From Deseret News archives:
Highland plans fitness club
Facility to include training, academic classes for athletes
The $14 million facility, called Newport Sports Club, will offer fitness and wellness programs for the entire family with amenities including indoor and outdoor pools, three basketball, five volleyball and two racquetball courts as well as training areas for soccer, football and baseball.
"What we have tried to do is take the whole fitness model that you see at Gold's Gym and 24 Hour Fitness and then add the athletic training programs to enhance them," said Frank Tusieseina, Newport Sports Club chief operating officer. "So we wanted to create an environment where you have both of these aspects and it is all under one roof."
The 90,000-square-foot club will also have cardio areas, free weights, spinning rooms, yoga classes, a full service day spa, child care and a few retail shops and restaurants.
The club will be one of the first to offer comprehensive athletic programming and skills training taught in specific training centers. They will include instruction from top athletes and coaches like former Utah Jazz player Thurl Bailey, NFL standout and former All-American at BYU Jason Buck, Cougar baseball All-American Murphy Su'a and BYU's current men's volleyball coach Shawn Patchell along with their teams of other expert coaches.
"We will take athletes and break down the skills that they need to be successful," Tusieseina said. "We are talking about specific lessons for quarterbacks and other positions in different sports. The programs will help athletes break down mechanics and see differences on the playing field."
The club will also include a student academic center to help encourage and help athletes in the classroom as well. Tusieseina said that that aspect of the center is something they will take great pride in.
"Our academic center will be important because the athletes need to focus on grades and learning life skills," he said. "Only a small percentage of kids will make it to Division 1 college sports or to the pros, so we want to make sure they are working hard in the classroom, too."
The club is soon to open up a small annex office adjacent from where the club is being built. It will offer pre-memberships and some workout opportunities from that smaller location between now and next summer.
E-mail: ethomas@desnews.com
