Sociology
Linebacker for york lions
Underneath the Tait McKenzie Centre lies a room hidden to most of the York community. This room never sees the light of day.
The gym echoes with crashes of weights dropping on the floor in the background, mixed in with yelling, grunting, and audible counting coming from different pockets. The clattering of steel on steel happens as athletes take full advantage of the extensive equipment available.
Music streams from the speakers. Mirrors line the gym, making the space feel bigger yet also more like a vacuum that engulfs you in an almost overwhelming surge to train and push yourself with the other athletes. In this room beats the heart of the York jungle.
Every York Lions athlete is familiar with the chamber known as the varsity strength and conditioning centre, a private training gym. Here, the Lions sometimes spend up to four times a week preparing for their respective sports.
Running the show are two coaches, Dale Lablans and Katie Robinson.
As strength and conditioning coaches, their goal is to help every athlete perform better. Their programs, sport-specific and movement-based, aim to get athletic performance to peak at just the right time and minimize the possibility of injury.
“Our goal is to be one of the best schools in the country in athletics,” says Lablans. “The time that athletes put in down here, it’s huge to their success.”
The program is intense, but accommodating. Lablans says, “We want to create an open environment and we want our athletes to be comfortable. Once you step through those doors, school, girlfriend, or boyfriend problems, whatever you might have, you put it to the side.”
Lablans, a kinesiology graduate from Queens University, spent his university years playing rugby and hockey. He stresses that what they do in this gym is not the same as personal training in other commercial gyms.
“We want to teach our athletes how to take care of themselves. When they are done here, we want them to effectively know how to train themselves and take care of their bodies,” he says.
The centre sees up to 600 York athletes a week, and Lablans works with each individual athlete to develop sport-specific programming.
Lablans acknowledges that fostering a welcoming atmosphere in the gym is necessary to the success for the athletes and of the program.
“Our first goal is to make it an inviting area,” he says. “It can be an intimidating place when all the football guys come down, and we need a women’s soccer player to work out at the same time.”
This is why it is crucial for Lablans and Robinson to develop a sense of community for the athletes they train. Lablans says proudly, “Here, these athletes know they have people that are on their side. This is the best place they can be.”
By placing community as their number one goal, Lablans is able to see veteran athletes beginning to coach rookie athletes.
“That unloads us, and it also makes for better camaraderie,” says Lablans. He notes that many students in their first few years are not used to receiving coaching and instruction, but in time they learn to take it well and are better athletes and coaches themselves towards the end of their university career.
When the athletes are meeting and helping each other is when they are all at their best. “They end up getting to know each other and supporting each other in their own sport,” says Lablans.
The recent hiring of Robinson as a full-time strength and conditioning coach has helped the female athletic community perform better in the gym, and in their respective sports. Though it may be challenging in some ways, the hope is that her addition will help the community thrive even more.
Robinson is the only female full-time strength and conditioning coach at the collegiate level in the country. She also graduated from Queens with a sports background in track and field as well as endurance. She spent time working at McMaster before coming to York to work alongside Lablans.
“There are some barriers that I have to overcome being a female in this role,” says Robinson. “We have equal representation from female athletes as we do male athletes. To be the female figure for them, I’d like to think really opens their eyes to a new comfort level.”
Together, Lablans and Robinson feel they make a strong duo, covering for each others’ weaknesses. “We are very different in our sport backgrounds,” she says.
“We blend our knowledge together very well in terms of what we can program for our different sports. Our training backgrounds mesh well in terms of the strength, power and conditioning.”
With gyms being notorious for being male-dominated, Robinson believes there is a new culture being developed at York where female athletes can feel comfortable, and train just as hard as the male athletes.
“I love getting more girls out and showing them that it is totally comfortable here. It’s a big year for us. Our numbers have been through the roof with the first few weeks back from school,” says Robinson.
Lablans and Robinson are in the centre of the Lions’ den, putting athletes through rigorous training, taking in cubs, and churning out ferocious Lions.
Michael Burton
Executive Editor (Online)
