Austin schools introduce ETS performance coach and new weight room partnership
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
The Austin Public School District heard from ETS Performance coach Sam about a partnership that began in August 2025 to provide in- and off-season strength and conditioning for student-athletes and to operate the district’s upgraded weight room funded by local donors.
The Austin Public School District board heard on Nov. 10, 2025, from ETS Performance coach Sam about a new partnership that began in August 2025 to run strength and conditioning programming for Austin High School teams and to support the district’s newly renovated weight room.
District activities director Katie Turner introduced the update and praised coach Sam’s involvement with student activities and events. "He shows up and supports the kids that he works with," Turner said (speaker 11).
Coach Sam outlined ETS’s mission and programming: "We want your students to get out of the experience ... our mission is to build better athletes and build better people," he said (speaker 8). He described in-season sessions focused on maintaining gains and injury resilience and off-season work focused on strength and speed development. Sam said the program emphasizes individualized coaching tailored to sport, regular performance testing, and character development through leadership and accountability training.
Sam explained how testing is recorded and used: he times sprints with lasers and records results in spreadsheets, and where available the company uses force plates and other tools to obtain additional data. He said testing primarily informs programming, and sharing results with coaches is possible as needed (speaker 8).
The board asked about middle-school access and waiting lists; Sam confirmed a popular middle-school program with caps on session sizes and said he coordinates schedules with coaches to avoid conflicts. He also suggested hosting community education nights so parents and coaches can observe training and ask questions.
The presentation noted the Adam Phelan Foundation donated the district’s new weight room and that the Thielen Foundation and others provided additional support. No formal board action was taken on the partnership at the meeting. The coach and activities director invited community members to attend sessions and stay engaged with athletics programming.