Parisi Speed Training at Club Fit Takes Athletes to Next Level
Former Kennedy Catholic grad Matt Maher had slightly better-than-average speed coming out of Kennedy High back in 2005, but his skill sets were enough to earn the two-sport star a roster spot at Fairleigh Dickinson University where he played shortstop and eventually emerged as a pro prospect.
There was work to do, though, and Maher knew it, so he sought out professional training that might take his game to the next level. Standardized training wasn’t the answer. Maher needed the kind of training that could hone his need for speed and burst more than stamina and endurance: enter Parisi Speed School and a two-year regiment at Club Fit in Jefferson Valley.
“It was very different from your standard training programs,” Maher said of Parisi, among the foremost speed training associations within the industry since 1992 under the supervision of founder Bill Parisi, the former track and field All-American. “The key was the customization of their workouts and quality of coaches. It’s not a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy, they’re able to take their core functions and beliefs and adapt it to your personal style, at least in my case.”
Maher was a baseball player, and didn’t need “change of direction” and “endurance” training that a football, basketball, or hockey player might need. His Parisi-based trainers at Club Fit customized his workouts to focus on acceleration, surge and reactionary speed; the things that would help the ESPN Academic All-American steal bases, set tables and beat out ground balls.
“The key was not running me into the ground,” Maher said. “They would prefer I do five sprints at 100% effort and efficiency than 25 sprints where fatigue could set in and form breakdowns. Essentially, they were building the best possible muscle memory and positive habits. I spent a whole summer break at Parisi and then countless times in the winter before my junior baseball season.”
The transformation was mind-boggling. Maher started his freshman year and stole four bases, and followed that up with another ho-hum four-steal campaign his sophomore year. His junior and senior seasons at FDU – after much time at Club Fit — were the stuff of legend, as he heisted a school record 64 bases over the next two NCAA Division 1 seasons. The proof is in the pudding.
“Parisi got my mind laser focused and made my body ready for anything,” Maher said. “It took me from an average college baseball player to elite.”
Maher would eventually sing a contract with the Evansville Otters in 2010.
“The Otters loved my speed and I had Parisi to thank for that,” Maher said.
YOUNG & OLD
From athletes as young as seven all the way to the Pros, the Parisi Speed School has allowed athletes to do the two things its program strives for: Athletes have improved their athletic performance, but more importantly, they have developed a higher level of self-confidence.
Maher’s testimony is not much different than that of 2010 Mahopac grad Victor DiFusco, now a stud linebacker at Fordham University, who swears by the methodology employed by Parisi instructors. DiFusco cruised the Section 1 landscape as a beastly run-stuffing defender while Mahopac came up one win short of a Section 1 Class AA title in 2010, but D-I scouts wondered if he had the speed to excel at the next level, but that’s no longer a concern. A prolonged stint under the “Parisi way” has eliminated all doubt and helped the 6’1” 230-pounder make a seamless transition from high school to college football, appearing in all eleven games for Fordham in 2011 while leading all Fordham freshmen in tackles and blowing up backfield his junior year.
It isn’t only for boys, and there’s no need to wait for high school to hone one’s alacrity. Yorktown High sophomore Rilea Fusco hails from good genes; her father, Frank, and two brothers, Frankie and Austin, were each high school lacrosse All-Americans, and above-average football players. One would think her crafts would come just as easily for Rilea, a budding two-sport sensation at Yorktown High where she cranks in lacrosse and field hockey. But truth be told, the best athletes leave nothing to chance, opting for preparation instead, and Rilea has been at Parisi since her middle school days.
“Parisi has helped me so much,” she said. “I started in seventh grade and have gone in between my seasons to keep in shape. It’s different from other places because it really focuses on the right way to do things. It makes you work on not only your speed but your change of direction, which is a big part in sports.”
TEAM & INDIVIDUAL TRAINERS
At Club Fit – in both Briarcliff and Jefferson Valley – you won’t find stodgy, by-the-book trainers. There is no cookie-cut approach to athletic training, and the Parisi trainers work outside the box.
“The trainers there are awesome and they motivate you a lot,” Fusco said. “They have given me so much confidence to do what I need to do to be my best. Parisi got me so ready for my season this year and I would recommend it to anyone. I plan on still going and working as hard as I can, so my team and I will end up where the Yorktown boys are right now (having won their seventh NYS lacrosse title).”
Parisi Speed School also offers “Team Training Programs” in all sports, designed to specifically cater to the nuances of each particular sport. The NY Giants, Jets and New England Patriots are just some of the teams to benefit from such specific training, and local programs like the Mahopac Sports Association have done similarly with their youth football program.
Anyone looking to tailor an individual or team program in Northern Westchester/Putnam area should contact Jefferson Valley Club Fit Parisi Speed School Director Jack Werther at jwerther@clubfit.com or call 914.245.4040. He’ll be sure to set you up with some of the area’s top trainers, including Ashley DiStasio, Greg Horowitz and Nick Mastri.
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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