What 13 Years of Athletic Development Should Look Like in a School District
“If you wait until high school to build athletes, you’re already too late.”
A few years ago, I had a freshman walk into my weight room for his first day of summer conditioning. Talented kid. Played football and basketball. I asked him to do a bodyweight squat. What happened next looked like a folding lawn chair collapsing in slow motion. Knees caving, heels popping up, chest nearly touching his thighs. He wasn’t lazy, unathletic, or uncoachable. No one had ever shown him how to move.
That’s when it really hit me: we’re failing kids long before they get to high school.
Athletic development is not a 4-year high school project. It’s not even an 8-year project starting in middle school. It’s a 13-year process, starting the moment kids step into a gymnasium or onto a playground in kindergarten. If we treat athletic development like a last-minute cram session in 9th grade, we lose. We lose time. We lose potential. And, worst of all, kids lose confidence.
The Long Game Nobody Talks About
Here’s the truth most programs miss: athletic development isn’t just about making kids stronger or faster for sports. It’s about teaching them how to move, how to enjoy training, and how to build a body that lasts.
Too often, we think of it like a funnel:
Youth sports in elementary school,
Organized teams in middle school,
Weight rooms in high school.
But if the base of that funnel, those early years of movement, isn’t solid, everything else suffers. I’ve worked with kids who had years of travel sports under their belts but couldn’t hop on one leg without tipping over. It’s not their fault. It’s our system.
If I were in charge of a school district’s athletic plan, here’s what I’d do:
Grades K-5: Daily movement, all about variety, play, and physical literacy.
Grades 6-8: Teach the big patterns. Squat, hinge, push, pull, brace, and build bodyweight strength.
Grades 9-12: Train like athletes, layering in strength, power, speed, and resilience.
Sound simple? It is. But doing it consistently is the challenge.
Grades K-5: The Lost Opportunity
The biggest mistake people make when talking about athletic development for kids is thinking it starts in middle school or high school. By that point, the foundation is either built or it isn’t. K-5 is where athleticism is born.
At this stage, I’m not thinking about weights or sets and reps. I’m thinking about movement vocabulary. Can these kids crawl, skip, climb, balance, hop, throw, and catch? These are the raw materials for every athletic skill they’ll ever need. Without them, no amount of barbell training later will fix the gaps.
When I get a group of K-5 kids, my first job isn’t to “train” them—it's to get them moving in as many different ways as possible. Think playground-style training: animal crawls, frog hops, crab walks, bear crawls, rolling, tag games, and obstacle courses. I want kids running forward, backward, sideways, and diagonally. I want them reacting, dodging, landing, and laughing while they do it. If they’re having fun, they’re learning without even knowing it.
Why variety matters:
Kids who only play one sport year-round (like travel baseball or soccer at age 7) are often worse movers overall. They get locked into the patterns of that sport, and by the time they hit high school, their athletic ceiling is lower because they skipped all the other “mini skills” that build coordination and resilience. I’d rather see a kid play three different sports and climb a tree than dominate one sport at age 9.
What a Week Should Look Like
If I had it my way, K-5 kids would have PE every single day. Not just once or twice a week. And each class would hit a mix of these “movement pillars”:
Locomotion: Running, skipping, shuffling, crawling, hopping.
Balance and Coordination: Single-leg balance drills, “freeze” games, walking on low beams, partner mirroring games.
Jumping and Landing: Hop-and-stick challenges, broad jumps, and soft landing work.
Throwing and Catching: With balls of all sizes—tennis balls, dodgeballs, med balls—anything to train hand-eye coordination.
Reaction and Play: Tag variations, reaction races, obstacle courses where kids have to think and move quickly.
A single class might look like this:
Warm-up game of tag (5 minutes).
Skipping and animal movements down and back (5 minutes).
Hop-and-land drills, focusing on soft landings (5 minutes).
Partner catching games with tennis balls (5 minutes).
Obstacle course with crawling, climbing, and running (10 minutes).
A fun group relay or “team challenge” to finish (5 minutes).
Nothing complicated, just high-quality, intentional movement.
What If PE Is Only Once a Week?
This is where many districts fall short, and I get it. Schedules are tight, and PE isn’t always prioritized. But if I only had one day a week with kids, I’d cram in as much variety as possible. That means no standing in line for “turns” and no sitting around. I’d build a circuit of 4-6 stations (hopping, crawling, balancing, throwing, climbing) and keep kids moving the entire time.
