SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Susquehanna’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach David Kitchen chose his profession because of the valuable life lessons the weight room taught him as a football player, lessons he hopes to pass down to the student-athletes he coaches today.
 
The strength coaches, led by Coach Kitchen, typically arrive in the Chris Vialonga Sports Performance Center at 5:30 a.m. each day for the first team lift at 6 a.m.  They spend the next three hours training teams and athletes. 
 
At 9 a.m., the strength coaches get a well-deserved break before resuming their coaching responsibilities at 11 a.m.
 
“The rest of the afternoon is usually dedicated to programming, running reports on teams, making sure we’re handling our sports science stuff.  We’ve also implemented student-athlete wellness surveys, so we make sure we complete those reports during the day,” Kitchen said.
 
Starting at around 3 p.m., teams begin to flow into the weight room once again until 7 p.m., when the last team lift usually concludes.
 
“They’re long days but every day is different, and you get to spend time with the student-athletes, the majority of your day is spent coaching kids and that’s the fun part,” Kitchen said.
 
An essential function of a strength coach is programming workout plans for teams. 
 
“Every team we look at, we’ll sit down and do a needs analysis based on the sport,” Kitchen said.  “That can look at things like: What energy system is it primarily played in from a conditioning standpoint, whether it’s a strength and power sport, whether it’s a speed dominant sport.”
 
The strength staff then programs backwards from a team’s biggest competition date, usually championships. 
 
“Every team has an annual plan that’s broken up into different structures, then we reverse engineer the process.  If we want strength and power to be our most strong qualities at a certain date then we need to breakdown what qualities go into making those strength and power gains most evident at the end,” Kitchen said. 
 
2021 Landmark Conference Field Hockey Defensive Player of The Year Annalee Smith has made the transition from athlete to coach, as she accepted Coach Kitchens internship offer to be an assistant strength coach this semester. 
 
Smith claimed the decision was easy once Kitchen extended his offer.  “I really love his coaching philosophy; he constantly pushes everyone to become better and better, even if failure is a step along the way,” she said. 
 
Going from an athlete to a coach has shown Smith all the work done by strength coaches that goes unseen. 
 
“We meet weekly to discuss different aspects of this job and what it entails, which is more than I ever thought. It is challenging to learn all the very important details and planning behind what needs to happen for this program to function,” she said.
 
Smith claimed one of her favorite parts about her internship is working with athletes from Susquehanna’s women’s teams. 
 
“I enjoy working with all student-athletes, but especially the athletes on the women’s teams.  Many times, female athletes are overlooked and are put on the back burner when it comes to strength and weight training, but I think Coach Kitchen does a great job pushing his women’s teams to become stronger every day,” she said.
 
One example of a Susquehanna woman succeeding in the weight room is Olivia Brandt, a 2022 All-Landmark Second Team women’s basketball player who was named a National Strength and Conditioning Association All-American in early April for her dedication to effort and excellence in off the court workouts.
 
Nominated by Coach Kitchen, Brandt said she was not aware of the award prior to receiving it, but claimed it was an honor to be recognized.  “I contribute a lot of my success on the court to the work I put in in the weight room and the mentors I had that pushed me in strength and conditioning,” she said. 
 
According to Brandt, Coach Kitchen and strength coaches pushed her to work as hard as possible each day she stepped into the weight room.  “Coach Kitchen’s best quality is that he will never let someone take a day off.  If the weight on the bar or in your hand looks too easy, he calls you out,” she said.
 
From a strength coaches’ standpoint, Kitchen claimed the intelligence and adaptability of all Susquehanna athletes are the best part of being a River Hawk.
 
“The student athletes here on campus are really unique and for me it’s special because I was an athlete here.  Our kids are so coachable, our kids are smart and that’s a testament to the academic standards here.  Our kids want to know the ‘why’ they want to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.  I can talk about the ins and outs of the program, I can also talk about leadership, accountability and our kids are absolute sponges, and they just soak it up,” Kitchen claimed.
 
Coach Kitchen and the strength staff have contributed greatly to the athletic success of so many teams on campus and at the same time, implemented important life values through the arena of strength and conditioning.