THUNDER BAY – Midway through his college career at Gonzaga, Kelly Olynyk did something unusual – he took a season off.
The Kamloops, B.C. native decided he needed to work on his inside presence, and was also not getting the playing time he wanted.
So he sat.
David Pineau, head of the Superior Secondary Sports Athletic Association, said he drew inspiration from Olynyk’s 2011-12 campaign, returning to triple his point total and earn a first-round selection by the Dallas Mavericks and an eight-year NBA career that’s still going strong in Miami.
Pineau, looking for a way to keep high school athletes motivated after nearly a year being forced to the sidelines by COVID-19, said the SSSAA’s Red-Shirt Effect campaign is way to keep young athletes engaged.
“What we’re hoping is we can change some mindsets and get some stuff going between coaches and athletes that gets athletes training at home and using this time well,” Pineau said on Monday.
The program, provides four-week workout regimens based on a pre-program fitness test and is not only aimed at varsity athletes, but any student in the Thunder Bay school system who is interested in improving their fitness level.
There are sports psychology sessions available, along with an equipment grant program to provide the necessary equipment to students who otherwise might not be able to afford. The program, which Pineau helped develop, with input from other athletic directors around Ontario, will also include special guest presentations, including a motivational speech from former Lakehead University men’s basketball coach and current Boston Celtics assistant Scott Morrison.
“Let’s use this time wisely,” Pineau said. “There are a lot of different areas of sport that we could be working on at home, in the backyard, those kinds of things, so looking at speed, power, nutrition, mental training – all the different aspects of sport that in a normal year maybe get forgotten because they’re busy preparing for the next game or competition.
“We can prepare for them now and when we are back playing inter-school sport, it will be that much better for everybody.”
Pineau said he hopes all secondary school athletes will take part in the program, adding he’d also like to see up to 15 per cent of the rest of the student body at each school take advantage of the opportunity, which is expected to be launched publicly next week.
Pineau said he still remains hopeful some sports will be able to return before the school year ends, but with lockdown rules still in place and Ontario-wide COVID-19 numbers still hovering around 2,000 new cases daily, it’s too soon to say if that’s a possibility or not.
SSSAA is promoting the program with a video, produced by Westfort Productions.
