Wrestling legend Dan Gable will be in Jefferson Tuesday, Oct. 13, as part of a grand opening celebration at The Jefferson Fieldhouse, located just north of the Law Enforcement Center at 202 S. Chestnut St.
The Fieldhouse will be open for tours from 5 to 7:30 pm. Gable will meet and greet guests from 6:30 to 7:30, and then give a motivational talk at 7:30. He’ll draw his presentation from his book, The Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable, published last March by University of Iowa Press. He will be available to sign copies of the book after his presentation, at about 8 pm.
The book includes stories of Gable’s childhood in Waterloo, his early sports experiences through his Olympic gold medal in 1972 in Munich, and his University of Iowa coaching career from 1976 to 1997.
“A Wrestling Life captures Gable’s methods and philosophies for reaching individual greatness as well as the incredible amount of fulfillment and satisfaction that comes from working as part of a team,” advance publicity for the book states. “Whether we are athletes or not, we all dream of extreme success and are all looking to make our future the best it can be, but along the way we will undoubtedly need time to recover and rejuvenate. Let these stories inspire you to find your path to strength and achievement along whatever path you take.”
The Jefferson Fieldhouse is a 10,000 square-foot indoor sports facility owned and operated by Jeff and Amy Schroeder. The Schroeders purchased the former warehouse in May of 2013 and began extensive renovations, inside and out. Their goal was to provide the sort of strength and agility training that is available to student athletes in larger cities without leaving Jefferson. Training began at The Jefferson Fieldhouse in the summer of 2013.
The Fieldhouse has a turf room large enough for soccer, baseball and softball practices, a wrestling room which is used by the Greene County school wrestling teams and a large youth wrestling program, and elite training equipment. Jeff Schroeder serves as trainer.
According to Schroeder, increasing foot speed and vertical jumps are the two key elements to improving athletic performance. “It’s pretty impressive what kids can do. We’ve seen kids increase their vertical by three or four inches,” he said.
Being able to jump higher matters not only in basketball, but in volleyball and football. If a defensive player can’t intercept a quarterback’s pass, he can jump and knock it astray for an incomplete pass.
Student athletes do ladder work and cone drills to improve their footwork. “We do the same drills with our third and fourth graders as the Iowa Hawkeyes and NFL teams do. Nothing changes. It’s just a matter of getting better, quicker, faster, stronger at all of them,” Schroeder said.
The Fieldhouse uses Pro X Performance (PXP) training equipment. The PXP treadmill can go as fast as 30 mph with a maximum incline of 30 degrees. Athletes run short times, only 10 or 15 seconds, at high speeds. Schroeder explains that in most sports, the time speed is needed is broken into very short periods – the time it takes to run a play in football or to get from home plate to first base. The treadmill doesn’t accelerate slowly, but requires the athlete to instantly get to top speed. That builds strength and needed quickness.
Athletes training on the Hip-X machine strengthen their hip muscles to gain speed, agility and power.
Paton-Churdan senior Carleigh Paup has been training at The Fieldhouse for two years. Paup plays Rocket volleyball and basketball and is on the Ram softball team. She said her primary goal when she started was to be able to jump higher in basketball. She looks forward to her training time at The Fieldhouse. “Jeff always wants to work with me and help me become better. It’s been great,” Paup said.
The Fieldhouse offers programs for youngsters as young as kindergarten and all the way through high school. Summers are the busiest time, as most middle school and high school athletes don’t train during their seasons. Close to 100 students trained at various levels last summer.
According to Schroeder, students gain more than strength and agility at The Fieldhouse. “They learn to discipline themselves to do something consistently. That gives them courage and confidence to try something new. It puts a discipline in them I don’t think they can learn any other way. That’s one thing I love about high school athletics. Kids learn discipline,” he said.
For more information about The Jefferson Fieldhouse, visit www.thejeffersonfieldhouse.com
