The Salt River Visak basketball team has been training with physical specialist Ryan Duran of the Salt River Fitness Center. Players on the team include Raja Reyes, Marcus Lasiloo, Eli Waters, Davon Strong, Salese Schurz and Joe Schurz.

“Right now these kids are at a stage where they’re starting to develop but cannot be lifting heavy weights, so I approached Ryan to see if he could work with them on doing more high-intensity workouts to help manage body weight and improve their agility, foot speed, balance and stamina,” said SR Visak coach Keith Andrews. “I had to run it by the parents first, and thankfully they were all on board with [their children] training with the Fitness Center staff.”

“The kids are getting a lot stronger and have more endurance and stamina,” said Duran. “I try to do something different every week. We are preparing them to move on to the next level because they are moving on to the high school level [of basketball].” 

The boys on the team started training with the Fitness Center staff in October 2019; the girl players joined in November 2019. The team consists of 10 boys and four girls, and about six to 10 of them will participate in the training sessions when they do not have practice or prior commitments. 

Duran explained that he has been working with the youth on exercises such as strength training, explosive training and plyometrics to improve movements such as jumping. They have been making progress.

“The kids are getting a lot stronger and have more endurance and stamina,” said Duran. “I try to do something different every week. We are preparing them to move on to the next level because they are moving on to the high school level [of basketball].” 

Duran also provides one-on-one training with other athletes and will be conducting a six-week Get Fit program for youth in March.