Coach White visits the Warrie athletes
Athletes from Hoërskool Warmbad were privileged to have been in the company of a renowned athletics coach from the United States of America, Chris White, on Friday 7 February, and that on their home grounds.
The energetic White, who founded the Elite Performance group, has a history of working with star athletes in the sporting industry and specialises in strength training, coaching, management and exercise physiology.
White said he got involved in athletics during his own school career. He initially tried to gain a slot on the basketball team. The sport coach pushed him to rather compete in athletics, where White excelled in high jump, long jump, and track items. He also made the decathlon team.
After his college years, his daytime job in the medical industry became cumbersome and he soon realised that coaching was the only thing he was passionate about.
Since then, White worked across the globe with athletes that competed in the Youth Olympics and Common Wealth Games. He also coached a number of Paralympic athletes over the years.
White has worked with Kerry Quinn, Comrades gold medallist, and some players for the Sharks provincial rugby team.
He is a personal friend of the previous Olympic track champion, Justin Gatlin, and has a long standing working relationship with Marna van der Merwe, sport manager at Hoërskool Warmbad.
During his workshop with the Warries, White focussed on flexibility exercises, where the upcoming athletes focussed on the torso and lumbar system to activate and utilise their full potential.
White even demonstrated that through certain chiropractic sessions a coach can determine where an athlete can gain more flexibility, or where that athlete has an injury or weakness.
The Warrie athletes and coaches absorbed as much knowledge and skill from White as possible as the athletic season is in full swing and they are all striving to improve their performances this year.
White encouraged athletes that they must not let nerves get the better of them before an event, but rather focus on the idea that they have competed in their respective events before and they can improve on those results.
