes and teams. Andy O'Brien joined Edge School as the High Performance Director, Training in 2009. Andy's experience as the strength and conditioning trainer for five years with the NHL's Florida Panthers, as well as his on-going work with Sidney Crosby, Hayley Wickenheiser and Dara Torres benefits all Edge students!

Edge athletes can also take advantage of additional training at the DPC. Services available include: 

• Custom Program - an initial assessment and regular sessions; program updated and evaluated monthly
• Private Training - an initial assessment and monthly sessions; based on 1, 2, 3 or 4 persons per session

To find out more about the Duckett Performance Centre, please click here »