CSS Described as ‘Tremendous Facility’
Dreams of playing in the National Football League (NFL) come through Wilmington College.
More than two-dozen NCAA Division I athletes from such schools as Michigan State, Cincinnati, Louisville, Washington State, West Virginia and Wisconsin spent Monday (Feb. 22) training in WC’s indoor turf field located in the new Center for Sport Sciences.
(PICTURED) Michigan State University defensive lineman Joel Heath sprints during training activities at WC’s Center for Sport Sciences Monday.
These athletes are clients of Ignition, an international sports performance company with whom Wilmington College has a partnership. Their athletes attended Ignition’s NFL Pre-Draft Training Class.
Chad Swigert, Ignition’s general manager, and his staff conducted the workouts that included bench presses, agility drills, timed speed and acceleration activities, and measuring such skills as vertical leaping and standing lateral jumps.
Swigert explained that, while Ignition has had first and second-round NFL draft picks among its clients, most of those training at WC are potential selections in the later rounds and even walk-ons. A number have been invited to attend this spring’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Ignition’s program, “Operation 53,” is designed to help hopeful professional players make teams’ 53-man roster.
He described WC as having a “tremendous facility” for conducting the training.
“Wilmington College shared with us its vision for the Center for Sport Sciences and, once we saw the facility, we knew this was an ideal spot for us,” he said. “For these athletes here today, coming here gets them into a foreign space, which also helps us teach them how to deal with things like nervous energy.”
Ignition’s owner is 1994 WC alumnus Chris Arington, who has given the College weight training and other fitness equipment. He saw an opportunity for a multifaceted partnership.
“There’s a great synergy between Ignition and the College,” Swigert added.
Terry Rupert, vice president for athletic administration at WC, detailed another component of the partnership: Ignition staff will instruct a course this fall that will result in speed and acceleration certification for participants. He expects it will be of special interest to students in the College’s coaching minor and new exercise science major.
“Ignition emphasizes speed and acceleration, as well as building power and strength as they train athletes,” he said, noting this partnership should make Wilmington College even more attractive to not only students in those academic areas but also potential student-athletes.
“If you want to be a serious Division III student-athlete, this is where you can come to become a healthier and better athlete: faster, stronger, quicker, better,” he said.
