Published: May 14, 2008 11:24 am            

Motivator molds better athletes

And now comes the long, hot summer. What’s an athlete to do to make sure he gets better by the fall?

Geno Pierce has some ideas. For $95, he’ll teach you to be the best, provided, of course, you’re willing to work consistently, to think the right thoughts, eat the right foods, never let up and keep your desire to be better with you while others are slacking off an enjoying the summer.

Pierce says he’s the only Geno in the world who’s not Italian, and if you’ll notice the spelling of his name, it’s different. He got the name from his dad, Gene Oliver Pierce.

He talks like a coach. Looks like a coach, and walks like a coach.

He’s never been a coach.

Truth is, the 35 year-old motivator went through this same program when he was kid and was one of its first graduates.

He’s all about improving one’s self by making “tangible” progress. You start at one level, you end at a higher level seven weeks later, ideally.

The way you get there is part hard work, but you have to know how to think, also; how to move on from adversity in a positive way.

“You need to learn positive affirmations, then do the things necessary to see the tangible benefits from such thinking,” he said from the coaches offices at Mabank High School last week.

“Chemistry is the biggest thing,” says Mabank Coach Jimmy Cantrell. “The coaches on the staff need a break, and the kids need a break from us. Geno is a good friend who does this professionally and can work with middle school kids, where we couldn’t. He’s not sports specific. He trains athletes.”

“We have six foundational beliefs,” Pierce said, and one is belief itself.

Follow that with leadership, attitude (not necessarily good or bad, but attitude.

Consistency would be next, followed by effort and desire.

“Kids have to see the broader perspective,” Pierce said. “We want to get kids involved in something bigger than themselves.

If it’s credibility you’re looking for, his program has been used by such state football powers as South Lake Carroll, Allen and Highland Park.

“We’re all about building a better athletic profile,” he said. “A vertical jump might start out at 26 inches. By the end of the seven weeks, maybe it’s 28 inches.”

He says success in most sports requires similar physical development; speed, quickness, strength, agility and leaping ability.

Athletes traditionally are notorious for their lack of nutrition knowledge. Those who go through this program will have a good understanding of why too many Twinkies can keep the recruiters away.

Pierce is also big on visualization, and positive self talk. Everybody does it. Who else would be in your head talking? But who’s directing the conversation.

The right thoughts, like the right exercises, and the right foods, Pierce says, “improve athleticism.”

This is Pierce’s ninth year with the program, and 18th year, if you count the years he was in the program as a young athlete.

The Mabank kids working this summer for 90 minutes a day, Monday through Thursday, may feel as if they’re in class some of the time.

This is the Mabank’s third year to be involved in the program.

Cantrell, got interested in the program when he was coaching at North Mesquite High School.

Kenny Barnes, who is the strength and conditioning coach at Crandall, has been coaching for 35 years, the same number of years Pierce has been alive.

He’s also part of the seven-week program.

In the end, all of this close scrutiny by the experts, should result in an athlete more knowledgeable about nutrition, and how to set and meet goals.

“It gives us a leg up,” says Cantrell. “Geno’s up on all the latest gadgets for improving strength, speed and agility. They’re always on top of it.”

“It’ll be a chance for student to develop leadership and mental toughness,” Pierce said.

In short, Pierce puts it this way: “You are what you think you are. What you think you are, is what you’re going to be.”

        

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