By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM—Students in Pelham High School’s sports medicine class had the opportunity to learn about strength and conditioning from a professional in the sports performance field.

Thomas Melton, with St. Vincent’s One Nineteen, visited PHS Feb. 11 and discussed what strength and conditioning is, how he got to his position, what classes to take and what being a sports performance professional entails.

“They’ve already started learning about strength and conditioning, so (I’ll explain) a little bit about programing,” Melton said. “(I’ll) give them an idea of how it looks when you start putting it all together.”

Before the presentation, Coach Tim Cobb sent Melton some of the questions the kids had, which Melton said was neat because the students touched on a lot of what Melton had already planned to discuss during his presentation.

He said he was impressed by the questions he received from the high school students, because they were knowledgable. They asked why he chose the field, what kinds of classes you take to get into it, what the daily routine looks like, benefits of the job and which college team he enjoyed coaching most.

Melton has coached at the University of South Carolina, Wofford College, Georgia Southern University, Colorado State University and Clemson University.

“It’s a great experience. My dad was military so we moved a lot, so professionally, I did the same thing. I’ve kind of enjoyed that.”

Usually, Melton said his speaking opportunities are with professionals in the field, such as high school and college coaches or at clinics and conferences.

This is his first time speaking with a high school group, so he said it’s a little different and more relaxed than his usual presentations. At conferences, people are usually taking notes and trying to take in as much as possible. He hopes this will be a little more laid back.

“I really didn’t know what I was coming to speak about or what audience I was speaking to,” Melton said. “Coach Cobb was telling me what the class entailed, what the goal was, how the program was set up and that’s a great idea. I wish we would have had things like this (when I was in high school).”

Melton said it would have been nice to have a class like sports medicine in his high school, so he could have gotten a better idea of what he wanted to do. Melton said he went into college as a business major and ended up changing his mind.

His goal with the presentation today, he said, is to shed some light on what he does everyday and hopefully inspire some students.

“Hopefully, I’ll have enough passion about what I’m speaking about—because I love strength and conditioning— that they are like, ‘That’s what I want to do,’” Melton said. “That would be cool.”