The high school years are some of the most formative of any individual’s life. And given that there are 30,000 (mostly) public and private secondary schools in the United States, those institutions have enormous influence — and responsibility — when charting the life course for a combined 17 million Americans.
More than ever, this mapping of lifelong habits includes promoting the importance of both physical health and mental wellbeing. Prior to the start of the 2023-24 academic year, Athletic Business sampled high school athletic directors to learn what their schools offer in terms of fitness infrastructure. Here’s what we learned.
Schools in our survey represent a vast range in terms of the number of student-athletes served — from a lone school of 20 athletes to an entire district serving 3,000, with a mean of 419. Nearly half (45 percent) of our sample said they feel they do not have enough training space to serve their student-athletes, and more than two-thirds (69 percent) said they consider their current facilities either on par or subpar when compared to other districts of similar size. Eighty-two percent reported that their training space is shared with the physical education department, but the remaining schools said they don’t share space (8 percent) or have plans to develop separate space for athletics (10 percent).
That said, respondents generally have a more favorable opinion of the equipment within their training spaces than the space itself. When asked, “Does your school have the essential equipment to train athletes in a multisport program?” a full 85 percent said, “Yes.”
Equipment preferences appear to be in flux, however. Asked how their training offerings have changed over the past 10 years, only 8 percent of respondents indicated no significant change. For most of the rest of our sample, greater emphasis has shifted toward strength training (40 percent) and functional strength training (33 percent). Only seven percent of respondents indicated a greater emphasis on cardio training. The most popular equipment type mentioned by the bulk of our sample: Racks.
Moreover, 31 percent currently employ programming related to strength and conditioning provided by their equipment vendors.
The good news appears to be that most schools in our survey have some money to spend and are looking to spend it on their workout facilities. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said their 2023-24 athletics budget increased (compared to 28 percent who said it stayed the same and 15 percent who said it decreased), and nearly four in five respondents said they have plans to renovate training facilities within the next five years. — The Editors
How to Make the Most of High School Fitness Facilities
Randy Meyer is national sales manager for athletics at Matrix Fitness.
While some training technologies are trickling down to the prep level, most high schools are still playing catchup to colleges when it comes to their weight room offerings, but the stakes in terms of the individual athlete’s physical and mental fitness are just as high. The key to success is making the most of available space and resources. Athletic Business asked Randy Meyer, national sales manager for athletics at Matrix Fitness, to bring us up to speed on the current state of high school fitness facilities.
Are you noticing any trends among your high school clients regarding the size and scope of their fitness facilities?
Many facilities are archaic, undersized and intimidating. With an influx of referendums, most new facilities have potential to double or triple in size. There is oftentimes new community involvement, so the weight room has to serve a number of interests from community members, staff, students and student-athletes. A majority of facilities that we are doing now want the athletes contained in a single station. They want the athletes to be able to do all the major movements and auxiliary lifts in the same space. They believe it’s easier to coach and more efficient to have the athletes not moving around the room to go from exercise to exercise. With the time constraint during the school day, they need the space to be the most time-conscious and safe as possible.
With both physical and mental health among youths a nationwide concern, how can high school athletic directors rally administrative and community support around fitness investments, knowing that movement is an effective way to improve mental health?
The weight room is a space where students can build self-esteem, improve body image and see positive impact on overall mental health. It’s the one time during the day that the student-athletes can unplug from social media, schoolwork, personal issues. It is an environment that offers real support and helps form real bonds with other athletes. It’s a great place in the school where all students can start to form lifelong healthy habits that they can take with them forever.
What advice would you give high school ADs and coaches who are looking to upgrade their fitness offerings or building a facility from the ground up?
Make the best use of your money. This money only comes around every few years and, in some instances, every few decades, so make sure to evaluate the company or companies you work with by what they can offer and the support they can offer after the sale. You want a partner, not just a salesperson. You need a company that takes great care of you not only on the front end for the sale, but after the sale if any problems arise. Coaches are extremely busy and don’t want to have to make a bunch of calls, so a company that can handle all of your equipment needs makes it easy to make just one call. Consult with colleagues locally and nationally, and involve the on-site coaches and athletic trainers. Make an effort to visit as many facilities as possible. Ask them what is the one thing they would change or improve upon.
Does the fact that most high schools have just one catch-all fitness facility that must serve diverse user groups — from physical education classes to varsity athletes — make outfitting them relatively challenging compared to, say, a collegiate football weight room?
The major difference between high school and college weight rooms is space and time. You need to be able to help the school design the space to fit them and the time they have for each session, and be able to offer the breadth of product needed to service the population they are working with. Most D-I weight rooms are 10,000 to 20,000 square feet. Most high school weight rooms are 2,000 to 3,000 square feet, so it’s more about being able to maximize that 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. That’s why we love to sit down with the coaches and truly understand their programming and scheduling to help them maximize the space.
How has the training of teens evolved, and how has Matrix evolved to meet the needs of today’s high school athletes?
Gimmicks come and gimmicks go. At Matrix, we strive to give the customer and the athletes the best-made and safest training options out there. For the most part, the equipment doesn’t do the lifting for you. The athletes have to do the work. So, companies saying that their equipment is more “functional” than others may not hold much water. We continue to optimize and develop our portfolio of products to meet the needs of our coaches’ and athletes’ evolving training requirements.