Outside of PE, I’d recruit parents and teachers. Parents can run a quick 5-minute “movement homework” session at home: 5 frog hops, 5 skips each leg, 10 seconds of single-leg balance, and 5 toss-and-catches. Teachers can sprinkle in “movement snacks” throughout the day. Movements like jumping jacks or bear crawls between lessons. These small moments add up, and they might be the difference between a kid being able to move naturally or struggling when they hit middle school.
Common K-5 Mistakes
Over-specialization: Putting a 7-year-old in one sport 12 months a year instead of letting them develop all-around skills.
Cutting recess: Recess is one of the best athletic development tools we have, and too many schools take it away.
Boring PE: Rolling out a ball and sitting back isn’t PE. Kids need structure, challenge, and fun.
Skipping the basics: Not teaching simple skills like skipping, hopping, or catching because they seem “too easy.”
Why K-5 Matters
By the time a kid is 10 or 11, their nervous system is already writing the movement code they’ll use for the rest of their life. If that code is filled with crawling, jumping, and climbing, they’ll have a library of movement patterns to pull from. If it’s filled with nothing but sitting, staring at screens, or playing one sport, they’ll be at a disadvantage.
K-5 is about creating confident, durable movers. Not athletes who specialize, but kids who can learn any athletic skill faster because they’ve built the foundation early.
Coachism: “Play is not a waste of time. Play is the training program kids need most.”
Coachism: “Recess might be the best strength and conditioning program we’ve ever had. We just don’t value it like we should.”
Grades 6-8: Learning the Big Patterns
Middle school is where everything starts to click or fall apart. By this point, you can usually spot which kids grew up moving, climbing, and playing outside, and which ones spent most of their time glued to a screen. But here’s the good news: middle schoolers are like sponges. They can learn quickly if you give them the right tools, and these years are critical for teaching the movement patterns that will carry them through high school and beyond.
The goal for grades 6-8 isn’t to turn kids into weightlifters. It’s to teach them how to move with purpose. I’m talking about the five foundational movement patterns every athlete needs to master:
Squat: Learning to sit down and stand up with control.
Hinge: Learning how to bend at the hips without folding the spine.
Push: Learning to create force through the arms and shoulders.
Pull: Developing upper-back strength to balance out all the pushing.
Brace: Learning to stabilize the core against rotation, flexion, and extension.
When we introduce resistance, it’s not about lifting heavy. It’s about using the right tools (bodyweight, dumbbells, bands, or light kettlebells) to groove these patterns.
How I Structure a Middle School Week
Middle school training should be short, engaging, and varied. I would aim for 2-3 sessions per week, 30-40 minutes each.
Example Week:
Day 1 (Squat Focus):
Skipping, hopping, and crawling warm-up (5 min).
Bodyweight squats + goblet squats with a light dumbbell.
Push-ups (or incline push-ups), band rows, and planks.
Short relay races or tag games to finish.
Day 2 (Hinge Focus):
Jump-and-stick landing drills (5 min).
Hip bridges and light KB Romanian deadlifts.
Pull-up progressions or TRX rows, dips, and side planks.
Reaction drills (partner mirror, short sprints).
Day 3 (Mixed Athletic Day):
Agility ladders or cone drills for coordination.
Split squats, lunges, and inverted rows.
Core circuit (dead bugs, bird dogs, anti-rotation holds).
End with a fun challenge (medicine ball toss for distance, or short obstacle course).
Benchmarks I Look For By the End of 8th Grade:
8-10 quality push-ups (hips and shoulders moving together).
3 unassisted pull-ups.
A clean 60-second plank.
A goblet squat (20-25 lbs) for 8-10 reps with good form.
Smooth, balanced landing mechanics on single-leg and two-leg jumps.
What I Emphasize
The biggest shift at this stage is teaching intent. In elementary school, it’s all about play. In middle school, kids need to start understanding why we train certain movements and how to do them correctly. But I still keep things fun and competitive. Relay races, partner challenges, and small competitions go a long way with this age group.
I also spend a lot of time on landing and deceleration mechanics. Most kids know how to jump, but very few know how to land without their knees collapsing or their weight shifting awkwardly. Learning to absorb force is just as important as producing it.
Common 6-8 Mistakes
Chasing weight too soon: Middle school is for learning form, not testing 1-rep maxes.
Ignoring single-leg strength: Step-ups and split squats should be staples.
Skipping movement education: Too many programs throw kids into “high school lifts” before teaching the basics.
Lack of speed and agility work: These years are perfect for building quickness and coordination, but many programs skip them entirely.
Forgetting that kids still need fun: They’re not grown adults. Games, challenges, and races keep them engaged.
Why Middle School Matters
If K-5 is where we build the alphabet of movement, 6-8 is where we start forming sentences. This is where kids learn to control their bodies under light load and start building confidence in the weight room. A kid who hits 9th grade already knowing how to squat, hinge, push, pull, and brace is miles ahead of the competition.
