Can you introduce yourself the Gilbert community? Sure, my name is Nate Graham. I was born and raised in Minne- sota and then I moved to the Omaha area. I taught there for a few years and then the job at Gilbert opened up and we moved here. My wife’s name is Jadyn and we have a daughter, Parker. What was it that drew you to Gilbert? After I applied, my wife and I came down to see the area because we wanted to see if the Ames area was a place we could live and raise a family. After spending a day here and looking at the area, we just knew it would be a good fit. It’s got the benefits of a college town, but in the Gilbert area you’re away from the noise a little bit. And then it was getting to meet the people here and feeling really good about the leadership from top to bottom. The quality of people and their values are things I value. I’m all about doing what’s best for kids and being a champion for kids every day, and that’s in line with Gilbert. That’s something I want to be a part of. What made you want to become a strength and conditioning teacher and coach? First, I just love working with kids. I really love the human body and how you can challenge it, and it always has ways to respond and adapt. It’s so important for being able to play sports and stay- ing healthy because you don’t want to be sitting on the bench in- jured. So the No. 1 priority is making sure your body can withstand the demands of the sport you play. Can you give us some insight into your strength and conditioning philosophies? I feel like human performance is so broad. Your movement quality is No. 1 because if we’re not moving well then we’re not going to play well. So I really just want to enhance things (student-athletes) do in their sports. If you sprint, OK, then we’re going to sprint. If you jump in volleyball, or rotate in baseball, we want to replicate that stuff and ideally improve on that. We want to do the basics well.
QUESTIONS WITH NEW STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING TEACHER NATE GRAHAM
New Gilbert strength and conditioning teacher Nate Graham (left) began his duties with the district in the weight room during the month of July.
FALL 2024 | GAME ON 61
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