Our current weight room housed in the Butcher Center was built more than 25 years ago and was not originally designed to be a weight training facility—it is actually a locker room (and in fact has drains in the floor for where the showers were to be placed). The average squad size for the 12 varsity sports is 28.8 student-athletes per team. In the current weight room with only 3,683 square foot of space to train, teams must train in shifts. Many teams use multiple lifting groups to accommodate squad size, which reduces available time for other teams. The strength and conditioning program at Shepherd is committed to developing our student-athletes both on and off the field in a positive and safe training environment that allows coaches and athletes to work together to develop an athlete’s full physical and mental potential. The end result is to improve athletic performance, decrease the likelihood of injuries, and increase mental and physical toughness. With a new Student-Athlete Performance Center we can accomplish the mission of our strength and conditioning programs.
Wins and losses are a team effort. That effort begins in the weight room. A team that can’t train together is missing that essential bonding experience of success, failure, and milestones achieved when athletes train as one unit with one goal in mind.
The athletics program believes that strength and conditioning lead to successful athletic careers at Shepherd. Living as a team is part of the philosophy of Shepherd University athletics. The ability to train together as a team is a core of that philosophy.