During the Off Season our athletes have the opportunity to participate in our strength and conditioning program while also developing in our skill development program.

Skill Development:

Athletes will be instructed in different drills that emphasize being fundamentally sound. Skills such as shooting, ball handling, rim finishing, footwork, passing, on ball defense technique, and off ball defensive concepts will be covered.

They will be taught the WHAT, WHEN, HOW, and WHY.

Strength & Conditioning:

Athletes will be challenged mentally and physically by certified trainers in the weight room, on the field, and on the track with sport specific workouts that will enhance their strength, speed, endurance, injury prevention, and mental toughness.

Athletes will also continue lifting during the season to maintain their strength and focus on injury prevention.

Mental Development

During the season we have 1N5 Organization come in to talk about mental health in teens, healthy coping strategies, stress management and mindfulness. The mission of 1N5 is to prevent suicide by erasing the stigma of mental illness and promoting optimal mental wellness. They achieve this mission through education and stigma reduction, community engagement, policy and advocacy, and measurement and data work. 1N5 is focused on making a difference in how we talk about mental health. Our youth are in crisis, with 20% of youth ages 13-18 living with a mental health condition.

We also frequently do yoga throughout the season, which doesn’t just help our athletes with physical recovery, but mental recovery as well.

“As coaches we always stress the importance of athletes being mentally tough. If we are going to demand our athletes to be mentally tough, we should take some responsibility to make sure they are mentally well.”

- Coach Stu Holt

Spiritual Development

We strive to develop our young men as servant leaders by giving them opportunities to serve in the school and the community, hosting classroom sessions throughout the year, and by having outside organizations come in and speak with the student athletes.

One organization that we will be partnering with this year is Abundance University. They are a financial literacy coaching organization in Cincinnati for teens, college students, and adults by teaching them how to earn, manage, and invest money, how to network, how to set goals, and how to build an abundant mindset in everything that they do.

We have also partnered with Saint Francis Seraph Ministries, which allows our young men to serve those who are in need during the holiday season by prepping meals, serving meals, and helping with clean up afterwards.

FAITH + SPORTS = FCA

FCA Allows us to combine our two passions, faith and sports. We have weekly meetings throughout the entire year after school to have authentic and relevant conversations and fellowship with student athletes throughout all sports in the school. Meet ups are filled with laughter, conversations on culturally relevant topics, and scriptures that match the daily topics.

This is completely optional for student athletes.

FCA also gives student athletes a bigger purpose on WHY we play the game the way that we do, teaches good values and emphasizes the importance of good character.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

SUMMER PROGRAM

Our summer program that takes place in June is an essential component to the development of our student athletes.

Our teams have the opportunity to compete in leagues and go against schools from across the city while practicing throughout the week. Our varsity team will also compete in college team camps against schools from across the country in front of college coaches of all levels.

ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

Walnut Hills is nationally known for its academic excellence. What also makes Walnut stand out is the resources that they provide to their students. One of the best resources is the College Information Center (CIC). Some of the services it provides are “lunch brunch” test reviews where students meet as a group with CIC Staff to review a section of the PSAT/SAT or ACT and meetings with students individually to review completed practice tests and to identify test-taking strengths and weaknesses.

High School student athletes will be required to attend meetings at the CIC during lunch/study hall a certain amount of times per month. Its important that we encourage our athletes to take advantage of this free resource.