The NSCAA and Carlos Bocanegra's CB3 Sports Performance & Soccer Academy recently partnered together to provide coaches educational material on fitness and performance assessment. CB3 will present a session at the 2013 Summer Symposium in August; the following explains what attendees can expect from the presentation.

For more information about the Summer Symposium and to register, visit NSCAA.com/Symposium.

While it’s true that former U.S. National Team captain Carlos Bocanegra is coming home, joining Major League Soccer’s Chivas USA in early July, it’s safe to say CB3 has never left. Bocanegra and his leadership team have made a nationwide impact for players of all ages at the CB3 Sports Performance & Soccer Academy located in Upland, Calif.

According to Bocanegra, Jason (Jay) Mathews, who worked with the defender when he was the head athletic trainer for the Chicago Fire and the U.S. Youth National Teams, is the "workhorse" behind the nationally-acclaimed academy. 

Mathews, a multi-faceted sports medicine professional with a wealth of athletic training and sports performance experience, is the general manager and director of sports performance for CB3.  He will lead a dynamic, can’t-miss field session at the Summer Symposium in Orlando on Friday, Aug. 2, at 2 pm.

“The mission of CB3 Sports Performance & Soccer Academy is to provide an elite level environment through coaching, fitness and performance to empower the athlete to reach their ultimate potential,” Mathews said.  "The building blocks to success at CB3 are built on the principles of dedication, determination and discipline."

Matthews explains that what he and others from CB3 plan to do at the Symposium is show the importance of a dynamic warmup, strength assessment, agility and footwork. He says the goal of the academy is the provide a platform to help players develop into the best athletes and soccer players they can be.

“While it is difficult to do all of that in just one hour (at the Symposium), I do hope that through our partnership with the NSCAA that CB3 can share some core principals with coaches that will make their players better athletes … and then, better soccer players.

“Our sports performance and conditioning training philosophy involves examining all physical components required to create a successful athlete,” said Mathews, who was named the MLS Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2003 with the Fire. “The foundation of all the training programs revolves around the six pillars of performance as identified in the NIKE SPARQ program. These pillars include: mobility, speed/agility, power, endurance, strength and regeneration."

Mathews said it is important for coaches to identify the players that want to take their game and their athleticism to the next level. The science behind making soccer players better athletes is much deeper than just working out, lifting weights, or running sprints.

“We look at every aspect of the athlete. Sometimes we can identify a deficient movement pattern with a player and improve it. Sometimes we find players that could not perform a certain activity and we figure out how and why and we provide a solution.”

However, Mathews points out that athleticism is not enough. He points to Carlos Bocanegra as proof positive of that statement.

“Carlos will even admit that early on, while starring as a multi-sport athlete, and then at UCLA, he relied heavily on his athleticism,” Mathews said. “I knew Carlos when he was a lot younger, and, yes, he was simply a great athlete. But the switch went off at the right time for Carlos. He realized that if he dedicated himself to retune his body, to think about nutrition, fitness, durability, proper and dynamic warm-ups, recovery…every aspect of sports medicine and training…he could have a long career. And he has. Now, he wants to share that message and train the future stars of the U.S. National Team.

“For me that makes coming to work every day an exciting and enjoyable challenge.”

Mathews said he will most likely start his Summer Symposium session with a cliff-notes version of a dynamic warm-up that includes, among other items, high-knee exercises, good hip rotation, forward/backward mobility, side shuffles, lunges, shin-lifts, and much more. Coaches can find a full range CB3 dynamic warm-up here.

Mathews said that CB3 does offer training for other sports too, but as expected, CB3 puts a heavy emphasis on developing soccer skills and abilities for athletes of all ages. 

“We create programs that fit the needs of each and every player,” Mathews said. “And, I will break down three vital components at the Summer Symposium.”

Those components include:

1 – Soccer Training: Focus on technical skills while trying to achieve fitness, etc.

2 – Sports Performance: Focus on speed/agility, power, strength, explosiveness, mobility and conditioning programs

3 – Soccer Training & Sports Performance: Work on the total package necessary to be a successful soccer player.

“Coaches are looking for the complete package. I hope I can share some of CB3’s keys to success at the Summer Symposium.”

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