(PARK CITY, UTAH) – Two athletes who train extensively with Athletic Republic and nine members of USA Hockey’s Development Program Under-18 National Team that train with Athletic Republic were selected in last weekend’s NHL Draft, the industry leader in science-based performance athletic training announced today.

The draft was one of the best in history for Americans, with a record 11 U.S. players selected in the first round. Overall, 59 Americans were chosen in the seven-round event. Players from 16 different states were selected, including athletes from warm-weather climates in California and Florida.

Patrick McNally, of Long Island, New York has worked with the trainers at Athletic Republic at The Rinx for more than two years and was selected in the fourth round (115th overall) by the Vancouver Canucks. McNally is national prep school defenseman of the year in 2010 for Milton Academy and plans to attend Harvard University in the fall.

The Florida Panthers selected Athletic Republic devotee and defenseman R.J. Boyd with the 182nd overall pick (7th round). Boyd, of Punta Gorda, Florida, trains at the recently-opened Athletic Republic-Germain Arena facility and became the first hockey player born in Florida to be drafted by one of Florida’s two NHL teams. Boyd plans to attend Sacred Heart University in Milford, Connecticut on a hockey scholarship this fall.

Both McNally and Boyd will attend their respective teams’ prospect camps next week before returning home.

The 9 USNDTP U-18 players selected are as follows: Bill Arnold, Jack Campbell, Justin Faulk, Derek Forbert, Stephen Johns, Jonathon Merrill, Luke Moffatt, Jarred Tinordi and Bryan Rust.

The entire U-18 team trains year-round on Athletic Republic’s patented hockey treadmill.

About Athletic Republic

Since 1990, more than 700,000 athletes have gained more than just a step on their competition thanks to Athletic Republic’s sport-specific training programs designed to enhance speed, power and agility.

The Athletic Republic performance sports training network follows a science-based approach to an athlete’s development, which includes more than 4,000 pages of sport and position-specific protocols.

Typically, hockey players who have completed Athletic Republic training program have seen improvements in their skating mechanics, which have led to a 33-percent increase in foot speed and a 20-percent increase in leg strength. They have also experienced a 2-4-inch increase in vertical power.

This last weekend we hosted the Rivals Northeast Five Star Showdown Combine at our facility. It was a great event showcasing the best football talent in the Northeast. We were extremely happy to be a part of it. There were great scores in the combine metrics, and some amazing performances in the positional drills.

One thing that struck me while spectating was the strength of performance I saw from athletes who were products of Athletic Republic programs, ours, and Blue Streak’s (Stamford, Conn facility). I got to hear the back story from trainers who had worked with them and hear about how their training had progressed. Even athletes who had come to the programs with a lot of natural strength or coordination made noteworthy gains.

What I was thinking through position drills and viewing of 40 yard dash attempts was that “we can help a lot of these athletes”. Our training could take these guys a lot further. I don’t say this in any way that takes away from strong athletes and strong performances. But I was struck by the fact that we could make significant impacts on these guys with our training, from running mechanics and form, to strength during multi-directional movement. The guys who had been through Athletic Republic programs showed appreciable advantage. I can say that without any “sell” intention as I myself asked numerous times “who is that guy?” only to be answered by “Oh, we trained him” uttered by a Blue Streak trainer.

We are committed to helping our athletes and making available the best training there is so we can send more athletes to these combines and into the upper ranks of athletics. Our program can do it. This weekend was real proof of that. These athletes were being looked over by the best coaches and scouts in the country. It was pretty exciting to see what can happen as a result of the work these athletes put in to the programs and the combined result.

Many times when speaking to our athletes and parents the question of sport specific training comes up. “Is this sport specific?“I often answer with a yes and no answer. At the core of our training is the principle of Athletic Performance. When distilled the concept of athletic performance versus sport specific performance is a very different one. Game specific skills and knowledge are the result of training, experience, and practice within that discipline. Athletic performance is the ability to perform within competitive situations with power, agility, balance, and body awareness, that can be applied to all sports. This is the result of a balanced body with good range of motion, strength, and flexibility. This is an important distinction to make because it makes what we do more clear.

Our treadmill training, plyometric training, strength training, and conditioning, all provide the foundation for athletic performance. As a result of our training programs our athletes have a comprehensive strength that will allow for performance in many disciplines.

During the course of training with us though, there are sport specific elements of training introduced and utilized. For example, our hockey treadmill provides stride refinement while also conditioning. We use slide boards and hockey specific strength exercises to build athletic performance specific to hockey. We also use throwing and hitting cords for baseball players, and soccer players.

The reason we think it important to make these distinctions is to provide the understanding that there is training that provides a foundation for athletic movement and performance, as well as training that reinforces or improves game/sport-specific skills and actions. We provide both, building a foundation of athletic performance so that sport specific training can have maximum impact. Our athletic abilities, once formed and reinforced, allow us to perform our sport specific skills at maximum potential. We cannot achieve sport specific strength until we achieve athletic strength.