Coachism: “If a kid can’t own a perfect push-up, they don’t need a bench press max yet.”
Grades 9-12: Building Strength, Power, and Resilience
When I think about high school strength and conditioning, I don’t think about a kid walking in, loading up a bar, and chasing a number on the squat rack. That’s not development. That’s ego lifting. My philosophy is simple: every training day is a complete training day. We’re not just “doing legs” or “bench day.” We’re training speed, power, strength, and durability. Every session, every week.
I build high school athletes using a tiered, concurrent system. That means every day starts with what matters most, speed and movement skills. Sprinting, hopping, lateral cuts, or backpedal transitions. Before we even touch a barbell, we’re teaching athletes how to move faster, change direction, and handle their body in space. It doesn’t matter if you’re a linebacker or a volleyball player, speed is the foundation of all athletic performance.
After speed and agility, we hit the power block. This is where we build explosiveness through Olympic lift variations, med ball throws, and jump progressions. Not everyone is ready for a full clean or snatch, and that’s fine. I’ll take an athlete through scarecrow drops, hip cleans, or ATK (above-the-knee) hang work before we ever go heavy. Explosiveness isn’t about weight. It’s about intent and mechanics. Med ball slams, rotational throws, or jump-to-box progressions teach athletes to transfer force without wrecking their joints.
Then we roll into the strength block. This is where the foundational lifts live. Front squats, zombie squats, trap bar deadlifts, Z presses. It’s not about chasing PRs every week. It’s about quality. I’d rather see a perfect triple at a manageable load than an ugly max. I also mix in isometric holds (deep squat ISOs, push-up ISOs, glute bridge ISOs) and oscillating patterns to teach athletes to control tension and build strength where it matters.
Finally, every session finishes with a hypertrophy or accessory block. This isn’t bodybuilding. It’s about joint health, posture, and durability. Rows, split squats, reverse hypers, lateral raises, banded abduction work, biceps and triceps. These “little things” prevent the injuries that derail seasons. Every athlete, regardless of sport, needs these stability builders.
What Makes This Different
Most high school programs just divide the week by muscle groups. Monday is “bench,” Wednesday is “squat,” Friday is “power cleans.” That’s fine if all you want is stronger lifts. But sports require more than that. Athletes need to sprint, jump, cut, rotate, and absorb force. My programming reflects that.
By training speed, power, and strength together, we’re not guessing whether our athletes can transfer their work in the weight room onto the field or court. It’s built into the process. Speed work at the start keeps us fast. Power work keeps us explosive. Strength work builds the engine. And hypertrophy and stability work keep us healthy enough to train again tomorrow.
What a Week Looks Like
A typical high school week in my system has four training days. Each day starts with a movement prep and SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) segment. For example, Monday might be diagonal skaters, single-leg hops, and 45-degree sprints. We’re building coordination and change-of-direction mechanics every session.
Next comes the power block. Monday might start with a clean scarecrow drop to groove bar path mechanics, paired with med ball around-the-world slams and broad jump + box jump combos. Thursday might look different—snatch scarecrow drops, rotational throws, and vertical box jumps. Power is never an afterthought.
The strength block comes next. This might be goblet squats early in a cycle, progressing to zombie squats or front squats as athletes learn the positions. Upper body work rotates between Swiss bar benches, Z presses, or push-up variations. And every strength block includes time under tension. Whether it’s a deep squat holds or oscillating patterns to teach control and build stability.
Finally, the hypertrophy block wraps things up with movements like rows, split squats, reverse hypers, banded clocks, lateral raises, and trunk work. This is where we fill the gaps, hit the weak links, and build resilience.
How It Progresses
The program isn’t static. Every 3 weeks, we rotate the emphasis slightly—progressing from scarecrow drops to hip-height cleans, from goblet squats to front squats, from low-rep strength to slightly higher-volume hypertrophy work. The structure stays consistent, but the variations challenge the athletes to keep learning and adapting.
Why This Works
When kids graduate from my program, they’re not just stronger. They’re athletes who can express strength, power, and speed under control. They know how to move well, how to absorb force, and how to be durable. They aren’t just “weight room strong”. They’re game strong.
I don’t want a kid who can squat 400 lbs but can’t cut or jump without collapsing. I want the kid who moves like a panther, accelerates like lightning, and has the strength to win collisions without breaking down. That’s what this layered, concurrent approach delivers.
Common 9-12 Mistakes
Copying college programs without accounting for maturity and movement readiness.
Chasing weight room numbers that don’t transfer to sport.
Ignoring mobility and landing mechanics.
