Chinooks FC is excited to be working in partnership with Balsom Sports Performance (BSP) to provide an elite sports science program for Chinooks FC players.
This additional fitness training will be incorporated into the weekly U13-U17 Academy program and will be introduced to the U10-U12 age groups a few times throughout the season.
BSP’s team includes Dan Balsom and Jessica Leemans, who have both played university/NCAA soccer in England and the US, and have since been training soccer players and many other high level athletes for almost 20 years in Calgary. Alongside their practical experience, Dan is currently writing his doctorate thesis on change of direction speed, while Jessica is completing her research on injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Through practical experience and education, BSP’s philosophy focuses on addressing coordinative methods to dramatically improve key requirements for soccer players; namely speed, agility, power, sprint repeatability, and technical skill acquisition.
In collaboration with the Chinooks FC technical team, all sessions will be tailored for each team based on age, testing results, technical ability, time of the season and game schedules. Each session will include a soccer specific warm up and cool down, alongside drills working on improving strength, movement efficiency, sprint and change of direction mechanics, and importantly endurance work. By encompassing all of these elements into our programming, this ensures players can transfer these physical improvements onto the field, where it matters most.
