Over the past few weeks, Laguna Beach High School has allowed potential future NFL athletes to train for their upcoming season. In exchange, BBT Athletics, the company that works with the athletes, will provide trainers to help and mentor our own athletes.

“The athletes have been working here for three weeks. Our students come watch them work out. At a future date, we may build in some question-and-answer time,” said athletic director Lance Neal.

As college football season ends, these NFL prospects are now in a key period of training that will prepare them for the NFL. Practicing three to four days a week and up to six hours a day on the LBHS campus, these athletes train often with their trainers.

“When I was the principal at Dana Hills High School, I had a similar relationship with the trainers, and it was carried over here. I’ve worked with quite a few of these types of organizations, so the trainers reached out to me and I saw this as a partnership that could benefit both the athletes and our student body. The only thing we provide them is space,” said principal Dr. Jason Allemann.

In return for the ability to practice on school grounds, the company has given free training sessions for LBHS athletes with the professional trainers—something that could potentially cost thousands of dollars to do through a company.

“The company training the prospects will also be working with our athletes doing strength and speed training. They train our athletes Monday through Thursday, an opportunity that all sports have access to,” said Neal.

LBHS athletes get valuable insight into the world of professional sports, as they get to train with some of the best trainers available. This is the first year that LBHS has entered in such a partnership.

“The [LBHS athletes] are really in tune, really working hard and showing up on time. The sky is the limit if they continue to trust us with what we are doing with them,” said BBT athletics trainer Tra Lewis. “The view is great, the weather is always good here and the facilities here are really nice.”

These athletes will not be training at LBHS for much longer as they get ready for the NFL Combine, where they will have their speed, strength, agility and skills put to the test as they compete in the final tryout before the NFL draft.

“They have about five weeks left to train. Our current partnership is a pilot program, and if everything goes well, we are looking to build an ongoing relationship,” said Neal.

With a continued relationship, LBHS will be able to provide our athletes with professional mentors for years to come.

“I am most excited about giving our student-athletes an improved strength and conditioning program. This will help our performance and injury prevention,” said Neal.