By Nunzio Signore (BA, NASM, CPT, PES, FMS)
Today my interview is with Sam Uline, a graduate of Suffern High School Volleyball program who has been training at RPP for the past two years. She is on her way to University New Orleans Division I Volleyball program to become a Privateer. I think Sam is a great inspiration for so many young female athletes who want to take their game to the next level.
We are here with Sam Uline as she’s getting ready to play Division I Volleyball at the University of New Orleans. What’s up Sam and thanks for coming in. Couple questions. First one… what are your thoughts on female athletes at the high school level hitting the weight room?
There are definitely not enough high school female athletes [training in the weight room]. A lot of them think that they don’t have to train at their sport, whether it’s conditioning or working out in a gym or working out on their own. So they’re not as strong or as fast as they should be for the sport they are playing. It doesn’t matter which sport, it all comes into play.
For those female athletes at the high school level hoping to play college sports, can you give me three great pieces of advice for them to take it to the next level?
Definitely train outside of your sport, go to a gym and put in the hours you need to, but also stay consistent with the training. Go the amount of times a week that you need to go to get better and to improve yourself.
And how many times did you come here when you trained at RPP [during the off-season]?
At least three times a week.
And during the in-season you came how many times?
Twice a week.
And the third piece of advice?
Get good grades.
Did Training around a bunch of guys intimidate you? How do you feel about that?
Definitely didn’t intimidate me. If I had to say, it made me want to do better because I want to push myself, to be not at the same level as them but competing [with them].
Without really talking about where you trained before you came to RPP, can you tell me some of the differences that you noticed between here and the last place you trained?
[At RPP, there are] definitely a lot of different types of lifts and conditioning [programs], whether it’s ladder work or making specific parts of my body stronger that needed to be stronger, specifically for the sport that I play. And I can notice that in myself when I am playing volleyball, there is definitely a huge difference.
Did your friends and coaches, more importantly your coaches, notice a difference in you physically after you started training at RPP?
Definitely, specifically my club coach said something after the first few months I started coming here. I was looking much leaner, much faster and stronger. Even my high school varsity coach at Suffern said that there was a huge difference in between my junior and senior seasons.
Thanks a lot Sam, good luck at the University of New Orleans. We will miss you.
During the fall of 2014, Sam’s final season at Suffern High School, the Volleyball program became the first Section 1 Team to claim the NY State Class AA Volleyball Title. Sam Uline was named MVP of the Tournament. Sam was also named the Rockland County “Volleyball Player of the Year” .