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What defines a great champion is the ability to react quickly and effectively to the ever-changing dynamics and circumstances of their sport.

This is also the hallmark of the strongest training programs for these athletes—especially during the challenges of a global pandemic.

At SPIRE Institute and Academy, we have already adapted in every way to keep our athletes safe and healthy while competing at the highest levels without interruption—and we continue to work on additional changes to ensure consistent training and performance excellence in a COVID world, no matter how long it lasts.

SPIRE exists in an area of the country with (presently) significantly fewer cases as compared to our competitors’ locations nationwide. This fact, along with the size of SPIRE’s self-contained campus, with academic school and boarding on site, speaks to the capability of SPIRE to execute socially distanced programs in a way unlike anyone else. The location, space and decision to maintain a small student population makes SPIRE the perfect “bubble” for athletes to train to their peak potential.

SPIRE is prepared to provide elite training to its student athletes, no matter the situation. Even in the event of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, our coaches and directors will utilize every tool at their disposal to continue to develop student athletes into top-tier competitors. This includes video conferencing software and file sharing methods to allow athletes to send and receive videos that are crucial for studying and developing.

SPIRE is out in front of many of its competitors, adapting, prioritizing and adjusting in every way necessary to ensure our student athletes’ safety, health, training regimen and performance stay strong and consistent.

BASKETBALL – Uninterrupted Competition

If a resurgence of stricter limits close physical contact, SPIRE’s basketball coaches will use sophisticated video streaming and conferencing platforms to continue developing technically skilled players who love to compete.

Coaches will view video footage of every player, identify strengths and weaknesses with shooting, ball-handling running, passing, rebounding and jumping, and create an intense virtual regimen of technical and tactical training program to address each skill. Working with SPIRE’s performance training staff, basketball coaches will deliver and monitor virtual workouts to each student athlete that are customized to fit each athlete’s needs. Individual mentoring and team meetings will continue to be held regularly via videoconferencing platforms.

MECHATRONICS—Uninterrupted Competition

SPIRE’s Mechatronic Engineering program has already recalibrated its curriculum to take better advantage of robust platforms and kits that lend themselves well to distance-learning. Experience in real life fabrication labs can be replaced with desktop fabrication modules, 3-D printing and at-home work bench projects, aided by packages of hardware, software, and simulators provided by SPIRE. The conversion to a remote program has already been successful and will continue to migrate efficiently and productively to fully online should increased restrictions be brought to bear on in-person learning in the future.

TRACK & FIELD—Uninterrupted Competition

SPIRE’s Track and Field coaches have plenty of experience—long before a pandemic—with training athletes from a distance. They are prepared to use this experience in combination with video streaming and conferencing platforms to develop skilled players even if a spike in cases requires another round of social distancing.

Coaches will view videos of track and field athletes training so they can provide effective feedback from a distance. Additionally, they will provide a wealth of videos from other sources that students will be able to study in order to hone their running, pole vaulting or other track and field skills. In addition to scheduled sessions, our coaches will make themselves available at all possible times to provide feedback, encouragement and other useful training tips when athletes need them. They will keep a close eye on official recommendations from both the CDC and the USATF to ensure safe and effective training is taking place at all times.

SWIMMING – Uninterrupted Competition

Swimming is especially well suited to virtual competitions. Using Meet Mobile® or another team management software platform, SPIRE’s Head Coach Thad Schultz can organize time trial events for swimmers in distance/stroke races and Individual Medleys (IM). Times from competitors swimming in any venue are submitted to SPIRE’s coaching staff. These times are then combined, compared and ranked against swimmers around the world, keeping the level of competition at the leading edge and ensuring continuous training and performance excellence.

ESPORTS – Uninterrupted Competition

Participants in SPIRE’s esports program are accustomed to playing remotely but also benefit from opportunities to play in person in teams on campus. Should a spike in cases require the entire program to migrate to an online platform, all individual and collaborative game and classroom-based coursework and training is easily adaptable to a fully online model. Business, sports management, game strategy, physical conditioning, mental skills training and other components of SPIRE’s holistic esports program are well managed through Discord™, a VoIP application and digital distribution platform that specializes in real-time text, image, video and audio communications between users on a chat channel, and Microsoft® Teams.