Not prioritizing sprint mechanics or speed work.
Coachism: “A barbell doesn’t fix bad movement—it magnifies it.”
What If Every District Did This?
Close your eyes and imagine a school district where movement is treated with the same importance as math and reading. Imagine kindergarteners who crawl, hop, roll, and climb every single day, learning to control their bodies before they’re asked to sit for hours at a desk. Imagine elementary school playgrounds where kids are encouraged to explore, hang from monkey bars, race each other, and build the type of coordination that you can’t get from a screen or a single organized sport.
Now picture middle schoolers who are introduced to the weight room without fear or confusion. They learn the “big patterns” like how to squat, hinge, push, pull, and brace before a single barbell is loaded. They’re not competing to see who can move the most weight; they’re learning how to move well. By the end of 8th grade, they’re not just stronger. They understand their bodies. They know what it feels like to land softly, to stabilize through their core, and to accelerate or decelerate with purpose.
Then imagine high school freshmen walking into the weight room for the first time. They’re not terrified of barbells or clueless about movement. They’re ready. Ready to train, ready to learn, and ready to build on the foundation they’ve spent the last eight years developing. Instead of wasting the first six months fixing their squat or teaching them how to push-up correctly, we can hit the ground running. They’re confident, they move like athletes, and they know how to work.
What About the Kids Who Don’t Play Sports?
This isn’t just for athletes. In fact, the kids who don’t play sports may benefit from this kind of long-term movement plan the most.
A lot of kids drop out of sports in high school. Not because they don’t want to move, but because the traditional sports pipeline doesn’t fit them. Maybe they’re not interested in competition. Maybe they just want to be healthy and confident. Without a structured athletic program, these kids often drift into inactivity, and by the time they’re adults, exercise feels like punishment or a mystery they were never taught to solve.
But if every kid spent 13 years learning how to move, jump, sprint, hinge, and lift, we’d create a generation of non-athletes who still feel like athletes in their own bodies. A kid who doesn’t play football or basketball can still graduate knowing how to squat, deadlift, press, and train safely. They’ll have confidence to walk into a gym and know what to do, instead of being intimidated by it.
Even better, these kids would have positive experiences with training from a young age. They’d see exercise not as something you “have to do” to lose weight but as something you enjoy because it makes you feel capable. They’d carry this mindset into college, into the workplace, and into their adult lives.
The positive implications are endless:
Healthier adults: Less likely to suffer from obesity, back pain, or chronic issues because they understand basic strength and movement.
Confidence in fitness: They’ll know how to use a gym without fear of “doing it wrong.”
Active lifestyles: Hiking, biking, recreational sports, and general fitness become fun instead of intimidating.
Mental resilience: Movement teaches discipline, problem-solving, and perseverance—skills that help in life, not just in sports.
The Ripple Effect
This isn’t just about sports performance. It’s about how kids see their bodies for life. A strong foundation in movement means fewer kids grow up thinking they “just aren’t athletic” or that fitness isn’t for them. Instead, they leave high school with the tools to live healthier, more active lives. Regardless of whether they were ever on a varsity roster.
The Bottom Line
The formula isn’t complicated:
K-5: Play, explore, and build the alphabet of movement.
6-8: Learn and own the big patterns.
9-12: Train with intent—build speed, strength, and resilience.
If we committed to this across 13 years, we’d change everything. Not just sports performance, but the way every kid, athlete or not, views movement and their own body. We’d have seniors graduating who not only know how to lift but know how to move, sprint, jump, land, and take care of themselves for life.
This isn’t about creating professional athletes. It’s about creating durable, confident humans who are prepared for whatever comes next. Whether that’s college sports, recreational leagues, or simply being healthy and active well into adulthood.
Coachism: “We’re not just building athletes. We’re building durable, confident humans. And that’s the real win.
The Soapbox Moment
If you’re a parent, coach, or school administrator, I’m telling you: this stuff matters. It’s not about building college athletes or pros. It’s about teaching kids how to move, how to enjoy being active, and how to build a body that won’t break down under stress.
We can’t wait until high school to start this journey. We need a district-wide plan. PE teachers, sport coaches, and strength coaches all working together. If that happens, we’ll start seeing kids who not only perform better but actually like training.
I’ve worked with enough athletes to know this: the ones who learn to move early don’t just play better, they stay healthier. They’re the kids who can pick up new skills faster, who aren’t sidelined every season with random aches and strains, and who actually look forward to working out.
So here’s my hill: If you want to build better athletes, and better humans, you need a 13-year athletic development plan. It’s not flashy. It’s not complicated. It’s just consistent, age-appropriate training, year after year.
